Last Day

Before our last day, we figured it would be good to have a picture of our "family group".  Basically, it was the buddy system so we didn't leave anyone behind.

 

Our day started with a trip to the Dome of the Rock.  We knew we had to have modesty clothes on that day, but they arbitrarily told some of use women that our sleeves were too short and we had to buy a scarf to cover our arms.  Oh well, at least I like scarves.

The mosaics on the mosque were incredible. 

This is the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus performed miracles.

Apparently, I'm either upset about something or listening intently. 

 View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.  We are facing the Eastern gate of the temple.  East is the God direction and this is the direction that Jesus would have road into the city on Palm Sunday.

Here is an example of ossuaries.  People of Jesus' time would have left a body in the tomb for a year and then put the bones in one of these boxes so the tomb could be reused.

We then visited the Garden of Gethsemani.  We didn't go into the "tourist" side, but got the opportunity to be on the private side for a short time of teaching and some private reflection.  This was my view during our reflection time.  It was hard for me to get my mind around that I was sitting under an olive tree in the Gethsemani, reading my Bible.  It was a very meaningful experience for me.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the traditional, and pretty reliable, site for Jesus' death and resurrection.  Like the Church of the Nativity, it was a bit too ornate for me to be reflective, but I can appreciate how some people would like it.

This marks the place where the cross was.  Many pilgrims were kissing the stone.

This is the traditional location of the tomb.  We did not go into the shrine; however, this is kind of a cool picutre with the light shinning in.

There's six different churches that run the church.  They all need to argee before anything can be done to the church.  This ladder has been under this window since the eighteenth century because one demoniation started repair work without the concent of the others, and they were told to immediately stop.  They haven't agreed what to do with it yet today.  In fact, because the denominations don't trust each other, a Muslim family holds the keys to the church.  No wonder Christians have such a bad reputation.

Although the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is this most likely place for Jesus' death and resurrection, the Garden Tomb is also a possibility. Can you kind of see how this cliff looks like a skull?  The mouth part of the skull was covered up by a bus station.

This is a first century tomb.  You can kind of see a channel run along the base of the door where the stone would have been.

This is the view inside the tomb.

We had communion here as a group.  "This is my body" at the Garden Tomb was moving.

After this, we went back to the hotel for a late check-out, then headed out for dinner and the airport.  We made it back to the states with not problems, but we arrived at JFK to find out that our flight to Detroit was cancelled.  We ended up all going separate ways from JFK, but met up in Detroit for the bus ride back home.