He is Risen!

"He is not here; He is risen, just as He said. Come see the place where He lay.” Matthew 28:6

Praise the Lord, the tomb is empty!

📷from the Garden Tomb, 2017 #bestdayever

The wine press just in front of the Garden Tomb: proof it was in a garden!

Have a wonderful Easter! 

Where did Jesus stand trial before Pilate?

From Caiaphus' house, Jesus was taken to stand before Pilate at his residence at the Antonia Fortress.

Built by Herod and named for Mark Antony, some of the Roman troops lived here, and the priestly vestments were likely stored here. The fortress was one of the final strongholds of Jerusalem to fall in AD 70. 

Tradition holds that Pilate lived here, so this is where Jesus was taken to stand trial (again), where He was beaten and whipped and fitted with a cross to begin His walk to Golgatha. 

Today, where the Antonia Fortress is now a bunch of buildings. But there are hints at what used to be there. Check out these half-arches:

This is a clue that something much older was here before.

Nearby is the Church of the Flagellation, which commemorates Him being beaten. One of the chapels has a crown of thorns adorning the basilica, and in the other, there is an ancient Roman gameboard carved into the stone:

Then, a few doors down, a convent with ruins below it. (This place could be a blog post in and of itself, there was so much here. The ruins were converted many times and used in different ways, like a giant room being a cistern): 

But what is the most important for Jesus' final night is here:

another Roman game board, and 

The remains of an ancient Roman road, stones worn smooth from age. It's likely Jesus could have walked on this road, or that this is even the stone pavement mentioned in John 19:13.

Wow... this spot takes a few moment to take it in.

And finally, a few doors down is Church of the Condemnation, with a prison in its dungeon:

From here, you'd turn left to keep going down the Via Dolorosa and then right into an alley, all the way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This is the last spot in this blog series until Sunday, the best day of all. It's hard to see; a lot to take in. But take heart, because Thursday is almost over.

Sunday is just a few days away.

The House of Caiaphus: Where Peter Denied Christ

From the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was taken before the Sanhedrin at the house of Caiaphus, the High Priest.

Somehow, I had no idea that the ruins of his house could actually still exist and there's (of course) a church on top of it, built on the ruins of the Byzantine church.

Below it is a dungeon where it's claimed Jesus was held. It's possible Peter and John were also held here at some point after Jesus' ascension back to Heaven.

Outside the church are ruins from Caiaphus' house, as well as ruins from other eras as well.

this area is likely from the Byzantine church.

Caiaphus' house

And then, the stairs.... stairs the Jesus and His disciples might have walked down on the way to the Garden and then on the way back on the way to the trial before the Sanhedrin:

The view of the Mount of Olives from the top of the steps.

Like the church at the Garden of Gethsemane, the modern church, The Church of Saint Peter Gallincatu ("the rooster's crow" in Latin) is one of my favorite churches in Israel.

If the one at Gethsemane is the night, this one is the sunrise.

Which makes sense, because it was built memorializing not only the trial before the Sanhedrin but also Peter's denial of Jesus.

I've never been inside a church that was these colors. It was gorgeous!

The next time I go, I hope to get a tour of the property so I can understand it all better. It was breathtaking to be there and realize this was likely where Peter denied Christ. 

Eventually, the sun rose on that dark night, just as the rooster crowed. Jesus met Peter's eyes, and he realized that he'd done.

Judas hung himself nearby (apparently the field purchased by the 30 pieces of silver is not far). 

And then Jesus was taken to Pilate.

**a tour guide has told me recently that from an archeological standpoint, it's unlikely this was actually the site of Caiaphus' house. So I now look at this place as a remembrance of these events.

Gethsemane: the Garden of Jesus' Pressing

Palm Sunday Road is steep, the road curves sharply, and the pavement is worn smooth from the centuries of pilgrims who have walked it. So be careful coming down! Your calves are definitely going to get a work out.

And now, we come to the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Some of the trees here date back to 1st century AD, so they could have been in the garden on that night that Jesus sweated blood and pled with the Father before surrendering.

Of course, being on the Mount of Olives, I assume the whole mountain was covered in trees. So was it exactly here in this section? I don't know. But we do know there was an actual Garden of Gethsemane. 

And what happened here is what is most important. Gethsemane means "oil press". The process of pressing the olives was (and still is) very specific. It involves 3 separate pressings.

This is where Jesus was pressed; as He agonized over what was before Him.

This is actually one of my favorite churches to visit in Israel. The interior is made to look like night in a garden: midnight blues and golds, stars and garden imagery. Beautiful!

At the altar is the rock said to be where Jesus prayed. People come from all over the world to visit this garden and pray here.

Below, you can see an example of a newer church built on an older foundation, which is the practice here in the Land.

And of course, the view outside of incredible:

While the Land has changed so much over the millennia, can you still see it? Can you imagine Jesus somewhere on the Mount of Olives at night, in a garden of olive trees where they pressed olives to make oil, pleading with His father as the Sanhedrin and Roman soldiers led by Judas are on their way?

Traveling down Palm Sunday Road

This week, we're going to some of the places Jesus went to (or might have been to, depending if the experts are correct) that final week before His death and resurrection.

First, Palm Sunday Road!

In John 12, Jesus leaves Bethany (still on my "to visit" list!) and travels to Jerusalem, traveling up and over the Mount of Olives to enter the city through the Eastern Gate, which is now closed. It's almost Passover, and the city is teeming with people. He instructs His disciples to go find a specific young donkey He ride into the city. The crowds filled the streets and laid their robes and palm branches on the ground for Him to travel over, just as they would a king. 

As He drew near the city, Luke 19, another account of the same event, says that He wept over Jerusalem, because the people there didn't realize who He really was, and because of that, He knew what was coming in about 35+ years.

So, the first stop of Palm Sunday Road is the Dominus Flevit, which is Latin for "The Lord wept". 

It's a Catholic church dedicated to where Jesus wept as He entered Jerusalem, and has an incredible view!

I don't have a photo of the outside of the church, but it has a really unique shape (I blame the heat for addling my brain that day). This church is only a few hundred years old, as it was built on the remains of a Byzantine church that was eventually destroyed when Jerusalem fell in 1187 AD.

On this site is are also some tombs dating back to the Canaanite era (a looooong time ago), and some relics from that time period were found as well.

That's it for Dominus Flevit! Let's head back to Palm Sunday road and head down towards the Garden of Gethsemane.