Israel Journey: Day Four

Visited many sites today and I still feel like I am barely scratching the surface of this city.  Israel is so unique, in that, it is one of the few cities I've visited that has layers.  There are just as many passage ways under the city as there are in the streets above.  I was amazed yesterday when I visited the church of the Holy Sepulchre, to find an entire apartment complex and an Ethiopian church resting on it's rooftop!  Then I journeyed below the surface to find a maze of tunnels and archeological wonders.

Mount of Olives: A fascinating fact is that there are hardly any olive trees on the mountainside, instead it has thousands of grave stones.  This is described as the place where King David walked barefoot weeping after the revolt of Absalom (2 Samuel 15:30).  Zechariah had a vision (14:4) of the Mount of Olives being torn in two during the Last Judgment.  This is also the place where Jesus and His disciples came on the night before His arrest and trial (Matthew 26).

Garden of Gethsemane:  This place, located near the base of the Mount of Olives, is said to be where Christ spent His last moments with His disciples before being arrested (Matthew 26:36).  Some believe that the trees (which are incredibly unique) date back to those days.

The Knesset: I was able to get a tour of the Israeli Parliament.  This was built in 1966 and is a bleak fortress located on a hill west of the center of Jerusalem.  This is the focal point of modern Israel and was built with defense very much in mind: a good deal of the structure lies underground.  Unfortunately, photographs inside the building are not allowed.

Golgotha:  Look closely and you can see what many believe is a skull shaped into the side of the ancient quarry.  Today, this area is located directly next to a bus station.

The Garden Tomb:  The location of the burial and resurrection of Christ.  There are many reasons why this tomb is said to be Joseph of Arimathea's.
a) In 1970 Kathleen Kenyon, a respected archeologist, described it as a 'typical tomb of about the 1st century AD'.
b) It is located just a few meters away from a well preserved wine press (one of the largest in Israel), which suggests that the garden was originally an extensive vineyard, probably that of a rich man.
c) It is cut out of the solid rock and is not a natural cave (Matt 27:60).
d) It was sealed by a large rolling stone, as indicated by the channel outside of the front wall (Matt 27:60)
e) Inside there would have been space for several mourners to stand in the large weeping chamber (Luke 24:1-3, 10)
f) The burial place is on the right side of the tomb (Mark 16:5)
g) The burial place would have been visible from the outside (John 20:5)
h) In later years, the empty tomb was used for Christian worship in both the Byzantine and Crusader periods. There are indications of a church structure around the area outside the tomb, a baptistry and two crosses, one of which is inside the tomb.