Last month I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the "Holy Land," namely Jordan and Israel. In this current Holy Week, I have reflected on the sites I visited, likely some of the very places that Jesus and His disciples walked.
Here are some glimpses of my journey, following Jesus' footsteps from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday.
"Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
'Hosanna!'
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'
'Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!'
'Hosanna in the highest heaven!'
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts." (Mark 11:8-11a)
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Jerusalem's Eastern Gate - Built on top of the gate Jesus entered on Palm Sunday. "It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end...so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him." (John 13:1, 4-5)  Believed to be the Upper Room of the Last Supper
"When He had finished praying, Jesus left with His disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and He and His disciples went into it." (John 18:1)  Looking across the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives. "Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.'...He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.'” (Matthew 26:36, 42)  The Garden of Gethsemane  "Now Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, went out and asked them, 'Who is it you want?' 'Jesus of Nazareth,' they replied. 'I am He,' Jesus said." (John 18:2-5a) "Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome..." (Matthew 26:57-58)  After His garden arrest, the path on which Jesus was taken to High Priest Caiaphas' house.  A statue depicting Peter's denial near what is believed to be Caiaphas' house. (Note the rooster at the top of the column.) "Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. 'You also were with Jesus of Galilee,' she said. But he denied it before them all...Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: 'Before the rooster crows, You will disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly." (Matthew 26:69a, 74b-75) "They came to a place called Golgotha (which means 'the place of the skull'). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it. When they had crucified Him, they divided up His clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. Above His head they placed the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS." (Matthew 27:32-37)  Golgotha - "The place of the skull." Believed to be named this because the indentations and formations of the rock made the cliff look like a face/skull.  Older photo of Golgotha, circa early 1900s, when the "face" was more prominent. "Knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.' A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit." (John 19:28-30) "Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus...At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there." (John 19:38a, 41-42)  A garden located right next to Golgotha and very possibly the garden once owned by Joseph of Arimathea.  The Garden Tomb. "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!'" (John 20:1-2)  "He is not here - He is alive!" “'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” (Luke 24:5b-7)  The Empty Tomb!  Sign on the door of the tomb.
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