Passion Week

Our last day in Jerusalem and all of Israel was spent walking the roads and visiting the spots Jesus was at during Passion Week. Many of us had been waiting for the opportunity to see the city from one of the best vantage points, the Mount of Olives. Personally, I was really looking forward to it because Jesus spent so much of His time there. - Spectacular views, beautiful gardens, and ancient olive trees (some possibly dating back to the days of Jesus)

We first stood out on a ridge overlooking the
Old City so we could get the classic view of the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock
now stands. In the picture foreground there is a Jewish cemetery - even thousands of years ago Jewish people wished to be buried facing the Golden Gate, which is now sealed off, because this is where the Messiah is to come into the city. In the middle of the picture you can see the gold top of the Dome of the Rock - the cemetery just below it spanning along the city wall is a Muslim cemetery which is being used to try and prevent Christian and Jewish prophecies about the coming Messiah from coming to pass. The tree line below that is in the middle of the Kidron Valley. The church with the Russian Orthodox-like golden spires is the Church of Mary Madelene, which is off to the right of the valley and the old city. This is the location of her birth.














The following pictures are various angles of the Garden of Gethsemane and the
Church of All Nations. The tree by the gate is the oldest olive tree on the Mount of Olives
and may even have been living when Jesus was here.

Jewish History and Jesus' Last Days

On this morning we headed off to the Jerusalem Museum to see a small scale model of Ancient Jerusalem. Soon after we were bused off to another location to see fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including portions of the Psalms and the book of Daniel. Next we were taken to Israel's Holocaust Memorial where we saw hundreds of names inscribed on walls in a rock labyrinth commemorating the loss of entire communities of Jews around Europe, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East during WWII. We also solemnly walked through the museum where we recounted the horrible details of the Holocaust and WWII. I was most stunned by learning about the events and conditions of the world leading up to this era.

Today we also took time to visit The House of Caiaphas where Jesus was held prior to His trial.
we stood in two caves, one used as a stable for animals and another - simply a rock pit with one small hole at the top, which Jesus would have been lowered through after being beaten. We remembered how Jesus had stayed in this place because of our sins, but it was because of God's love and forgiveness for us that He willingly did so.




























A stop was also made at the Upper Room where Jesus had The Last Supper with His Disciples and we went to a church resting over where it is believed Mary, the mother of Jesus, may have lived and died after His ascension. There is another location in Ephesus which is the other traditional site, depending on if she stayed in Jerusalem or traveled with John the Disciple.

The Music of the Middle East

Here are a few of the things we have heard:
Multiple languages from the Middle East, Europe,
America, South America, Asia; goats and camels,
city traffic, harps, wooden flutes, Muslim prayers
streaming in the air over loud speakers, prayers and
hymns of saints from around the world lifted up,
Jewish prayers at the Western Wall, lapping and rushing
waters of the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the Med.,
the Dead Sea and the Red Sea; Israeli and Jordanian
coins changing hands, and mosaic pieces being cut.

Pictures - click on picture to see larger image; a picture website may be developed for all to post pictures on

A small scale model of Jerusalem; the Temple Mount is to the middle right.












Sue and Larry Trachie on the way to either Caiaphas' House or the Church which rests over where Mary lived and died after Jesus' ascension.











Women praying along the foundation of the Western Wall in the underground tunnels. This is considered to be the closest spot to where the Holy of Holies was in the Temple, before it was destroyed.











Along the Via Dolorosa


















The remains of an old Roman road.













A cistern constructed by Herod's engineers.


















A portion of one of the largest stones in the world used to construct the Western Wall's foundation.

The Dung Gate

Before coming back into Israel we were reminded (as we had been by our Jordanian tour guides) by our Palestinian tour guide that we were welcome in the Arab/ Muslim world and that they along with the Israelis longed for peace among all people.

During our first trip to the Old City, we entered in through the Dung Gate - the lowest in elevation of all the gates - where the "city dump" had been located in previous generations.
From there we went to the East side of the former temple mount (the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim mosque now sits there) and sat on the original 15 steps leading up to the Temple.

Since today was a full day, we raced off behind our tour guides to a spot where we saw the Western Wall (mistakenly named the Wailing Wall, by the British). Before we could think about
approaching it along with other pray-ers, we were whisked off into an underground world of tunnels literally running along the buried portion of the Western Wall. As we ran our hands along its smooth surface and noted its exemplary craftsmanship, the largest stone was pointed out to us - 30 ft. long and 500 tons. Re-emerging to the modern world we re-traced our steps above ground through market streets. We were led back to the Western Wall where we each were allowed time to meditate and pray. We even got to leave our prayers on paper wedged between the cracks.

The City of David

Today what had only been images in our minds was now sight as we boarded our tour bus and headed to the Shepherd's Field near Bethlehem. Yesterday we had been instructed to dress modestly and be sure to bring our passports. This morning, to our surprise we "left" Israel to enter the Palestinian West Bank even though we were only about 10 minutes from our hotel.
Sadly, our Israeli tour guides and bus drivers had to stay behind (they are not allowed in and Palestinians have to meet certain criteria to come out.) as we passed through the border crossing and met up with a new bus, driver, and tour guide (a childhood friend of Mikey, our regular tour guide). Quickly the written language changed from Hebrew and English and Arabic to Arabic and English only.

We walked a little ways from the bus to a hill side over looking a field and valley. We were told how this was the general area the shepherds lived in; there are even caves nearby which indicate human dwellings and burial sites. Pastor Tanner reminded us of the scriptures and we sang and meditated in that place about the experience of the shepherds with the angels. "Glory to God in the highest"!

The Church of the Nativity was close by so we joined a throng of other Holy Land pilgrims descending on the traditional site of the stable Jesus was born in. Mary and Joseph were unable to find other accommodations, so an inn keeper let them use the cave which is now incorporated into the the oldest functioning church. Beautifully, richly, and ornately decorated the church was perfumed with incense and soft beams of light shown in through high windows. We all eagerly waited in line to catch a glimpse and place our hands on the places where Jesus was born and laid in a manger.






With two other stops
(a gift shop and restaurant), we met some of the
local Christians and were able to help them out by giving them our business.

All Roads Lead to Jerusalem

Driving on a new four-lane highway, we moved on toward our final destination city - Jerusalem.
As we went on our way we could see Jericho much closer than in Jordan earlier in the trip. We wished we had time to stop.

Our driver, Josie, qued up a special song about Jerusalem as we ascended and curved our way up along greener hills. I was moved again by the natural beauty of Israel. Slowly we began to see small towns and Bedouin villages pop up more frequently. Soon we were seeing more modern apartment-like buildings. I felt like I had no idea what to expect of Jerusalem and yet I was excited and nervous to be there.

Just before pulling into the city our guide Mikey prepared us for our first view of the classic "Old City". We were all filled with anticipation and even cried tears of joy or prayed. Before long we passed through a short tunnel and once on the other side Mikey prompted us to look to our left out the bus windows where we immediately saw the Temple Mount (aka Mt. Moriah) and the surrounding newer city. I was amazed and glad to see the rolling grassy and tree covered hills mixed with human dwellings - we have been greatly blessed with the pleasant weather and spring decor.