Holy Land Pilgrimage - Day Nine, Part Two

Still in Old Jerusalem...

Church of the Flagellation: According to tradition the church enshrines the spot where Jesus Christ was flogged by Roman soldiers before his journey down the Via Dolorosa to Calvary.

The Via Dolorosa (Latin for Way of Grief or Way of Suffering) is a street, in two parts, within the Old City, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions. It is today marked by nine Stations of the Cross; there have been fourteen stations since the late 15th century, with the remaining five stations being inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The route is a place of Christian pilgrimage.

Station 1 and 2: Jesus is condemned to death and given His cross

The Church of the Flagellation and Condemnation (see picture above)

Station 3: Jesus falls for the first timeStation 4: Jesus meets His mother

Station 5: Simon carries the cross

Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

Station 7: Jesus falls a second time

Station 8: Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem

The Via Dolorosa ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church may well be the place where Jesus was crucified. However, it is not likely that this was the site of his burial and resurrection. It is, though, "tradition" that this where Christ was crucified, buried and where he was resurreted. The last five Stations of the Cross are found in this church.


The Church is venerated as Golgotha, (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified, and is said to also contain the place where Jesus was buried (the sepulchre). The church has been an important Christian pilgrimage destination since at least the 4th century, as the purported site of the resurrection of Jesus.

Behind this man is where the cross is said to have been placed to crucify Jesus.

Just inside the entrance of the church is The Stone of Anointing, also known as The Stone of Unction, which tradition claims to be the spot where Jesus' body was prepared for burial by Joseph of Arimathea.

The Rotunda is located in the centre of the Anastasis, beneath the larger of the church's two domes. In the center of the Rotunda is the chapel called The Edicule, which contains the Holy Sepulchre itself (where some believe Jesus was buried). We were able to take turns and go inside.

I had a really hard time finding out what "stations" were what and where - the internet has all kinds of "versions". It was a bit frustrating. But despite the fact that no one can agree on what happened where, the Via Delorosa was quite an experience for me. It was one of the highlights of the trip. To walk where Jesus walked, while He carried the cross, to be crucified for my sins... wow, words cannot explain how it felt to be there!! As I walked along, I sang the song "Via Delorosa" in my head.. wow, just... wow!!

After walking the Via Delorosa, we stopped at a sidewalk cafe for lunch. I, of course, had to have another Felafel! They are just so good!!

Our guide, George, starting calling us his "honey cookies" at the beginning of the trip. Someone found a bag of honey cookies and gave them to George. It was pretty funny! George was a great guide, very knowledgeable and very funny. If we needed to use the restroom, he called that "coffee out"- funny!!!

This is said to be where Satan tempted Christ: "Then the devil took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If you are the Son of God throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He will give His angels charge concerning you,' and, 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." - Matthew 4:5-6. Jesus said to him, "On the other hand it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" - Matthew 4:7.

We then met up with the bus driver and he took us to the Israel Museum. They had an outside model of Old Jerusalem. It was huge!! It showed Jerusalem as it would have been in Jesus' time.

We then got to go inside the Shrine of the Book. The Shrine of the Book, a wing of the Israel Museum, houses the Dead Sea Scrolls—discovered 1947–56 in 11 caves in and around the Wadi Qumran. Of course, pictures were not allowed inside.

Our next stop was the Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb, located in Jerusalem, outside the city walls and close to the Damascus Gate, is a rock-cut tomb considered by some to be the site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus, and to be adjacent to Golgotha, in contradistinction to the traditional site for these—the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There is no mention of the Garden Tomb as the place of Jesus' burial before the nineteenth century. During the nineteenth century some doubts were raised concerning the authenticity of the traditional site. In 1883, near to the Damascus Gate, General Gordon found a rocky escarpment, which from several angles resembled the face of a skull; since one of the possible etymologies for Golgotha is the Aramaic word for skull, and may refer to the shape of the place, Gordon concluded that the rocky escarpment was likely to have been Golgotha. Prior to Gordon, this possibility had also been suggested by Colonel Conder in 1870, by Fisher Howe in 1871, and by the German scholar Otto Thenius in 1842. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has its tomb just a few yards away from its Golgotha, corresponding with the account of John the Evangelist: "Now in the place where he was crucified there was a ... new tomb" (John 19:41). In 1869 a number of tombs had also been found near Gordon's Golgotha, and Gordon concluded that one of them must have been the tomb of Jesus. John also specifies that Jesus' tomb was located in a garden; consequently, an ancient wine pres and cistern have been cited as evidence that the area had once been a garden, and the somewhat isolated tomb adjacent to the cistern has become identified as the Garden Tomb of Jesus. This particular tomb also has a stone groove running along the ground outside it, which Gordon argued to be a slot that once housed a stone, corresponding to the biblical account of a stone being rolled over the tomb entrance to close it. The tomb has two chambers, the second to the right of the first, with stone benches along the sides of each wall in the second chamber, except the wall joining it to the first, and along the back wall of the first chamber; the benches have been heavily damaged but are still discernible. Due to the archaeological issues the Garden Tomb site raises, several scholars have rejected its claim to be Jesus' tomb. However, despite the archaeological discoveries, the Garden Tomb has become a popular place of pilgrimage among Protestants. Though acceptance of the validity of the traditional site, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is not a tenet of faith for any major Christian denomination, many Catholic and Orthodox Christians ignore the potential of the Garden Tomb, and hold fast to the traditional location. For myself, the Garden Tomb seemed more like the place Christ was buried. It just felt "right". We were able to go inside the tomb - pretty amazing!





