Via Dolorosa

I’m sure the title brings the song into your head.  In fact, Ann sang it for us as we stood in the courtyard of one of the church’s claiming that it all began here.  But before we went through the stations of the cross, we began our day entering the Old City through the Lion’s Gate (or Shepherd’s Gate or Stephen’s Gate).  It was here in 1967 that an Israeli paratrooper brigade broke through and around to the Wailing Wall, raising the flag over the Old City.

Once inside, we walked to the nearby Pool Of Bethesda.  The Hebrew means pool of mercies and the Lord demonstrated that by healing the man who was crippled for thirty eight years.  (John 5). We sang inside St. Anne’s Church there, and it was glorious.

We then walked the Via Doloroso all the way to the top of the Church of the Holy Sepluchre.  Even Nir had never seen the city so crowded.  We had to get over being polite Americans just to survive the jostling.  The church was so packed that he could not guide us through it, so everyone was on their own for a half hour.  It was crazy.  Following a falafel lunch in the Muslim Bazaar area, we exited the city through the Jaffa Gate and headed east to visit the Herodian.  This is the mountain King Herod the Great chose for his burial place.  As with other Herod constructions, it was ornate.  The top third of this mountain was man-made. (It’s good to be king). A hot bath, a small theater and multiple towers were part of this complex.  It also included a massive water system.

We came back to rest before a short presentation by our friend Pastor Steven Khoury. Steven is an Arab Palestinian Evangelical pastor.  He and his father lead the largest evangelical ministry in Israel, especially among Arabs.  He shared the story of persecution they face and yet the power of the Lord demonstrated over and over again.  He is always inspiring.

A wonderful end to our day was the presentation of King David at the laser light show presented on the walls of David’s Citadel inside the Jaffa Gate.  The 35 minute presentation perfectly showed various facets of David’s life with a wonderful blend of art, music and drama.

We face an early morning tomorrow as we will try to go up on the Temple Mount.  Pleasant dreams everyone.

Here is our day in pictures:






























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