June 19, Thursday - Do you want to get well?

Today we started tracing the last week of Jesus’ life starting with his entry into Jerusalem.  As he was coming into Jerusalem he came as far as Bethany.  We did not actually go into Bethany but started the day just over the hill from there.  There are actually quite a few things which happen in Bethany not the least of which is that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus live there and this is where Jesus raises Lazarus.  John explained how burials were performed in the past.  The tomb would normally be carved into a cave and there would be small side ‘rooms’ where the body would eventually be laid.  In the center would be a table like structure where the body would be laid and prepared.  Different oils and such were used to actually help the body decay and then it was wrapped and placed into a side room where it would stay for a year.  After that point there would only be bones and those would then be placed into a small stone box called an ossuary.  There was a stone in front of the tomb entrance but it was made such that it could be easily rolled away so that people could enter as needed.  They believed the soul stayed with the body for 3 days and then left for good.  So at the end of 3 days they would open the tomb once more and call out the deceased name 3 times (just in case they really had not been dead).  Then the tomb was closed for the year.  When Lazarus died Jesus continued teaching where he was for 4 days and then told his disciples they would go there.  So by then they would have given Lazarus one last chance to come out of the tomb and they would believe his soul was gone.  Jesus has them open the tomb and he calls out his name once and Lazarus comes out. 

This is also the place where Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with perfume.  One of the high points for all of us on this trip has been the shower at the end of the day.  We have all come to the conclusion that Jesus and his disciples (and probably everyone in the area) was in very good shape from walking everywhere.  We also know water was in short supply so they also probably did not have a real good sense of smell!  The aroma of the perfume would have stayed on Jesus for days.  This was just prior to his coming into Jerusalem for the Passover just before his death.

Next we discussed the Mt of Olives (called that because of all the olive trees).  It faces the east gate to the Temple Mount which is significant because the belief is that the Messiah will arrive from the East and that the Mt of Olives will be where judgment will take place at the end of the world.  For this reason Jews have wanted to be buried here to be first to greet the Messiah.  So as a result this is the longest continually used cemetery and it is estimated that there are over 150,000 graves on this part of the Mt of Olives. 

Throughout Jesus’ ministry there are lots of things He does which indicate he is letting people know he is the Messiah, but he does not come directly out to say it.  To do so would force an immediate confrontation with not only the priests but also the Romans.  His kingdom is not a military one but one of faith and relations with God and so it is through faith that people come to recognize who He is.  One of the symbols is that he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey.  This is how the Messiah was prophesied to arrive and so his disciples were probably not surprised that he asked that they bring Him one, however they probably were surprised that he chose to enter Jerusalem not through the East gate but instead through one known as the sheep gate because this is the gate that the lambs were brought through for inspection to make sure they were ‘perfect’ enough for sacrifice. (If they were not perfect, in the Sadducees judgment, then you could buy one of their pre-approved lambs, which just happened to have been raised in Bethlehem, with shepherds watching over them day and night (sound familiar?))  The day Jesus enters Jerusalem is ‘lamb selection day’.  This is 4 days before Passover because you are supposed to live with the lamb you intend to sacrifice for 4 days to make it a more meaningful sacrifice.  We discussed quite a bit more about the things that took place on the Mt of Olives but I’ll leave that to others to fill you in so that I can hopefully get caught up with all that we saw.

We walked from the Mt of Olives down the same path it was likely that Jesus rode, entering the North or Sheep’s Gate too.  From there we walked to the Church of Saint Anne (Mary’s mother, the grandmother of Jesus).  The church was built during the time of the crusades and they are not sure how they managed to do this, but it has perfect acoustics.  We stood on the altar steps and sang Amazing Grace, by the time we finished, quite a group of people had stepped inside to listen – and thanks to the acoustics and a couple of strong singers in our group we really did sound very good!

