First Christian Church, Wauchula, FL

  Today was our last day in Israel.  It has been such an amazing trip it’s hard to believe it’s almost over.  Today our journey began a few miles outside the old city of Jerusalem at the very spot Jesus took His Disciples to stand watch while he went to pray, the Mount of Olives.  This is the time His Disciples kept falling asleep while He was praying.  The Mount of Olives is where all Jews want to be buried.  They believe through     Scripture that when the Messiah comes He will come to the Mount of Olives, so they want to be buried there so they will be called up with Him.  To date there are over 50,000 Jews buried at this site.  The cemetery takes up almost the entire side of the Mount of Olives facing the temple.  It is an amazing site to see.

  We then began walking the path Jesus walked the led Him to the Garden of Gethsemane.  On our way we stopped at a location they believe is the very first Jewish/Christian burial site.  All of the burials boxes here were very small and at first glance you would think them to be for children, but that’s not the case.  Jews don’t bury their bodies in coffins; they put them directly in the earth so they can be returned to the earth from which they came.  After the bodies have been buried for a year the family digs them up and places the bones in the burial box.  So, the boxes here were smaller because it was only bones that were placed inside.

 Once we reached the Garden of Gethsemane I began to remember that this was the very place Jesus prayed in agony, sweat drops of blood asking God to let this cup pass from Him, however, He was willing to carry this out if it was what God wanted of Him.  I’ve been through some pretty difficult times in my life, dealt with a lot of pain through all my kidney problems, been grieved over tragic loss in my family, and horrible situations I’ve put myself in but never, never have I sweat drops of blood.  It’s hard to fathom how difficult this must have been for Jesus.  The oldest Olive trees in the world exist in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Some of the trees are dated back 3000 years.  Jesus was praying here among these trees.  It was quite a thrill to be standing among them knowing that Jesus was here and that this was the place He came to be close to God.  (giving thanks) The Garden was also where the soldiers came with Judas to arrest Jesus.  It’s where Judas planted “the kiss of betrayal” on Jesus.  It’s where Peter cut of the ear of the Roman soldier Malchus and Jesus stepped in and healed him.  How humbling to stand here knowing what Christ did for me.

 After we left the Garden we traveled into the city of Jerusalem.  It was like traveling back in time.  The streets were lined with shops selling anything and everything.  Some stores had spices set out in bowls where you could come in, pick out the spices you want and purchase them.  Other stores had meat just hanging in the doorways for your selection.  Some stores sold very beautiful jewelry, hand made bags, scarves, etc.  All the streets were extremely narrow and as we were walking along I saw it…The Via Dolorosa.  We followed the path Jesus took as He carried the very cross on which He would die for my sins.  (giving thanks) Today the road is lined with shops, back in the time of Jesus it would have been lined with houses.  Very humbling to stand on the road and think that my sins caused this journey to take place.  My sins led Jesus to carry His cross down this very road.  It also made me grateful that He loved me enough to walk it for me.  (giving thanks) We saw the location of the beating, we saw the spot He fell and received help from Simon in carrying His cross.  I found myself only able to say “Thank you Jesus” over and over again. 

 We visited two sites that are possible locations of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.  One is called The Church of the Holy Seplecure.  It is completely covered by a church but they have a stone they believe held the cross of Jesus in place and a destroyed tomb they believe was the burial location of Jesus.  To me the biggest problem was that this location didn’t really line up with scripture.  Scripture says that Jesus was crucified on the place called “the skull” Golgotha outside of the city and placed in a tomb near where He died.  We visited another location directly on “the place of the skull”, Golgotha.  Everyone knows of this place, it’s always been called Golgotha and when you look at it, it looks like a skull.  Golgotha is located just outside the city, directly in line with the route taken by Jesus and there is a tomb that fits the description in the scriptures as well.  Scripture says it was a new tomb.  The tomb near Golgotha was new at the time of Jesus; in fact the side of the tomb that was still unfinished in Jesus time is still unfinished today.  It was never completed.  Most family tombs like this were laid out where the room used to prepare the body for burial was directly in front of the burial room.  So, they would prepare the body and then carry the body directly forward to bury them.  However, in scripture when Mary and Martha went to the tomb to prepare the body, it says they saw the angel of the Lord on the right.  This tomb was different then most tombs of its day.  When you were standing in the room used to prepare the body you would have to turn and go to the right to place the bodies in the tomb.  This is exactly how it would have been for them to bury Jesus.  While standing there I could envision the women coming to the tomb, seeing the stone gone, coming inside, standing in the very spot I was standing, looking to the right and seeing the angel of the Lord.  I cannot tell you with all certainty that this was the place; I wasn’t there when it happened.  But, I can tell you that my heart connected with God here in this place in a way it did not at the other location.  I choose to believe that THIS WAS THE PLACE! (giving thanks)      

 I laid my hands on the mountain of Golgotha and cried as I thanked God for dying for me.  I stood in the tomb of Jesus, weeping, thanking Him that what I was standing in was an empty tomb!  Jesus was not there, He is risen, just as He said!  (giving thanks) Totally unbelievable, words fall woefully short at a moment like this.  Even now I can barely write about it without crying.  I’m certain that the woman seated next to me on the plane as I sit here and journal about this experience is wondering what in the world is wrong with the blubbering idiot sitting next to her.  But, when Jesus gets a hold of you, you really don’t care much about what people around you think.  What a totally amazing experience.  One that will never be forgotten. (giving thanks)

 We finished up our time shopping in the old city of Jerusalem.  It was interesting to say the least bargaining with all the store owners as I worked to find just the right gifts to bring home to my family.

 I have to tell you it has been an amazing trip.  A trip that has been educational but more than that, it’s been sort of a pilgrimage.  God has shown me in an up close and personal way how to connect with His word through understanding the locations and the people better.  He has also connected in a new and fresh way with my heart.  He has refreshed in me His Spirit and strengthened the fire that burns in my heart for Him.  I hope that journaling this experience will be in some small way a window for you to see what I saw, and a way for you to understand that the sacrifice He made wasn’t just for me but it was for you too!

  Shalom