Today was a packed day! First thing this morning, we entered into the Old City of Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter to visit the Western Wall. The Western Wall is the holiest place in the world for the Jewish faith. It is the remnant of the Temple with original Herodian stones that house the Ark of the Covenant, which was believed to be the very dwelling of God in the holy city. It was awesome to see people of the Jewish faith gathering there with their prayer shawls and prayer books in prayer. The men and women went to different sides to pray. When I walked up to the wall, I was fascinated by one young woman standing there. She was probably in her teens and she had her face buried in her prayer book or Torah (couldn’t tell exactly what it was) and she seemed so reverently in prayer and reflection. She is to my right in the picture:
I wondered what she was praying about and thinking about. I also noticed the amounts of small papers stuffed in the wall, which you can also see in the pictures. These are prayers that have been written by people from all over the world to place in the holy place. For me, it was a moment where I felt close to God, and also very conscious of my Jewish background. I thought about my mom back home and how I wished she could be experiencing the Wall with me. I wrote down some prayers of my own and put them in the wall. It was a wonderful experience. For me, I really enjoyed watching the people at the wall, wondering what their prayers were, wondering what this really meant to them. It was truly beautiful.
Following the Western Wall, we walked around and saw the excavations of the Southern Wall of the temple. We were all amazed by the size of the stones that were there as a result of excavations and destruction of the temple itself. Then it was on to the teaching steps, where there were original steps from the time of Jesus. We were told that these steps were most likely used by Jesus as he would have entered the temple to teach, worship, sacrifice, and where he would have perhaps overturned the tables of the money changers: “On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them he said, ‘Is it not written, my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers.” (Mark 11:15-17) Here is our group on the teaching steps.
Then we went from the steps to the tomb of King David, which quite honestly wasn’t all that interesting, but we had to separate men and women again to see the tomb. Of course, the remains of King David are probably unknown. But it was cool to see it anyway.
From there we went to the Upper Room, the spot believed to be where Jesus and his disciples gathered for the Passover meal and where the Last Supper was celebrated and Holy Communion was instituted, and where Jesus washed the disciples’ feet (Gospel of John). Our group was lucky to have the whole room to ourselves for a good ten minutes or so. We listened to our guide tell the story of the Last Supper, which we all know so well. We then sang a few songs, one which included “We are standing on holy ground…and I know that there are angels all around. Let us praise Jesus now. We are standing in His presence on holy ground.”
Finally, we made our way to the House of Caiaphas, the high priest at the time of Jesus who played a key role in the trial of Jesus during his arrest and crucifixion. It was also the spot believed to be where Peter denied Jesus three times. At this house, we descended into a prison pit or dungeon believed to be the place (or a place like) where Jesus was held as a prisoner before his death. Once in the pit, we all stood and heard a reading from Psalm 88, which includes these verses: “You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves…I call to you, Lord, every day I spread out my hands to you…the darkness is my closest friend.” It was a holy moment for us all. We listened, we stood in the darkness in silence, and then sang together “Amazing Grace,” “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” and a few more songs. Our voices rose from the pit of darkness, and we thanked God for what God has done for us, and then we ascended into the light.
I think we all came out a little more humble. It was a blessing.
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