Golgotha (near the Garden Tomb)Before we left the Garden Tomb, we had a service. We sang a couple of hymns. Brother David gave a short devotional. Then we had communion. We sang another hymn before leaving. What a powerful thing!!! Partaking in communion in the area where Christ was crucified, buried, and then raised from the dead. It was very moving! We got to keep the olive wood cup used in communion.

A couple of years ago, someones camera was snatched off their neck and there was supposed to be a ton of peddlers hounding us, so we stayed in a tight group with men on the outside and in back. It actually wasn't bad at all.

We drove by the Old City again and saw the New Gate which is the newest gate in Jerusalem's Old City Walls, built in 1898 to provide direct access to the Christian Quarter for the visit of the German Emperor William II.

Then we returned to the hotel where we relaxed for a bit before dinner. I took a short cat-nap. Dinner was at 6:30 p.m. and it was very good!

After dinner a group of us went to the hotel gift shop and then walked to Abrahams Gift Store a few blocks away. It was a lot of fun. This group of people has made me feel quite welcome. We laughed and joked together. It was very nice!

We then headed back to the hotel where we chatted a bit longer. Then we all retired to our rooms. Brenda and I were in bed by 10:00 p.m.

Holy Land Pilgrimage - Day Nine, Part One

Tuesday, March 10th:


We got up between 5:15-5:30 a.m. Breakfast was at 7:00 a.m. in the dining room. We were on the bus and heading out by 8:10 a.m.


Our main stop today was Old Jerusalem. The Old City is a 0.35 square mile walled area within the modern city of Jerusalem. Until the 1860s this area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem. The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims. Traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four uneven quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. The current walls of the Old City were built in 1538 by the Muslim Ottoman Empire Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The walls stretch for approximately 2.8 miles, and rise to a height of 16–49 feet, with a thickness of 10 ft. Altogether, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open.



The Damascus Gate is an important gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. The modern gate was built in 1542 by the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent. The original gate was presumably built in Second Temple times. The Romans built a new gate at the time of Hadrian, in the 2nd century AD. This was the northern entrance gate to the city at the time of the Crusades.

Herod's Gate adjoins the Muslim quarter, and is a short distance to the east of the Damascus Gate. This modest gate is one of the newest gates of Jerusalem. The gate is named after Herod the Great. That is because in the Crusaders' period a church was built near the gate in the belief that at the time of the Crucifixion of Jesus, Herod Antipas's house was situated at that spot.



We had to go through security to get in.




The Dome of the Rock is an important Islamic shrine and Jerusalem landmark located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The structure, the oldest example of early Islamic architecture, was completed in 691 AD at the order of Arabian Umayyad Caliph, Abd al-Malik. The site's significance stems from religious traditions regarding the rock, known as the Foundation Stone, at its heart. Jews have traditionally regarded the location of the stone as the holiest spot on Earth, the site of the Holy of Holies during the Temple Period. The Jewish tradition does not have information regarding the exact location of the Holy of Holies, but the majority of scholars and rabbis believe it is somewhere in the area of the raised platform. Because Muslim authorities refused to permit Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, the custom developed of praying near the Western Wall, since it was the site nearest to the Foundation Stone, or on the Mount of Olives facing the site of the Temple. According to Jewish tradition, the stone is the site where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. The Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the First Temple. The Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. There are groups that wish to relocate the Dome to Mecca and replace it with a Third Temple. Since Muslim religious foundations own the Dome and consider it particularly sacred such actions would inevitably lead to violence. Some religious Jews, following a rabbinic dictum, feel that the Temple should only be rebuilt in the Messianic Era, and that it would be presumptuous of people to force God's hand. However, some Evangelical Christians consider this a prerequisite to Armageddon and the Second Coming. This view is steeped in the belief that there will be a prophetic rebuilding of the Temple in place of the Dome of the Rock.



Very near the Dome of the Rock is the Golden Gate. The Golden Gate, as it is called in Christian literature, is the oldest of the current gates in Jerusalem's Old city Walls. It is said that Jesus passed through this gate on Palm Sunday. Remains of a much older gate dating to the times of the Second Jewish Temple were found. The present one was probably built in the 520s AD, as part of Justinian I's building program in Jerusalem, on top of the ruins of the earlier gate in the wall. The gate is located in the middle of the eastern side of the Temple Mount. The portal in this position was believed to have been used for ritual purposes in biblical times. In Jewish tradition, this is the gate through which the Messiah will enter Jerusalem. Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I sealed off the Golden Gate in 1541 to prevent the Messiah's entrance. The Muslims also built a cemetery in front of the gate, in the belief that the precursor to the Messiah, Elijah, would not be able to pass through the Golden Gate and thus the Messiah would not come. Like that is going to stop Christ when He returns...

