Jerusalem - Page Two
As we leave the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we pass by Redeemer Lutheran Church. This church dates to 1898 and stands on the site of the Church of St. Mary of the Latins, which dates to the eleventh century CE.
We will now move to the central place in Jerusalem where Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all intersect, the Temple Mount.
For Judaism, this is where David purchased the threshing floor of Araunah (2 Samuel 24:18-25). David would later place the ark of the covenant here and Solomon would build the temple here.
Jesus would come to this place and teach, as well as drive out the money changers and peddlers. (Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15, Luke 19:45-48, John 2:14-15)
For Islam, the Temple Mount is recognized as "the futhermost sanctuary" where Muhammed was taken into heaven on his night journey to receive the Koran.
As we approach the Temple Mount, the El-Aksa Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in Islam, comes into view. It dates to Caliph al-Walid in about 712 CE.
Across the way from the El-Aksa Mosque stands what may be the most well-known sight in Israel, the Dome of the Rock.
We join visitors and pilgrims who come to this most holy and historic site.
The Dome of the Rock is the oldest mosque in Islam. It dates to about 691 CE and is built upon what is probably the threshing floor of Araunah. After Mecca and Medina, it is the most holy place for Islam. It is also the place where many Jews want to build the third temple.
Inside, we can see that the structure is carefully and beautifully decorated. Countless Muslims come here to face Mecca and pray to Allah. In the center is the flat bedrock that was probably the threshing floor of Araunah.
Since the Dome of the Rock stands on the site of the Jewish Temple, Jews no longer go there to worship or pray. Next to the Temple Mount, the best thing that Jews have access to is a portion of the city wall built by Herod the Great, now called the Western Wall (also called the Wailing Wall).
This wall is constantly visited by Christian pilgrims and Jews who come to pray. Since it is under the control of Orthodox Jews, it is divided with men on the left side and women on the right side.
Here we can see a common event held at the Western Wall. This is a Bar-Mitzvah. It is the first time a young Jewish boy or girl reads from the Torah in public (Baat-Mitzvah for girls). It is a joyous celebration with the lifting of Torah scrolls, as can be seen in the picture. This is similar to confirmation in the Christian Church.
It is customary to write a prayer on a scrap of paper and leave it in the wall. That is the white which can be seen in the seams of the stones in the picture.
At the Western Wall, we are at the "back" of the old city. We are now going to move to the right to the corner of the city wall. This site is now called the Temple Mount Excavations. The Western Wall, where we just were, is below the pink arrow.
We will now move to the excavations. We are going to be under the formation in the center of the picture that seems to be coming out of the wall. It is called Robinson's Arch and used to support an entrance to the city.
Part of what makes this site so special is that the stones of the street you see are original first century stones. In all likelihood, Jesus and the disciples walked upon these very stones! The city wall is barely visible to the right in the picture. In addition, some of the rubble that can be seen along the wall is from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE and 135 CE.
This is the area to the left of the street. It would have probably housed shops and even money changers such as Jesus spoke of.
This is a reproduction of a stone that was found in the excavations. Again, it comes from the Roman destructions. It was the corner stone at the top of the wall in the first century CE.
We will now move around the corner of the wall back towards the Mount of Olives to a place called the Teaching Steps. These steps were the entrance to the city from the area of the Old City of David below. It was on these steps that Jesus did much of his teaching and preaching. (The hillside in the distance is the Mount of Olives.)
Just below and left of the window in the picture is an archway of what used to be a one of the doors into the city from these steps.
As we leave, here is a good view of the Teaching Steps.
Before moving on, let's get a perspective on what we have just seen. This is another panorama from the Mount of Olives. This time, the view has shifted to the left (south) a bit. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Redeemer Lutheran Church are under the orange arrow. The Western Wall is at the blue arrow. The Dome of the Rock is at the right edge of the picture. The El-Aksa Mosque is the dark dome just to the right of the pink arrow. Under the pink arrow is the Teaching steps. The area beneath the red area is the area of the Old City of David.
There is little to be seen in the area of the Old City of David in terms of excavations. However, there is Hezekiah's Tunnel. This tunnel was dug during the reign of King Hezekiah when Sennacherib the Assyrian besieged the city in 701 BCE (2 Chronicles 32:2-4,30; 2 Kings 20:20). It enabled people within the city to get water from the Gihon Spring without having to leave the safety of the city walls. The tunnel winds through about 1750 feet of solid rock and empties at the Pool of Siloam. In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man and tells him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. Below is a picture of what the pool looks like now as one exits Hezekiah's Tunnel.
After exiting the steps up from the Siloam Pool, we will go to what became the traditional tomb of King David. For this reason, it is considered a holy spot. It is also a place for study of Torah. At left is an ark with tablets of the Ten Commandments on top and Torah scrolls behind the curtains. At right is the tomb.
Now we will move to the traditional place of the Upper Room. It is not certain that this is the authentic one. However, this is an upper room in the vicinity that the gospels describe the Last Supper (Matthew 26:18, Mark 14:15, Luke 22:12).
(picture used with permission from Israel: Pictorial Guide and Souvenir, copyright Palphot Ltd.)
In the far corner of the above picture there is an interesting carving. It is of a particular kind of bird which is known for letting its young pick meat from its breast in the event of a shortage of food. This brings to mind the sacrifice that Jesus made, offering his body so that we too might live.
The last stop on our journey in and around Jerusalem is the house of Caiphas the High Priest. There is now a church built there called St. Peter in Gallicantu, which means "St. Peter of the cock crow." It is named in this way because the gospels say Peter's denial of Jesus, which was followed by the cock crowing, took place outside the house of Caiphas, where Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin for trial. There is a golden rooster atop the church in remembrance of Peter's denial.
There is also a statue outside the church in remembrance of this event.
(Matthew 26:74, Mark 14:68, Luke 22:60, John 18:27)
The inside of the church is beautifully decorated, with a large cross in the domed ceiling and a painting depicting Jesus standing before Caiphas and the Sanhedrin over the altar.
Below the church in what may have been Caiphas' house is an assortment of rooms and cells where Jesus would have been held captive and tried (Matthew 26:57-68).
This completes our journey in and around Jerusalem. Remember that we started on the Mount of Olives looking at Jerusalem. Below is a shot of the Mount of Olives from Caiphas' house to illustrate how far we have come. Below us in the picture is the Old City of David and to the left is the southern wall of Jerusalem with the Teaching Steps. Directly ahead is the Mount of Olives.
