Wednesday, November 5th

Another great day! This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. The writer of this Psalm was not having a good day. Vs 5 says “I called on the Lord in distress. Vs 10 All nations surrounded me. They surrounded me like bees. This is a bonus day. We don’t know the future and circumstances can change, like the Presidential election results, which we found out today, but God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell I the house of the Lord, forever.
Our first stop was on the Mount of Olives at the Chapel of Ascension. It is thought that the Lord’s Prayer was taught, by Jesus, in this garden. The Chapel is in the shape of a tear. They are both in the area of Gethsemane. This is the traditional site where Jesus would have wept over Jerusalem. He knew the city would be destroyed in 40 yrs. (70AD) We went to a small garden on that site where Tommy preached. Jesus always had an eternal perspective. He wept because he knew the people would reject him but he rested in the Lord, in the eternal prize. We also need to keep the eternal perspective in mind with out newly elected president today. God is still God!
The trail we are walking all down the hill to these gardens and chapels would have been the very one used on Palm Sunday down to the Kidron Valley and through the Golden Gate. It was very steep and hard to walk down. Jesus road on a donkey down this road. Matthew 21:1-11 On this road the people declared Jesus is Lord. Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. He looked across at the temple and Jerusalem and wept for the people. At that time he had 5 days left. He knew their hearts and knew they would reject Him yet He rested in the eternal. Phil 4
We then walked \further down the mountain to a Garden we all prayed in. The Olives here are the best in the world. Over 3 thousand years old. Some of them bore fruit in King David’s time. Judas betrays Jesus in this garden.
Next we went the site of Caiaphas House. A Rooster sat on top of church and another in a garden to commemorate Peter’s denial. Road dated from the upper room to garden to be 1 century BC. Caiaphas was the head of the High Priest of the Sanhedrin. Visitors had to pay temple tax which was put toward maintenance of the temple & needs of the High Priest. He also had a dungeon below his house for prisoners needing to be taken to the Roman guard. This would have been where Jesus was thrown until he could be brought to the Roman authorities.
Next we went to Yad Vasham, the Holocaust Museum. Yad – Everyone has a name. Vasham – Everyone has a hand, a purpose. This is like our Arlingtons. Buried here are leaders of the nations, fallen soldiers, and victims of the Holocaust. Even before we went in our guide explained what we would find there. Most of us were crying just at the explanation. It was very moving and hard to take in man’s inhumanity to man.
Next we went to one of the traditional sites of the Garden tomb. This was a tomb in a beautiful garden with one of the third largest cisterns in Jerusalem. This would have belonged to a very rich man. As we know, Joseph of Arimathea, a very rich man, gave his tomb for Jesus’ burial. Matt 27:57 There is another site that could be Jesus’ tomb in the city. We went to it on Friday. We are not sure which one is the actual site. All we can be sure of is that whichever one it was IT WAS EMPTY!!!
My goodness! My brain & heart are overflowing.