Mount of Olives viewed from within the Old City. The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in eastern Jerusalem. It is named for the olive groves that covers its slopes. The Mount of Olives is associated with Jewish and Christian traditions. The mount has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years and holds approximately 150,000 graves. The Mount of Olives is frequently mentioned in the New Testament (Matthew21:1; 26:30, etc.) as the route from Jerusalem to Bethany and the place where Jesus stood when he wept over Jerusalem. Jesus is said to have spent time on the mount, teaching and prophesying to his disciples (Matthew 24–25), including the Olivet discourse, returning after each day to rest (Luke 21:37), and also coming there on the night of his betrayal (Matthew 26:39). At the foot of the Mount of Olives lies the Garden of Gethsemane. The New Testament, tells how Jesus and his friends sang together – "When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" Matthew 26:30. Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mt of Olives as recorded in the book of Acts 1:9–12.Bethesda Pools: Ruins of twin pools in the north side of the old city, close to the Lions gate. These pools supplied water to the temple during the times of the first and second temple (until Herod). There are references in the old testament to the "upper pool", which may have been the name of the northern pool. Adjacent to the pools were baths and a healing center. These baths are the site of the healing miracle of Jesus. Later, a Byzantine basilica was built over parts of the pools. The Crusaders built a small chapel over its ruins, and later a larger Basilica nearby. John 5 1-9 tells about how Jesus cured a sick man in the pools of Bethesda, which is a pool near the sheep market. The text is followed by a debate of whether healing is allowed during the Sabbath, which did not conform to the religious Jewish practices at that time. The name Bethesda means "house of mercy." The water source was a nearby spring. The Pool had five porches and according to the Bible there was a tradition that an angel moved the waters at certain times and healed the sick. It was here at the Pool of Bethesda that Jesus healed the man who was lame for thirty-eight years. Recent archaeological discoveries have again confirmed the Biblical account, that there were five porches and the fifth one divided the rectangular pool into two separate compartments. Josephus wrote about the Pool of the Sheep-market.

Byzantine Mosaic dated to the foundation of the Byzantine Bascilica in the first third of the the 5th century. It was uncovered in 1952.

The Lions' Gate is also St. Stephen's Gate. Located in the east wall, the entrance marks the beginning of the traditional Christian observance of the last walk of Jesus from prison to crucifixion, the Via Dolorosa. This gate is so named because of the tradition that the first Christian martyr, Stephen, was stoned outside this gate. However an earlier tradition locates this execution north of the city. Lions' Gate is another name for this eastern entrance into the Old City because of the four animals that decorate the gate's facade and reportedly placed there because of a dream of the builder Suleiman. The Western Wall or Wailing Wall is located in the Old City at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount. It is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple's courtyard and is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism outside of the Temple Mount itself. It has been a site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries, the earliest source mentioning Jewish attachment to the site dating from the 4th century. The sages state that anyone who prays in the Temple in Jerusalem, “it is as if he has prayed before the throne of glory because the gate of heaven is situated there and it is open to hear prayer”. Jewish Law dictates that when Jews pray the Silent Prayer, they should face towards Jerusalem, the Temple and ultimately the Holy of Holies, as all of God’s bounty and blessing emanates from that spot. Throughout the ages, the Wall is where Jews have gathered to express gratitude to God or to pray for divine mercy. There is a much publicised practice of placing slips of paper containing written prayers into the crevices of the Wall. People there to pray will write notes that they hope will come true, then place them in the cracks to come true soon.





Jewish Attire:

Western Wall Tunnel: From the outside the wall looks pretty big. But, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Most of the wall actually lies underground, and below the Old City’s streets. The tunnel will show you the full length of the wall. Uncovering the tunnel was a long and complicated archeological project that took over 20 years, and actually isn’t over yet. The incredible findings revealed the city as it was 2000 years ago – at its best. Walking the tunnel you will see the “western stone” – it is the biggest stone in the Wall. It is huge – about 570 ton actually. It is known to be one of the heaviest objects that was ever lifted by people without the use of powered machines. Along the tunnel there is a small synagogue called ‘the cave’. It is the closest point a Jewish person can get to the Holy of Holies – the most sacred point in the temple – assumed to be under the Dome of the Rock. British researchers started excavating the Western Wall in the mid 19th century. The excavations included many archaeological finds along the way, including discoveries from the Herodian period (streets, monumental masonry). In 2007 they uncovered an ancient Roman street, thought to be from the second to fourth centuries. It was a side street which likely connected two major roads, and led up to the Temple Mount. The Struthion Pool is a large cuboid cistern, which gathered the rainwater from guttering on the Forum buildings. Prior to Hadrian, this cistern had been an open-air pool, but Hadrian added arch vaulting to enable the pavement to be placed over it. The existence of the pool in the first century is attested by Josephus, who reports that it was called Struthius. Of course, I had to touch a stone from the time of Herod...