Next to the church is the Pool of Bethesda.  This is the site of a pagan temple to the Roman god of medicine, Asclepius.  In order to help keep the ‘cure rate’ as high as possible, there was a sign that said old people and pregnant women (1 out of 2 would die in childbirth) were not allowed in the pool.  This is where Jesus cures a man who has been there for 38 years.  The story was that when the pool waters stirred, the first person into the pool would be cured.  He had no one to help him get into the pool and so someone always beat him into the pool.  Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well and when he said yes, Jesus cured him and told him to sin no more.  Jesus was not saying he had been ill because he had sinned but that the sin was in worshiping Asclepius.  Jesus often asks people to confirm that they really do want to get well because that will drastically change their lives. 

John had split the group of us into 4 smaller groups and in the evenings we have been meeting to discuss our 5 H’s – Heritage, Hero, Heartache (something we found hard in our life), Highlight (something other than finding our spouse or having children), and Hope for the future.  Others in the group are also allowed to ask any questions they want. It is a good way to get to know each other and by this point we have all shared those stories about ourselves.  So at this site John likes to offer the opportunity for anyone to bring up anything that they have been struggling with so that we as a group can pray with them and for them.  Several of our group asked for prayers for various things (knowing it would change their lives in different ways) and there, sitting in old Jerusalem, surrounded by so many places of religious significance we prayed for each other.  It was one of the most intense times of the trip, leaving us feeling so much closer to God and each other.  But the area was closing for lunch and we were compelled to move on.

Our last visit for the day was the southwest area of the Temple Mount at the ground level.  It was along here that there would be all kinds of shops set up to take advantage of the crowds of people visiting the Temple.  They have excavated down to the level that Jesus and his family and disciples would have walked.  Right along the Temple Mount wall were piles of large stones.  These were parts of the wall for the temple which originally made up the top portions of the wall.  When the Romans came through in 70 AD destroying everything through Israel they pushed much of the wall down as they destroyed the Temple and other buildings up there.  Each of the blocks (some weighing up to 550 tons!) had been carefully chiseled in the quaries nearby and moved into place.  Once set in place they were further chiseled to add essentially a recessed edge on both the outward and inward facing sides of the block.  This edge helped give a finished look to the wall and helped hide imperfections when the sun shown against it.  We discussed the fact that even though the inward facing side would never be seen by people once the dirt was moved in behind the wall, the builders still carefully finished that side because they were building something for the glory of God rather than just something for man.  Our faith lesson was to let God chisel our behavior to make us better people even if it was not always obvious to others.

In this same area are the southern steps to the Temple Mount.  This is the way most people would have gone up to the temple including Jesus and his disciples.  The priests had their own bridge which led from their neighborhood directly to the temple so that they did not have to risk becoming unclean by touching someone else who was unclean.  At the base of the southern steps were 48 Mikvahs (ritual pools for purification used before any worship activities).    

The Jewish feast of Pentecost (also known as Shavuot) takes place 50 days after Passover.  This is also the feast when Christians celebrate the fact that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples on this date which also is known as Pentecost now.   Some of the gospels say that the disciples were in the upper room when the Holy Spirit was sent, but John made the argument that the disciples would probably have been at the temple for the celebration that day (Luke’s gospel says the disciples stayed in the temple courts continually praising and blessing God after Jesus ascended).  After the Holy Spirit descended on them they began to talk to the crowds and everyone heard them speak in their own language.  The southern steps would have been the ideal place to address large groups of people gathered for the feast day.  The bible also says 3000 were baptized that day.  The 48 mikvahs at the base of the stairs would have provided the means of baptizing so many followers.

The other idea which John planted in our minds was regarding the 3^rd Temple.  The belief in the Jewish faith is that the Temple needs to be rebuilt a 3^rd time before the Messiah will return at the end of the world – this is why the Temple Institute is working to prepare the items needed for this 3^rd Temple.  However many others feel that when the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire above the disciples that was an indication that God no longer lived in just the Temple building but that He lives in each of us and that as a community we form the 3^rd Temple.  Lots to think about as we finished another day.

(NOTE: text is complete but pictures need to be added.  I'll be adding pictures once all the texts are done.  (2 days left to document) )