DAY 2 THE MOUNT OF OLIVES
Today our coach takes us to the top of the Mount of Olives: it is not very far distant, but because of divisive walls etc it is a bit longer than it used to be! However we reach the top and retrace the journey that Jesus took on the first Palm Sunday. We stop off, first at the church called Paternoster. It recalls the time the disciples said to Jesus “Teach us to pray” and outside the church, in many languages the Lord’s Prayer is written. We pray the prayer together:
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Leade us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
And the glory are yours
Now and for ever. Amen
After a pause to look at the many languages represented in the church we continue our descent. The journey down is steep for it is 100 metres higher than Jerusalem itself. The road is metalled and takes us past the Jewish cemetery which is a place to pause. The graves all have pebbles on them – mourners leave a pebble as a sign that they have visited the grave. Then we pass the Russian monastery with its wonderful gilded domes before coming to Dominus Flevit (“Jesus wept”) which marks the spot where (Luke 19:41) “Jesus drew near and saw the city he wept over it…” Here we pause for we will have our first celebration of Holy Communion with this wonderful view through the clear window, encompassing all that Jesus wept for.
Lord Jesus Christ
Today we share your tears for the cities of the world;
-still we have not loved the things that makes for peace.
We weep for divided cities
Where brother fights with brother,
Where anger feeds on hatred,
Where prejudice blinds the eyes of compassion,
And even religion divides,
Where children are taught to hate,
And old men relish ancient wrongs.
We weep for cities and countrysides ravaged by disease and death
We weep for those who struggle to bring healing and health.
We weep for our cities, and for ourselves;
We have not learned the things that make for peace.
Lord,
Turn tears to love and love to work.
Turn work to justice, and all that makes for peace.
(David Hilton, adapted by CJE, quoted in HJ Richards Pilgrim to the Holy Land © 1999)
Our journey continues down the Mount of Olives where there are a number of places to explore – but first the vendor on the corner of the street squeezing fresh oranges which for 1 shekel is a wonderful refreshing drink. And then we find the Church of All Nations which contains a piece of rock as the centre-piece “The Rock of Agony” as this is beside a remnant of the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus spent some time after the Last Supper.
Here there are some really ancient olive trees, but it is preferable to move from here very quickly because it is busy with pilgrims and tourists. Crossing the road to the right of the Church and Garden is a really quiet piece of the Garden of Gethsemane where one can sit on the grass among the trees and pray – or else celebrate Holy Communion rather than in Dominus Flevit.
My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Matthew 26:39)
“O Jesus in deepest night and agony You
spoke these words of trust and surrender to
God the Father in Gethsemane. In love and
gratitude, I want to say in times of fear and
distress, “My Father, I do not understand
You, but I trust You.”
(Text of a plaque beneath one of the ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane)
But we will return here again later in the week, so now we make our way into the Old City passing through the Lion Gate, going along part of the Via Dolorosa and find a café for a spot of lunch. We then head towards the Western Wall.
And ensuring that we are hatted it is permissible to approach the wall and mingle with the Jewish men praying there. It is amazing to find that the giant stones of the wall have pieces of paper pushed into the crevices – people for hundreds of years have left their prayers here. Here we pray for the peace of Jerusalem – a city shared by Jews, Muslims and Christians. (There is now a section of the wall that women can approach but it is divided from the male dominated section!)
On some days whole families come with their children to celebrate Bar Mitzvah. It is a sight to behold for they offer food to all and sundry and celebrate with singing and dancing as their young men become adults by reading publicly from the Hebrew scriptures.
His journey from the Mount of Olives led Jesus into the city and he made his way to the Temple (Luke:19).
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer];but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.”
Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
Today, above the Western or Wailing Wall is the Temple Mount. On the Temple Mount is the wonderful shrine of Mount Moriah where Abraham was ready to sacrifice Isaac. It is a wonderful building to enter: but it is built here because Muslims believe that that the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven at this spot: it is their third holiest place after Mecca and Medina. Nearby is also the El Aqsa mosque: As both Muslim sites are built on the Temple Mount – the holiest of Jewish sites, occasionally tensions flare up, and pilgrims are unable to gain access: but because of the association with Abraham it is worth a look, for remember even Muslims venerate the Old Testament Patriarchs as we do!
And as we leave, we reflect, after the amazement at these buildings the words of Paul:
(1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
Do you not know that you are God’s Temple, and that God’s spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s Temple, God will destroy him. For God’s Temple is holy, and that temple you are.
There we have had a busy day, full of conflicting sounds, sights and emotions – time to return to the hotel for a break!
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