Day 10 – Monday, October 19: Holy Sepulcher Church, Garden Tomb, City of David, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, Southern Wall Excavations, Western Wall, Israel Museum
Today was our last full day of the Israel portion of the trip. It was another beautiful partly sunny day, with highs in the low 70s. We enjoyed a visit to the Holy Sepulcher Church in the Old City and a time of worship & Communion at the Garden tomb to begin the day. This was followed by a visit to the City of David and the Israel Museum in the afternoon. We left the hotel at 7:30, reading Psalm 48 as we departed the hotel.
Holy Sepulcher Church
We drove directly to the Jaffa Gate where we entered the Old City to walk to the Holy Sepulcher Church. Built in 325 AD, this is the traditional location for the death and burial place of Jesus. It very well could be that Hadrian, the 2nd century AD Roman emperor “tipped us off” where he thought the tomb of Jesus was! The archaeological and historical records strongly favors this site over the Garden Tomb (not a 2nd Temple Tomb but rather a classic Iron Age tomb). While the Ediculae (enclosing the suggested tomb of Jesus) was not open, we walked down to the lower sections of the church.
Garden Tomb
From here we walked through the Christian and Muslim Quarters to there Damascus Gate. We exited the Old City here, walking another few hundred yards north to the Garden Tomb. Located on the north side of the Old City, this is an alternative (“Protestant”) location found in the late 1800s for the crucifixion and burial site of Jesus. We saw the suggested rocky scarp (Golgotha) where Jesus was crucified, followed by the proposed tomb. A special time of worship and Communion followed. We worship the Person, not the place. What a great place to consider the redemptive purpose of Jesus’ coming!
City of David
Next, we loaded back on the bus and drove down around the Old City to the City of David. The City of David is located south of (and outside) the Old City today. We first got a great view of the area from the observation tower before we walked down through the excavations of Area G (where Dr. John dug for a month in 1982) and Warren’s Shaft. At the Gihon Spring is where most in the group accessed the entrance to Hezekiah’s Tunnel, a 1,710-foot tunnel chiseled in 701 BC. We walked in water through this amazing discovery mentioned in 2 Kings 20, 2 Chronicles 32, and Isaiah 8:6. Others walked through the “dry” Canaanite tunnel. Both groups converged at the Pool of Siloam where we recalled the John 9 story (the longest of the miracle narratives).
Pilgrim Road
From this southern end of the City of David is where we accessed the Pilgrim Road. This is a stone pavement that dates to 30 AD (perhaps even financed by Pilate!). We slowly walked up this ancient road to the SW corner of the Temple. This entire walk made us feel like we were literally walking in the footsteps of Jesus! Here at this corner of the Temple was the most likely location for Jesus’ temptation (i.e. pinnacle). We also saw massive stones and what is left of a right-angle gate (called today Robinson’s Arch, discovered in 1830).
Southern Excavations
Next, we walked to the Southern Excavations of the Temple. While sitting on the actual steps leading into the Temple, we recalled the many times Jesus and the disciples (and Paul) used these steps! Again, this was humbling! Whereas the Temple was a magnificent building (Mark 13:1-2), we are to be the Temple (1 Corinthians 3)!
“Today was our last day of the Israel portion of the trip. We covered a lot of ground again. We enjoyed the worship and Communion at the Garden Tomb, the adventure of walking through Hezekiah’s Tunnel, and the amazing artifacts at the Israel Museum.”
Israel Museum
From here we drove to the area of the Knesset, Israel’s parliamentary building. Across the street is the Israel Museum. Here we saw three things. First, a 1:50 scale model of 2nd Temple Jerusalem. The model gives us a good idea of what Jerusalem looked liked during the time of Jesus. Next, we briefly walked through the Shrine of the Book where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are on display. Lastly, we saw the highlights within the archaeological wing of the museum. Among the many things we saw, this included such artifacts like the Arad “Holy of Holies,” the Dan and Pilate Inscriptions, Lachish Letter #4, the Ketaf Hinnom inscription (Numbers 6), Herod’s sarcophagus, the “Temple Warning” inscription, and of course the “pie plate” from the 2nd century AD. 🙂
We returned to the hotel in time to pack and ready ourselves for either our flight home tomorrow or (for 12 of us) our flight to Athens (via Rome). We then enjoyed our “farewell dinner.” It was a time to reflect upon the trip and thank God for a wonderful journey of faith together!
“Hidden Gate” (Optional)
We returned to the hotel from here. Most in the group called it a day, while seven of us walked to the Jaffa Gate area. We walked to the southern area of the western side of the Old City to see what is called the “Hidden Gate.” This may have been the “lithostrotos” (“stone pavement”) upon which Jesus stood when Pilate presented Him to the religious of Jerusalem who wanted Jesus crucified. Some of the original steps leading up to this gate (that was there 2000 years ago) can be seen today.
Back at the hotel we enjoyed our “Farewell Dinner” at 6 p.m. It was a good time of sharing around the table some of our “highlight” moments of the trip. Fifteen of us fly out early tomorrow morning (5:15 a.m.) for Rome en route to Athens for our optional 4-day Greece extension. Six others have their flight home either tonight or tomorrow morning.
It was a great trip with a wonderful group of friends!
Day 11 – Tuesday, October 20: Arrive Home or Flight to Athens
