4th Day, 24th May, Mt Olives, Gethsamane, Bethlehem

Start of Day 4.
Pickup at the Olive Tree Hotel Jerusalem. We covered visits to Mt Olives, Gethsemane and Bethlehem.
It's going to be exciting to walk where Jesus walked!

First visit: the Chapel of the Ascension the traditional spot where Jesus ascended to heaven.


The Chapel of Ascension is a small domed octagonal building on top of Mt Olives.
Seen below- entrance to the Chapel






Luke 24:50-52The Ascension
(Mark 16:19,20; Acts 1:9)
And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.
52 And they worshiped Him,

Stone impression of a footstep said to have been made by Jesus ascending to heaven.

Meriam touching the footprint.

I am doing the same. Whether it is the actual footprint made by Christ or not, our faith in Christ and what the word says makes us feel Blessed during moments like these.

The Book of Zechariah states:

Zech 14:44

"And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,Which faces Jerusalem on the east.And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,"

Below: External view of the Chapel (renovations being conducted)

Entrance to the Church of the Pater Noster - 
The church is built over a cave in which Jesus taught His disciples the Lord's Prayer.Ceramic plaques of the Lord's Prayer in 60 different languages surround the courtyard of the Pater Noster.

The Lord's Prayer in Bahasa Indonesia

View from the Mount- Facing West (260 deg)

View from the Mount of Jerusalem facing West (270 deg)

View of Jerusalem from the Mt of Olives. Facing nearly West (280 deg)

Below: Facing the city looking WNW. In the fore ground, on the slopes of Mt Olives, is the Church of Dominus Flevit. Here Jesus is said to have wept as He foresaw the doom of Jerusalem and accordingly, the Church is in the shape of a tear.
Refer,  Luke 21:41-44

Tomb of the Prophets
Below - Palm Sunday Route - Jesus Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem riding a colt of a donkey.

Matt 27:50-53

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

It is stated that the graves referred to in the above scripture, are those from this site.

We pass these graves as we take the 'Palm Sunday' route.

View of Dome from Mt Olives

Below - Both of us on the Mt of Olives. Facing West towards the Dome of the Rock.

To the right of us, just before the pine tree top, is the Golden Gate. This is the only one shut today.

This gate, will open again at second coming of Christ, whereby the Messiah will enter the Temple Courts through it.

Thorn bush similar to the crown of thorns that Jesus was made to wear for His Crucifixion.

We continue on the narrow road from Mt Olives to Garden of Gethsemane. The same route that Jesus took for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This event is also remembered by Christians as Palm Sunday. He rode down on a donkey's colt. Just above the Meriam's red umbrella in the background note the graveyard referred to above.

The beautiful garden in which Jesus spent many, many hours praying and communicating with the Father.
Below - Ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. Gat-shamma is olive press in Aramaic.

Another view of the olive tress in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The cupola of the Church of All Nations.

Inside the Basilica of the Agony. In the foreground the 'Rock of Agony' on which Jesus reflected on the agony He was to go through in the next 18 hours?

Garden of Gethsemane the Church of All Nations (also known as the Basilica of the Agony) in the foreground.

City of David


Looking across at the Mt of Olives; City of David is in the foreground.

Mount Zion and the City of David


A general view of the City of David

Looking down from Old Jerusalem at the City of David- The Pool of Siloam is near the V-shaped street junction in the foreground.





Below the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu is an array of caves and the Sacred Pit.
We next visited these underground caves "discovered in 1889 their physical characteristics, their proximity to Caiaphas palace, and their continuity with the Sacred Pit (dungeon), all suggested the public jail where, according to a 4th century Jerusalem tradition not recorded in the gospels, Jesus would have been scourged not only by Pilate but by Caiaphas, and where the apostles Peter and John would have been held and scourged for preaching the name of Jesus in the Temple area after resurrection."

Diagrammatic display of the layout and legend.

Meriam standing in the pit.

Sacred pit- Evacuations in 1889 uncovered 3 Byzantine crosses in the orifice in the diagram below, 7 red and 4 black oxide crosses on the walls. Also a silhoutte of a praying figure on the wall (7).
Prompted by the dungeon like appearance of this pit, and its proximity to Caiaphas palace, the Byzantines recalled here Jesus imprisonment overnight as He awaited trail before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. Christian's continue to remember Jesus the suffering servant which the psalmist has propehised in Ps 88.

Deep in the 'pit', our Tour guide reading aloud about the significance of the place, 

Church of St Peter in Gallicantun.
According to tradition, the locatin of the palace of high priest Caiaphas, where Jesus was brought to jail after His arrest. Its name (Gallicantu, in Latin, means the cock's crow) is given after Peter's triple denial of Christ and the cock crowing twice. 


Below, ancient flight of steps that lead up to the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu. 
It is believed to be trodden by Jesus on His way to be tried at the House of Caiphas. It is also the route He took, to the Mt of Olives.

The steps that Jesus took many times on that Thursday night prior to crucifixion, when He was shuttled to and fro by Caiaphas. These steps are pretty slippery to walk on!

Below: Inscription reads "After the Supper Jesus left the Conadel with His disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley.

Bethleham
Now over to Bethlehem the birth place of our Lord Jesus. Currently the place is inhabited by Arab Palestinians. It is sad to see that the whole area is surrounded by walls built by Israel to prevent suicide bombers. Very strict security prevailed at the entry points into the city.

Courtyard to the Church of Nativity

Basilica of the Nativity.

Columns of the Basilica.

Me standing by traditional site of the manger where Jesus was born.

The Star of Bethlehem. Site where Jesus was born.

Both of us standing by a beautiful mosaic depicting the angel appearing to the shepherds in the field.

The Below: A typical Shepherd's field.

This ends Day 4 of our Pilgrimage.