Caroline Abroad: Final Days of Jesus

Today is one of my favorite days of this trip. This is the day that Dr. Tabor takes us on a tour of where Jesus would have gone in his final days. And naturally we go backwards. Dr. Tabor is an incredible tour guide and the sites we see just give me goosebumps to my toes.

We started the day at the top of the Mount of Olives.

The view here is absolutely stunning. There is nothing quite like looking down across the Kidron Valley at the entire city of Jerusalem. It's a fantastic place to take pictures and there's even a camel up there that you can ride but we didn't have enough time today to do that. This is such a significant place as it is and Dr. Tabor will argue that it is even the place where Jesus is crucified. I'd love to get into that but it'll take all night. Check out his book for an explanation: The Final Days of Jesus!

Too close for comfort Mr. Camel

Dr. Tabor read passages out of the Bible to us as we took in the view of the city and he explaine the Biblical significance of the sight in relation to Jesus' last days. I so appreciate it when Dr. Tabor breaks out his Bible and makes the sight and stories come to life.

We walked down the Mount of Olives following the path that Jesus would have ridden the donkey to the city on and walked when he visited. Of course we stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane again. I always underestimate how moving of a place this is until I am there. It's like if you close your eyes and be silent, you can almost feel what it was like the night Jesus came to pray and was arrested. I felt so moved as I laid my hands on the ancient bedrock inside the church.

We crossed the Kidron Valley and went to the City of David to do Hezekiahs Tunnel again. For those of you who may not have seen this in my blog last year, Hezekiahs Tunnel is an underground water shaft that Jerusalem got their water from in the ancient times. When King David was running from his son Absalom, he states that he longs for a sip of this water. I walked through that again. This year, I came much more prepared and had a flashlight so I didn't slam my head against the walls the entire time like last time. Check out my older posts to see pictures from last year too.

Going into the tunnel:

Jamie and me inside the tunnel.

We had lunch in the Jewish quarter and moved on to see the room of the last supper and King David's Tomb. Our last stop of the day was at the Praetorium of Pontius Pilate. This is the location where Jesus would have stood and received his judgement and death sentence from Pilate and the people. It's incredible to stand on the bedrock that Jesus stood on when he was sentenced to death. To imagine what it must have been like to have been there stopped all of us in our tracks. Jesus spent his final days before crucifixion at that spot. There are even thorn bushes that would have been used to make the crown of thorns.

Thorns

Even though I saw this place last year, I was still profoundly moved by the imagery. I can't believe I can actually stand there.

That was the last stop on our tour and since it's the Sabbath here, we're pretty much in for the night. I'm writing this from the rooftop terrace and enjoying my view of the very quiet city.