Fellowship United Methodist Church

Our schedule was changed today so we did not go to the Dead Sea but we had an amazing day visiting holy sites in Jerusalem. This has been life changing to walk in the very places where Jesus walked.

First we visited the Mount of Olives where Jesus went so often to be alone and pray. Only about 1/10 of the original trees from Jesus' day are still there but stop to think about that – some of those trees were the very trees that provided shade for our Lord as he prayed in the heat of the day.

From the Mount of Olives we walked down to the Garden of Gethsemane. Again, some of the very olive trees that Peter, James and John leaned against as they slept while Jesus prayed are still there. Then I was able to pray on the rock where Jesus prayed in such agony that he sweated blood. Little did I know that this was leading to something even more significant.

Next we took a slight detour and visited Mary and Martha’s house and Lazarus’s tomb. This is the place where Mary washed Jesus’ feet with spiced nard while she was criticized by Judas. Lazarus' tomb, while held as a great religious shrine doesn’t look anything like it would have at the time; still pretty amazing when you think about it though.

We ended the day by visiting the place where Caiaphas' house had been and was able to walk the very steps that Jesus walked after he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. This was also the place where Peter denied Christ three times while he was under arrest. One thing that was surprising was the place Jesus was kept until he was taken to Herod the next day. I had never realized that he was kept in a dungeon. Our Savior was lowered into a cold dark hole to stay the night before he was crucified. As I stood in that dungeon it was very humbling.

This time in Israel has been amazing. Words really cannot describe it.I anticipate it will take weeks, if not months, to process all that i have seen and experienced.