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© Focus on Jesus. Focus on Souls. ©
Morning Prayer on November 17
Betty woke every morning and prayed. It was a joy to hear her anointed intercession and to join in. Often, I just Amen’d all that she said. Since roommates sat together on the bus, Betty and I fellowshipped much in these heavenly days. She taught me a lot.
Our group morning prayer was from 6 to 6:30. All teams prayed together in the room right by the hotel dinner hall.
Old City of Jerusalem
Today, we visited the old city by foot. After getting off our buses, we walked up to the Lion’s Gate to enter from the east side. Trash was spread along the road on both sides. It was unsightly. Doron said that area was under Palestinian rule. Muslim culture is that you clean inside of your own house, not outside. If garbage piled up around your home it would not bother Muslims. And he saw the three Palestinian street cleaners slept under a tree.
Lion’s Gate is also called St. Stephen’s Gate. Some believe the first Christian Martyr Stephen was stoned nearby. [Acts 6,7]
We saw a car park. Out came a Muslim man with his wives. Doron told us how a Muslim divorce could be done. When a man says three times “Go away” to his wife the divorce is a done deal. The wife will have no right to her children. Everything is left to the husband. Muslims in Israel averages about two wives. In Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations, a Muslim may have four wives.
Church of St. Ann
The Crusaders built the Church of St. Ann in honor of Mary, mother of Jesus. It has an early Gothic and French style. Inside, it has resonating acoustics. The lady tour guide for bus number one skillfully directed our grand chorus. Our voice sounded as if angels were singing when we followed her directing.
Pool of Bethesda
In the picture you can see the pool was way at the bottom of the excavation site. Two thousand years, Jesus healed an invalid of 38 years at pool of Bethesda on Sabbath and drove the religious people nuts. [John 5:1-15]
To me, it was as if the pool was shouting, “Jesus heals. He has been healing people in all human history.” The Bible is true. His word is true. I was excited to this 2000-plus-year-old living proof.
Pilate’s Judgment Hall
Pilate’s judgment hall is also called the Praetorium. A church building was established there. At the back of the auditorium, you could see part of an old street with built-in grooves for preventing horses from slipping. Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea. Here Jesus was tried and sentenced to crucifixion by him and the Jewish mob. This was also the place where Jesus was flogged, put on the crown of thorns, and repeatedly mocked and struck by the Roman soldiers. [Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 18,19]
Unlike the pool of Bethesda shouting mercy and healing, this ancient Praetorium covered with a modern building still speaks human cruelty and corruption. Like Caiaphas’ house, it’s a sad and chilling place to visit – our Lord and Savior suffered another trial, torture and final sentence…
Via Dolorosa
We walked the streets and alleyways where Jesus, and then Simon of Cyrene had carried the cross on their backs before reaching Golgotha, the Place of the Skull. Fourteen stations on the Way of the Cross were designated by the Catholic Church. Each commemorates a Catholic-believed event of our Savior’s last, painful walk on earth. You can view photos and more information at http://www.mustardseed.net/html/pjrudeld.html.
This was Palestinian part of the town. There were lots of small shops selling groceries, clothing and souvenirs, along the narrow streets. We walked uphill most of the time.
We reached the Church of Holy Sepulcher. It was built by the Crusaders and now run by Greek Orthodox. Some believe this was the tomb Jesus was laid whereas others believe the garden tomb near Golgotha was the place. An Orthodox priest was attending the visitors. By four persons at a time, we took turn to enter and see the sepulcher. Frankly, I was not too impressed and looked forward to see the garden tomb in the afternoon.
We had a long shopping spree at a Palestinian souvenir shop. The merchants there were friendlier than the ones we had in Bethlehem. They offered free water and soft drinks. Taken few foreign trips with partners, I’ve become cognizant of Christian’s capacity of souvenir shopping. In the Holy Land, my impression was we truly intended to contribute to both local Palestinian and Jewish economies by giving tourist dollars.
Well, I also learned ‘Habbah Habbah!’ It means ‘shake a leg’ which means hurry up.
Falafel Lunch
Praise God. Finally, we habbah’d, quit shopping and continued on for lunch. Doron took us for falafel. It was a small restaurant. With a French tint, we sat outdoor in the sun, looking at more shops and goods, and enjoyed our tasty meal.
Some store merchants shouted hard to get tourists’ attention to shop their places. One seemed desperate or it might have been his style. He chased and coerced us to must buy something from him. When some prayed and some talked Jesus with him, he said, “When Benny Hinn came last week he already prayed for me.” He said he was a Christian and cried “God bless you” to continue our attention to him. We had shopped so much elsewhere and been pressed for time to leave with the entire group we went on our way. He was disappointed.
We walked through the Jewish Quarter. To me, the atmosphere seemed to have changed to the better. Then we reached the Zion Gate, at the southwest corner of the old city. We saw many bullet holes on the gate.
The Garden Tomb and Communion
The Garden Tomb truly is a well-maintained and beautiful place. The British Garden Tomb ministry has done a great job. To see it for yourself, take a virtual garden tour at http://www.gardentomb.com/.
An old English volunteer gave us an introduction of the garden, vineyard and a water cistern, pre-Christian and capable of holding a quarter-million gallons of rainwater. Right in front of the tomb entrance, he gave us a personal testimony. His wife worked at the gift shop.
We took turn to visit the empty interior. Many of us rejoiced and shouted, “He is risen!” It was marvelous to eye witness this solid Christian heritage. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection, we have forgiveness, life eternal, continuous hope and power to overcome our flesh and devil.
All three bus groups gathered around the benches. We sang and worshipped. Then, we took communion in the garden. There was another American Christian group there. I listened a little to their worship, and wished we could join together to partake the blood and body of Christ.
The Pavilion
God has given Brother Cerullo a location in the heart of Jerusalem to build, together with the local King of Kings Ministry, a Christian worship and conference center. We rushed through busy after-work traffic and entered the construction site in a large shopping pavilion. Many partners have been offering to the completion of this center. Our work-in-progress fruit looked yet pretty raw. The local pastor briefed us the vision with a video. Our team leader Susan led us into prayer.
Evening Prayer
Each GPSF team congregated after dinner and interceded for Israel, Middle East and the conference on Wednesday. Some on our team D were exhausted and couldn’t make it. Edith, Shirley, Rosie, Betty and I gathered in our room and prayed in unity. This evening prayer concluded another heavenly day.
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