Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane

 On Sunday, March 26 2023 we went to Mount of Olives. (Disclaimer again about my memory and my mistakes.) 

From Lion's Gate this is about a half hour walk, but it is very uphill...both ways. That's not even a joke.

 We were given a bus ride to the top of Mount Olives, where this was the view. It was a magnificent sight, formidable, sobering even because of everything that has happened and continues to happen and will happen. I can imagine why Jesus would have wept looking down upon this view.  

Some of that must have showed on my face because our group's marketing guy interviewed me. I learned that inspired thoughts do not translate to inspired words. I doubt I shall make the cut. 😅

Jerusalem and Istanbul cats deserve their own post. Also yes it was very cold. I had warmers in my pockets and my shoes.

So for a little more background, Mount of Olives is one peak in a larger mountain range. It's pretty big, and lots of things happened all over it so again there's that perspective on space and size and time. 

It is named Mount of Olives because it used to be covered in olive trees. There's still quite a few olive trees.

In the Jewish tradition, this is where the resurrection of the dead will begin when the Messiah comes. Therefore there is a large centuries-old Jewish cemetery here. Many rabbis are buried here.

Somewhere near there is supposed to be the burial spot of three prophets, but apparently archeology says that they're Roman because Jewish and Christian graves are not aboveground. However, they are still marked and visited as such. 

More tradition says that Zachariah and David are buried here, somewhere.

This is the Dominus Flevit Church. It commemorates the place where Jesus was supposed to have wept as he predicted the destruction of the Temple.

We were just briskly moving along through this neighborhood when the guide stops between two houses and says, "And this is where Judas was supposed to have kissed Jesus and betrayed him." And then we continued to trot along. I picked up some dropped flowers from that bougainvillea and dried them in my journal. They've turned a nice dark purple-y pink and absolutely look like the color of betrayal.

At the bottom of the mountain is the Garden of Gethsemane. It looks much more modern than I assume it was back then but they've fenced it up so I think it's relatively untouched besides the gardening. 

This garden is supposed to be where Jesus came after the Last Supper and prayed to God asking to be relieved of the trial ahead of him and then accepted God's will. It is also where he was arrested. (Think about that half hour hike at least back to Herod's Palace or the prison nearby.)

Those are more olive trees that studies have inconclusively been done about whether these were the same ones that dated back to when Jesus sat under them. As it is, olives can grow back even if cut down to the root. 

This is the Church of All Nations. It supposedly contains part of the actual bedrock where Jesus prayed. It's behind all of those people. I forgot to take a picture once I got close.

My memory doesn't really serve trying to remember how long this all took. I'd say about an hour and we had at least an hour more to go, but we were talking and moving slowly. The walk was quite arduous because of all the inclines and declines. It was quite a large area we covered too, so you get this sense of Jesus' movements in his last days.

FOR SOME REASON WE SKIPPED MT. ZION! I didn't realize this until I was home. And I don't know if the guide forgot or simply did not fit into the tour because it is at least another 15 minutes walk from Mount of Olives. Mt. Zion was the location of the last supper. 

We did go to the church that commemorates the point where Jesus ascended to heaven. I did not take a picture of it, apparently and anyway it is purely commemorative. I don't think anyone seems to know exactly where he ascended from. 

So this is something new I learned. I didn't realize that in the Bible he didn't simply ascend from the tomb which is inside the city. He came back to the Mount of Olives and ascended from there.

This is the Tomb of the Virgin Mary. According to some Christian tradition, her body was laid here and then she also ascended to heaven. (Someone correct me if I've misunderstood this.)

It is also traditionally accepted that her parents were also buried here. Our guide particularly mentioned her mother, Hannah.

 I think I've learned that a Greek Orthodox church is marked by the lamps. Or is it the Armenian churches? Both groups have ownership of this church.

Either the tomb of Hannah or the place from which Mary's body ascended according to some Christians. I am not sure about this point. 

On the way back we received the lecture on how Muslim tradition does not reject any stories from the Israelites (so the Jews and Christians of that time) that do not directly contradict the Quran or other Islamic tradition. However, it is also emphasized to focus on the relevant lessons and not the details that tend to get mixed up over long stretches of history. I think that was a good point not just from a religious perspective but in the direction of modern squabbling.

After this, we went shopping. But I shall write a post on Al-Aqsa and the Western Wall for my next post. Stay tuned.