Traveling the World, One Scripture at a Time: Day 5, He is Alive!!

Monday, December 6^th

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I woke up to another amazing day in Israel.

There has been a drought here for a long time. In fact Jerusalem had not received rain since April, today it rained all day. They needed it so badly and it didn’t dampen our plans at all since most of our agenda was indoors today.

We left the hotel this morning and drove past Gahanna to the Kidron Valley and the Jaffa Gate to Mt. Scopus. After looking over the city, seeing the golden dome of the Mosque, built where the Temple will one day stand again, the Islamic cemetery along the entire east side of the wall and seeing the Eastern Gate, where Christ will return, sealed off as if to keep Him out, I felt something in my spirit stir.

It doesn’t matter what man does to try to stop God’s plan. It won’t work. Christ’s return to Jerusalem is not dependant on a gate being open, and he is not a priest, who cannot pass through a cemetery. In fact, he conquered death and nothing can keep Him from fulfilling the prophecy from thousands of years ago.

Next we went to the Mount of Olives, the area above the east wall of old Jerusalem and to the Garden of Gethsemane. A beautiful church is there. I stood on the stone entry of the church, looking again at the Eastern Gate of the Holy City. A song came to my heart.

“Signs of the times are everywhere, and there’s a brand new feeling in the air, keep your eyes, upon the Eastern sky, lift up your head, redemption draweth nigh”

I’ve known that song since I was a child, but never has it felt so real…If back then it seemed so real, then I just can’t help but feel how much closer His coming is today.

I stood there for quite a while, in the rain, with tears flowing freely down my face. I was standing on the hill where he prayed, “Let this cup pass from me, but, not my will but thine be done.”

As that sunk in, I thought about the fact that I was facing the place of His Triumphant return. I stood for several minutes soaking it in, before I went into the church. A beautiful mass was starting and as the priest spoke of God’s love for us, and the season of Advent I sat, on a bench to the side of the church, and cried. Thankful for the scarf I brought to cover my head in respect for the holy sites we visited. It was a good way to wipe the tears as well.

From Gethsemane, we traveled to the Garden Tomb and the place many believe is Golgotha. You can certainly see the skull in the side of the mountain there. It was touching to hear the story from our British guide. He talked about the fact that Jesus’ agony would have been at Golgotha, but not necessarily ON Golgotha because the Romans wanted passers-by to see the agony on the faces of those they crucified. It struck me, to think that the agony of Christ was so intentional, that they would want to put it on display as something they were pleased to do. Yes, I have seen The Passion of the Christ, and yes, I understand, to the degree that any 21^st century American can understand, that the crucifixion was horrible. I even knew in my head that crucifixion was a common way to put criminals to death. But, standing near Golgotha, looking over the place they may have put the cross of Jesus, and thinking of people passing by on camels and donkeys, or even walking, looking into His face, shouting insults…Silent tears could not be stopped. Throughout the garden there were sobs, and sometimes wailing at the thought of our Savior, whom we love going through such sacrifice, because He first loved me. For a few moments, I was not in the Golgotha of 2010, but transferred to a place long ago, where I stood with Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the Mother of Jesus, weeping as He laid down His life for me.

As Jesus breathed his final breath on the cross, an earthquake shook Jerusalem, the sky turned to black and the veil on the temple, which blocked access to the Holy of Holies, was torn. That curtain was several inches think. It was not like tearing a normal piece of fabric, it was miraculous, and intentional. With Jesus work on earth fulfilled, the penalty for sin paid, we gained access to God our Father. We were no longer subject to God’s wrath.

Knowing it was finished; Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemas went to Pilot and asked for Jesus Body, they had to bury Him before sunset because it was the Sabbath. Pilot sent a guard with them to take the body off of the cross. To be sure He was dead; the soldier pushed a sword into his side. Already drained of His blood, Water poured from the wound. Jesus was indeed dead.

His friends wrapped his body for burial, packing the wraps with spices and carried him to the tomb, borrowed from Joseph. A tremendous stone was rolled in front of the opening and Roman soldiers placed there to guard the body, so that His friends could not come back and steel it.

Most Christians know this story, and we know that is not the most important part of the story. After the Sabbath was over, the women came back to the tomb with more spices…but the stone was rolled away, and His body was not there. Still, that’s not the most important part. While His earthly body was in the tomb, Jesus was not there. He descended into the very bowels of Hell, defeated death and Satan, Preached life to the captives in Abraham’s Bosom and then returned to be resurrected with the body that was healed and restored.

As I stood in the tomb, I thought of something else I had not considered much before. His body was beaten beyond recognition, His skin sliced to shreds by the scourging on his back, His head pierced by the long thorns on the crown they placed on His head to mock him. There is no natural way that His body would have been functional in three days. Except, that when His divine nature, and power to heal stepped back into His earthly vessel, He was healed so completely that only scars remained to prove to the doubting disciple He was indeed Jesus.

Stepping out of His tomb, and leaving it empty, brought Joy to my heart. We do not serve a God who is impersonal or cold. We do not have a Savior who is in a grave, turned back to ash and dust. The God of Heaven is alive, He is real and He is personal.

When we left the Garden tomb, we drove past the House of Parliament to The Shrine of the Book, a museum built to display the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was very interesting, although, unless you read Hebrew, it is not possible to read them. The display is well done and very interesting.

At the same site there is a scale model of the Holy Land. It is the entire city of Jerusalem at the time of Herod the Great. Very intricate detail makes it much easier to understand the lay of the land and the relationship of one section of the city to the others

From there we traveled a few minutes to Yad Vashem, the National Holocaust Memorial. They have done a beautiful job, ensuring that no visitor will ever forget the atrocities against the Jews in the hands of the Nazis. I was glad I got to see it. Toward the end of the museum, is the Hall of Names. They are collecting and offering information on the 6,000,000 Jews who lost their lives during the Holocaust, 1.5 million of whom were children.

A special building is dedicated to the innocent children put to death for no reason other than their bloodline. Prisms reflect the light of 6 candles, making 1.5 million flames in memory of the children. A perpetual announcement of names cycles as visitors walk through the special place. It takes over a year for the list to completely cycle. Astonishing.

After we left Yad Vashem we came back to the hotel to freshen a bit before dinner. Be sure to watch for a special blog post about Israel’s fine restaurants after I return to the states. I am too full of everything else I have seen to write much about the food today.

Here is a teaser...