Our day began on the Jordan side with many in our group taking a quick dip in the Dead Sea. The choppy water and waves made it a much more exhilarating experience than normal. The Dead Sea is so thick with minerals it is virtually impossible to sink into it. You could lay on your back and read the paper all the way across the width of it if you wanted. But if the water ends up in your eyes, you probably could't read anything for a week. It was a lot of fun but I think most of us were glad to get out and on with our day.
Traveling across the border and over into Israel we came first to Masada, the site of the Israelites last stand against the Roman army in 70 A.D. This is where a radical band of Sicari Jewish militants held out against the Roman general Titus until he finally was able to build a ramp to the top only to find that all the inhabitants had committed suicide rather than to succumb to whatever the Romans might have had for them. To this day Israeli paratroopers hike to the top of Masada as a part of their swearing in ceremony and pledge, "Masada will never happen again!"
We went from the top of Masada down through the valley over to Qomron where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. We had a wonderful lunch and tour of the ruins of the ancient Essene community that had hidden the scrolls in desert caves around this site back in the time of Jesus.
From the Dead Sea we traveled up to Jerusalem. And by "up" I don't mean directionally, I mean it in the sense the Bible means it- up in trajectory. We climbed the Judaean hills along the Jericho road and then watched excitedly out our bus window as the city of David opened up in front of us. There is no way to describe the emotion most people feel as they enter Jerusalem for the first time. It is the most unique and important city in all the world. It is the holiest city for Christians and Jews and the third most important city for Muslims. It is the city that Jesus wept over in Luke 21 and Matthew 23. It is a city that has held so much power down through the centuries that entire empires have risen and fallen in an attempt to hold on to it. It is the city of Moriah, of Gilboah, of Zion and Golgotha. It is the city that was the center of most of Jesus' teaching and the place of his crucifixion. It is the place where Abraham sacrificed Isaac, where David paid the full price to Araunah the Jebusite to build the temple. No matter where one looks in Jerusalem every inch of it is filled with history. I told our group, "In the Galilee and in Jordan you experienced the wow factor; in Jerusalem it will start to get very personal."
We woke up the next morning with the city of Jerusalem engulfed in a rare storm system with 25 mile an hour winds and heavy rain. We were not willing to let anything deter us however from seeing all the sites we traveled so far to see. So like onward Christian soldiers we went to the top of the Mount of Olives and made our way down to Dominus Flavius- the church commemorating the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. From here we prayed for our own city, knowing that Jesus loves the city and His gospel is to go out into every dark corner. We walked from there in the pouring rain (and even a miniature fast flood down the Triumphal Entry path) into the Garden of Gethsemene. We had a special time of scripture reading, prayer and some singing in the very beautiful Church of All Nations that sits along the garden path.
It was only appropriate that we go from there to the Upper Room where Jesus celebrated the passover with his disciples and then over to the House of Caiaphas, the High Priest who held Jesus under arrest before handing him off to Pilate and execution. We had a moving time of worship inside the dungeon cell and sang together the old spiritual, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?"
From there we ate a quick lunch and then traveled to Bethlehem and to the Church of the Nativity, the oldest continuous church in the world. This is a church that dates back to the early centuries and is one of the most popular churches in the world. On the day of our visit the Orthodox church was celebrating Christmas day so the entire building was packed with pilgrims from around the world. It was an awesome experience to be there with Christians from Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Palestinian Territory. We went down into the dave where Jesus was born and sang together Silent Night. As we sang the entire crowd around us grew silent, some even joined in with us as they recognized the tune. It was an amazing picture of the vast reach of the church around the world.
Prayer from Jerusalem and Bethlehem: Lord God, our hearts are moved by what we have seen and experienced today. We have no words to describe the emotion we feel as we look out over the city of David, the city you wept over. How our hearts are moved by being in Jerusalem. How moving it has been to be in the place of your birth. Though we know these are only places and are nothing compared to actual faith, to be here has moved and enhanced our faith. We pray for the people of Bethlehem. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem even as we pray for our own city and for the strengthening of your gospel around the world.
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