Whitewashed Tombs along the Mount of Olives

One of the many things I recommend doing while in Jerusalem is walking along the Mount of Olives. It's an incredible view of so many historic places that your mind will be continually blown. So much history in such a concentrated to area!

If you are coming from the City of David, you'll turn the corner and cross the street. The Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount will be on your left and the Mount of Olives on your right. Walking along the low stone wall, you'll be able to see the Mount in its entirety while seeking shade from the—you guessed it—olive trees.

A large portion of the Mount of Olives is a Jewish cemetery that faces the Temple Mount. From a distance, most of the graves look similar except for two. These stick out and can be seen from a distance. Do you know what they are?

The pillar above is Absolam's pillar, as spoken of in 2 Samuel 18. The one below is the prophet Zechariah's tomb.

You can actually walk right up to these pillars. They are HUGE! First, you cross over the Kidron Valley and start walking along it (we'll talk about this more in a future post). 

On the wall are signs with Bible verses specifically mentioning the Kidron Valley:

And then, there you are:

It's always cool to see something dating back millennia that is from the Bible. Nothing compares to that feeling. But a friend pointed something out to me that I want to share here:

While the architecture and the Land have changed, it's easy to accept that these pillars, as well as the cemetery, could be seen by people at the Temple when Jesus said in Matthew 23: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean."

Wow!!! 

That adds so much meaning and context to this verse!

Can you see it?