Tour of Christian Jerusalem

We met our new tour guide, David, today and spent the day with him starting with a cab ride to the Mount of Olives  where we spent a little time looking at the Jewish cemetery.  Jews think when the Messiah comes they will all be wakened in their graves and will rise up in Jerusalem first.  so they want to be buried there. 

After an orientation to the old city and a great view Jerusalem ,

we walked the Palm Sunday route.  Below is an Arab man and his donkey on the Palm Sunday route.

to the Lion's Gate aka St. Stephen's Gate to the Via Delorosa in old Jerusalem.  This is the route that Jesus took on his way to the cross to be crucified, also called for Catholics, Stations of the Cross.  It is also where Israeli storm troopers in 1967 stormed Temple Mount and took back Jerusalem for the Jews after being exiled for 2000 years.  David differentiated between traditional Christian sites and historically accurate sites.  Traditional sites can't use archaeology to proved, but even before Catholic or orthodox churches, there were ancient Christians that came to venerate certain places and some of those traditions continue. Historically accurate sites use archaeology and the scientific community agrees that these sites correct.  The most important site in Christianity, Church of the Holy Sepulchre is one of these places.  The crucifixion and the tomb where Jesus was buried are historically accurate and scholars of Judaism, the Greek Orthodox church and the Catholic church in addition to scientists and archaeologist all agree that this is the site.  People waited for 2 hours today to get to walk in the tomb where Jesus was buried.  It looks nothing like when Jesus was buried there.

The Garden of Gethsemane, which means olive mill, does have olive tree that are 1000 years old--not 2000 like some people think

 

Also the spot where Judas betrayed Jesus is marked by the Church of the Agony.  It is also called the Church of all Nations and was built after WWI because that was going to be the war to end all wars and many nations including the United States contributed money to build a new church.  Remains of a Byzantine and then Crusader church were found there. 

   

David said the most common tourist to the Jerusalem is fundamentalist Christians.  We saw them walking around the outside of St. Anne's church and singing.  Apparently going into a Catholic church is problematic for them.  St Anne's church was the birthplace of the Mary's mother, Anne.  Most of the churches were destroyed when Saladin's troops took the Holy Land for the Muslims, but Saladin thought St. Anne's was so beautiful that he kept it and changed the inscription over the door to read that "I, Saladin the Great, declare this a Muslim seminary".  Hard to read, but that essentially what it says.

    There is an order of Nuns called the Sisters of Zion who live and work in the old quarter whose job is to create cooperation and understanding between the Catholic Church and the Jews.  One of the most important changes of Vatican is was that the church demanded that all Catholics change their view of Jews from being "Christ killers" and view all Jews as not being responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.  The Catholic church apologized to the Jews and said that they certainly couldn't do anything to change what's been done, but they will  go forward in a way to right whatever wrong they could towards the Jews.

David encouraged us while we're in the Holy Land-- try to connect with a human Jesus and a Jewish man of 2000 years ago.