Our first stop Saturday the 19th was the traditional site of Jesus' ascension into heaven from the summit of the Mt. of Olives. Below is the small chapel located on that spot.

     Inside is an impression in the granite which tradition said was made by Jesus' foot as he ascended. In the picture on the left, Alice is touching the stone. The one on the right is of a small dove that had flown in and was resting on the small open window sill. Regardless of the authenticity of the site, the imagery of the dove, coupled with the beam of light shining down was pretty neat.

     The next picture is of the courtyard of the church built on the traditional site where Jesus taught His disciples the 'Lord's Prayer.' 

Immediately prior to our going into this area a pick pocket had stolen a fair amount of money from me. Needless to say, as our group gathered to pray the Lord's Prayer, the phrase 'forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone who sins against us ...,' took on a heightened meaning.

 From there we walked a short distance down to where our group picture was going to be taken. The view that awaited us is probably one of the most famous in the world. It is most certainly the one that comes to everyone's mind when you hear the word 'Jerusalem.' There before us, 

A short distance to our right (north) was the 'Palm Sunday Road' which is the original path down the face of the Mt. of Olives that leads to the Garden of Gethsemane. It is said that this is the road Jesus traveled when He entered Jerusalem led by crowds of people shouting 'Hosanna.'  I clearly remember that as our group walked down the path we mixed with other tour groups who were also headed for the Garden. As we walked several people began singing "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it" which comes from the 118th Psalm.

     I thought that it was truly wonderful that this is the song that everyone was singing as we approached Gethsemane. According to Jewish custom, the last hymn that is sung during Passover is the 118th Psalm. Matt. 26:30 tells us that immediately prior to leaving for the Mt of Olives Jesus and His disciples sung a hymn. How wonderful to contemplate that as we walked along we may have been singing the very same Psalm as did our Lord some 1980 years earlier. 

     Some of you may be wondering how Jesus could have sung '...this is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.' Especially in light of the fact that He knew what awaited Him. I believe that the answer to that has to do with the meaning of the word 'rejoice.' In Hebrew that word is guwl, and is # 1523 in Strong's Concordance. It means to 'spin around.' Literally to dance before the Lord. Now that is a picture most people do not have of the last supper in the upper room, but anyone who has been to a Jewish feast or festival knows that they do not sit on their hands when they sing. If the song says 'dance,' they 'dance.'

     So here was Jesus and his disciples dancing before the Lord that final evening together. Now comes the neat part. Jeremiah 8:10 tells us that the 'joy of the Lord is our strength.' As such, there is every possibility that some of the strength Jesus received in order to face that which awaited Him in only a few short hours came when He openly and freely praised the Father by dancing before Him in worship. If you are interested in looking into this topic a little more thoroughly, take a look at Chapter 17 of our on-line book entitled Needful Things.

   

This is the interior of the Church of All Nations that stands at the foot of the Mt of Olives. And below it to the right, the church can be seen surrounded by the Garden area.
 

Before traveling to Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity, we stopped in Bethany to view the site tradition says is Lazarus' grave. The stairs come in from the top left hand side of the picture.  The actual opening to the burial chamber is the large rectangular opening at the bottom.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Manger square in Bethlehem is one of the most traditional sites for any visitor to the Holy Land. In this picture our group is walking toward the entrance of the Church.

The entrance itself is at the far end of the square, and one must crouch down low in order to enter. While some have said it was built this way so that a person must humble themselves in order to enter, others have said it was built like that so animals, particularly horses and camels could not enter. For whatever reason, here is a more close-up view of the entrance. We were fortunate when we arrived, for there were no other groups waiting to get in. As such we could spend a little more time walking through the area.

The next shot is of the interior of the church. The actual grotto revered as the birth place of our Savior is towards the front of the church and off to the right, down a small flight of stairs.

Upon entering the church I was struck by the heavy sent of incense that filled the air. The columns supporting the roof were blackened with centuries of smoke from the incense that has been burned here. Regardless of whether or not this is the actual place of Jesus' birth, one cannot help but be drawn back to that time and be thankful that the Lord of the Universe, Creator of everything, loved us so much that He took upon Himself the form of His creation in order to save us from our sins.
 
 

     The stone manger was taken by the Crusaders. It is now located in a church in Italy. While this in no ways proves the authenticity of this location, that fact alone indicates that this site has been viewed as Jesus' birthplace for more than a 1000 years.

As we left Bethlehem we drove past the shepherd's fields located on the edge of town. Unlike the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I knew that there had been real Shepherd's fields outside of Bethlehem. 

Somehow, the simplicity of this Bedouin shepherd boy who was tending this particular flock seemed to bring everything into focus, and served as a fitting end to this day. Jesus had come in humility to bring life to all mankind.