As we embarked on our last day all together, we started out at the Mt. of Olives for the Palm Sunday path (John 7:6-7). It’s a perfect place to get a picture over the city of Jerusalem and that is exactly what we did. From there, we made the steep path down the Kidron Valley to Dominus Flavit, which is the traditional place where Jesus overlooked Jerusalem and wept (Luke 19:47).
After Dominus Flavit we went to Gethsemane (Matthew 26). Now some of you may know my dream I had three years ago, but I will retell it anyway. A year before I went to Jerusalem I had a dream that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane and it was the night Jesus was betrayed. Peter was standing near Jesus and I saw a man on his knees crying his eyes out; it was Judas. Jesus came up to me and said, “Watch this.” So I followed Him as He went up to Judas and said, “ I’m still here, Judas. I still love you,” as He stretched out His hand to reinforce His wantingness to see Him repent. This place always has a special place in my heart because the spot I’ve been looks very similar and it was a word for me that no matter how much I mess up, the Lord always loves me and always wants to see me repent.
We spent an hour in the Garden and made our way to another very emotional place, Caiaphas’ house, which is where Jesus would have spent the night in a dungeon the night before He was crucified (Luke 22). You can’t feel it until you go there, the agony, the loneliness that Jesus must have felt. He is God in the flesh, He created everything, and He is by Himself about to be murdered by the very people He breathed life into. It is such a sad moment in history and no words can really describe it.
From there we made our way up the Via Dolorosa and trekked our way up the way Jesus would have went (Just 40 ft. higher). We first went to the church of Flaggelation where Jesus would have been brutally whipped and made ready for the future punishment (Matthew 27:15-20). The whole purpose of this was for citizens to know that if they commit a crime, they will pay for it. Afterwards, we went to the Lithostrotus (spelling?). This is the only place along the Via Dolorosa that you can see the original path Jesus would have walked.
Lunch! We finally went and got some lunch after being hungry for a good while. We went to one of the best pizza shops in the Arab quarter, but that didn’t stop me from getting some good shawarma. After lunch, we started to make our way to the Church of the Holy Seplechure when we got 3/4 of the way there we realized we were missing one of our ladies. Now for those who don’t know, the Muslim Quarter and almost all of the Old City is the worst place to get lost in. After looking around for what seemed to be a lifetime, we finally found her and made our way to the Garden Tomb (Note: This was a very troubling experience. It was the last day for her and the group, and had we not found her, we did not know what to do. It was simply by the grace and guidance of the Holy Spirit that led us to her. Make no mistake, we were greatly worried).
When we got to the Garden Tomb I saw a friend that I was supposed to meet up with and I don’t doubt that the whole losing one of the ladies was an accident. Had we not been there at the exact time, I might not have met up with Sam. So we talked for a couple minutes and discussed a meeting time later that night. Then we finished up at the Garden Tomb with communion, which is my favorite sacrament. It always reminds me of the price Jesus paid so that I might live and it always helps me to examine my life.
After cleaning up at the hotel, we made our way to eat our final dinner together at foccacia. It was a great time, great food, and the perfect place to conclude our time together. However, Josh and I were about to experience something we will never soon forget.
