Israel: Day Six

Greetings all,

Well today is the big day for the walking tour of the Old City. We begin at the sheep gate and immediately turn right into St. Anne's Church which commermorates the birthplace of Mary the mother of Jesus and is at the site of the pools of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic who had no one to place him in the pool. The depth and expanse of the ruins of the pools is pretty overwhelming, but the church is spectacular. The acoustics provide and 8 second reverberation that makes our motley crew sound spectacular as we sing the Alleluia chorus. Back on the street heading west to the Antonio Fortress and the beginning of the Via De Larosa, the way of suffering. The traditional route has all of the spots of the stations of the cross marked, many with chapels.

The Antonio Fortress is a school today so we cannot enter, but this is where Pontius Pilate sat in judgment of a Jesus and washed his hands of any guilt. From there we go to the Chapel of the Flagellation followed by the chapel of the Condemnation. These places mark stations one and two. We travel the route and come to three, Jesus' first fall and four where he encountered his mother. Moving onto the Cardo we travel south a bit to station five, where Simon of Cyrene is told to carry the cross. There is a chapel but we don't go in. From here we turn north and begin a very steep climb up hill. Station aix is where Hesus encounters Veronique, the woman who gives him the rag to wipe his face. Tradition holds that after wiping his face the image of it was left behind on the rag. Continuing west we pass seven, his second fall and eight where he encounters the women of Jerusalem. Nine is right outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and is his third and final fall. Ten through fourteen are in the church.

As you enter the church you immediately ascend an ancient stairwell to your right. This takes you to ten, where they strip Jesus of his clothes and eleven where He was nailed to the cross. There is art on the wall, misaics on the floor and incredible chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. As you move left around the corner you come to the altar above Calvary. You can kneel and crawl under the altar to touch the rock where the raised the cross. This is stations 12 and 13, Jesus' death and removal from the cross. We descend the stairs by a slab of marble which is venerated as the stone upon which they laid Jesus' body to prepare it for burial. While our plan is to walk around to the shrine of the tomb, the 14th station placing His body in the tomb, our guide directs us down to the chapel of St Gregory. He has arranged with the Armenian bishop for us to get a private tour of a chapel beneath  St Gregory's which is part of the ancient quarry beneath Calvary where there is first or second century graffiti evidence that this area was the place venerated as the spot where Jesus did in fact die. It is a holy moment and a new spit to see even for Bishop Davis and he had traveled to the Holyland fifteen times. Back upstairs to get in line to enter the shrine surrounding the tomb.

One thing anyone who travels to Israel must understand is that most of the holy places you will visit don't look like what we envision because most every site has had a church built over it. The tomb is no different. Going back to before the Byzantine era, the stone was chiseled away around the tomb so they could enclose it in a shrine to protect it. Over the ages more layers were added to the outside to strengthen its structure. While it doesn't feel right or pluck the heart strings, it is most likely the place. Once everyone has had a chance to enter, we take a moment in a small gery old chapel right behind the shrine which also has a tomb still in tact that they was the tomb where Joseph of Arimethea was final laid. Back out to the courtyard, it is time for lunch. Fladfel or Chicken Swarmma?

After lunch we walk through the reestablished Jewish marketplace along the Roman Cardo, which is in essence an ancient shopping mall. We keep moving, our destination is the Western Wall. Once through security we are there. Once more a time of prayer for our church and then off to the Archaeological park where I spent yesterday. It is almost time for me to preach. The group goes through the Davidson Center museum part and I head for the teaching steps. I climb them praying to calm my heart, I practice two more times and can't get it under nine minutes. Then it occurs to me, perhaps it was God speaking, that the group was tired from walking all over the city and would probably be happy to sit there for a twenty or thirty minutes sermon even if just for the chance to rest. I text Christa and ask her to pray for me and here they come. I meet them at the bottom of the steps. It is time to preach. We read Psalm 120, 130 and 134. Deep breath and go..." I must confess I have a love hate relationship with steps...." I go on to share about steps being a transitional place and these steps in particular being a transition between the secular and the sacred. Are we ready to allow God to transition us, transform us, so that we come back more atuned to the holy and ready to live for him? Based on feedback I did okay, God be praised! We sing a hymn and then it is time to head for the hotel. It has been a good day, and jazz and coffee in the hotel lounge after dinner makes it that much better.

Your brother in Christ
Faron