Saturday morning was our first day to tour Jerusalem...although we had stayed in Jerusalem for 2 nights.

Mount of Olives

The Mount of Olives is Biblically famous in many ways:

First, Jesus tells 2 disciples to get a donkey for him to ride down to Jerusalem on here.  Second, He starts his journey to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. We call this day Palm Sunday now.  -Matthew 21: 1-11

It is where Jesus predicts Peter's denial. -Matthew 26:30.

Jesus' teaches and prophesies to the disciples. -Matthew 24-25

"Every day 'Jesus' was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called." -Luke 21: 37

It is believed to be the place where Jesus ascended to Heaven in Acts 1 and is therefore also called the Mount of Ascension.  We visited the Ascension edicule which houses the Ascension rock that traditionally bears the footprint of Jesus' right foot and is therefore his last impression (literally) on Earth.  This is a category 3.

The Ascension Rock and me (traditionally Jesus' last foot print on Earth):




Church of the Pater Noster

We then walked to the Church of the Pater Noster (Our Father) from the Mount of Ascension.  This is the traditional place where Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11: 2-4.  Jesus also taught the Lord's Prayer during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6: 9-13 back up by the Sea of Galilee.  If you have time look these verses up because it is interesting how different they are.  The Church of the Paster Noster was very nice and had 154 different translations of the Lord's Prayer on the walls of the church.  It was very impressive and reminded me of what an incredibly diverse people we are with so many languages and cultures.

The Lord's Prayer in Swahili:


The Lord's Prayer in Cherokee:


The Lord's Prayer in Braille:


Pic of Jerusalem, Dome of the Rock, and me at the top of the Mount of Olives (East):


Pic of Jerusalem and Dome of the Rock from the Mount of Olives (East):


Pic of John, me, and the Dome of the Rock from the Mount of Olives (East):



Dominus Flevit (the Lord wept) church

The Dominus Flevit church is the traditional place where Jesus weeps after seeing Jerusalem and being overwhelmed by its beauty and then predicts the second destruction of the Temple.  -Luke 19:37-44.

From the pic below you can see how dominate the Temple (about where the Dome of the Rock is now) would have been looking out from the Mount of Olives.

View of Jerusalem from inside the Dominus Flevit church:


Video explanation (by our guide Peter) of Christ's path to crucifixion from Dominus Flevit church:


The Kidron Valley separates the Mount of Olives from the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock).  It is also know as the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Valley of Judgment) and is mentioned in Joel 3: 2, "I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment there..."  Therefore, those who want to be judged first want to be buried in the Valley of Jehoshapat.  Our guide said that wealthy Jewish people pay large amounts of money to be buried here.  The picture below shows the cemetery.

Valley of Jehoshaphat cemetery:




Garden of Gethsemane

The Garden of Gethsemane is at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the Kidron Valley and is where the night before Jesus' crucifixion, he asked God to "remove this cup from me" (crucifixition) and then finds (Simon) Peter, James, and John sleeping. -Luke 14: 32-42

A Garden at Gethsemane


Gethsemane Signage


Church of all Nations (the pic of garden is just to the right of the church)



The bedrock where Jesus traditionally prayed (inside Church of All Nations at the Garden of Gethsemane):



City of David

We then journeyed to the South side of Jerusalem to the City of David.  We stopped by the Pool of Siloam which is where Jesus tells a blind man to go wash his face after Jesus spits on the ground making mud with his saliva and covering the man's eyes with this mud. -John 9

The Last Supper (Cenacle) at Mount Zion

The Upper Room at Cenacle is traditionally where Jesus and the disciples met and had the Last Supper.  However, this church was built by the Crusaders in the 12th century and the actual Upper Room would be below the ground level of today...so this is a category 3.

This is also the site where traditionally the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in Acts 2.  Pentecostals and Assembly of God folk rejoice!

The Upper Room and site of Pentecost traditionally:



Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu

Gallicantu is Latin for cock crows, Jesus tells Peter that "before the cock crows twice you yourself will disown me three times." -Mark 14: 30  However, this is not the traditional place where this occured, but a church commemorating this verse.  A tradition in the Roman Catholic church is that Jesus' was imprisoned here before His crucifixion in the caves below the church.  


Pic of Old Jerusalem from the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu (West):



Coolest church sign to date "Holy Stairs Only":


Thus concluded our tour of the East, South, and West of Old Jerusalem.