Day 9 in Jerusalem from Resurrection to death and back again

Our morning begins in the Garden Tomb, one of two places where Jesus death and resurrection are thought to have taken place. This area, just outside the walls of Jerusalem most likely was thought of as the place of resurrection by the followers of John. You can see just outside this area what some believe to be "the place of the skull" where Jesus was crucified becuase of this rock formation.

A short distance from here we had a chance to enter the Garden Tomb, the place where some believe Jesus was laid after his death and where the resurrection took place. 

We then had a poweful time of worship, reading the resurrection story from John and taking Holy Communion together. It seemed very fitting to be doing this on Ash Wednesday as we begin the seasonof Lent.

Upon leaving the Garden Tomb we went to the Old City of Jerusalem. We began in the Armenian Quarter at the pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the man by commanding him to, "get up, take up your mat and walk." The pool is at the bottom of these ruins pictured below.

Next to the pool is the church that remembers the birth of Mary, the Church  of St. Anne. 

The interior of this church is stunning as well, where once again we were able to witness a group celebrating Mass. There are several statues of Mary and we were able to light candles and say prayers in this space.

 

From here we traveled through the streets of Old Jerusalem, stopping at the Antonio Fortress, where Jesus began his journey with the cross. This is the first station of the cross and we visited several others as we made our way alonng the Via Delarosa. 

 

 

The above photo is another station of the cross remembering the place where Jesus stumbled. Below you see us making our way along the Via Delarosa.

 

Next was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the second place traditionally held that Jesus was crucified and buried. The interior of the church is once again stunning.

Here you see the slab (below the lanterns) that tradition says the laid the body of Jesus upon. Behind that you have this beautiful mosaic.

I was able to enter the tomb area in the church believed to be the burial place of Jesus.

Believe it or not, we did all that before lunch! Lunch was rooftop with a great view of the city.

After lunch we went to the Western Wailing Wall where we spent time in prayer. We then made our way around the Temple Mount to the Southern Teaching Steps where Jesus would have entered the Temple as a young boy and a grown man. 

Thomas is encouraged to be "king" by our guide in one of the massive stones that toppled from  the Temple. This gives you an idea of how massive those stones are! Some of the stones pictured above weigh more than 600 tons!

Our day ended witnessing a bride arriving for her wedding annd then one final view of the Mount of Olives from the steps of the Temple. Tomorow most of our team heads to Emmaus and then home while others of us head to Jordan and Petra.