Jan. 8, 2011
So today we traveled to the Mt. of Olives and being there was really amazing, except for the fact that it was really cold! The Mt. of Olives, for those who do not know is the place where is Jesus is said to be returning to lead His followers to the Holy City. This was an amazing sight as we could see everything from this view in Jerusalem. We saw the Kidron valley right below us, the City of David, the Dome of the Rock, the Sepulcher, and much more, all were glistening in the sunlight. The best part of this was going down and just knowing that some day Jesus would return to this spot and raise up His followers and we would march on to Jerusalem! So awesome! As we made our way down the Mount of Olives where we stopped and saw the Dominus Flavit that was put up by the Catholics. It is a cool sight because in the front they have two trees that were thorn trees from the crown of thorns. These thorns were HUGE they were like at least 3 inches in length, just imagine getting stabbed by one or just imagine Jesus wearing a whole crown of thorns just for you and me and having these things stabbing into his head. It was crazy! Then we traveled down to the church of all nations! At this place, right next to it was....Gethsemane, the place where Jesus was betrayed by Judas with a kiss and then arrested! It was so powerful to sit in that church and just thank Him for doing that for us! He could of just ran out into the Wilderness of the Judaean Hills and no one would of found Him, but He choose to stay and die for Each and every one of us. After that we traveled down to Bethlehem, which is only 5 miles away amazingly and just going from the place Jesus will return, the place he was betrayed and arrested, to the place of His birth was such a powerful moment. It was so modernized in Bethlehem and it makes it seem like nothing ever happened here and there was no little town or stable where Jesus was born, the Savior and Lord of our lives. But just being in the place, close to where He was born is just so amazing to me to think about and to try and comprehend because Jesus could of been born in the spot i was standing so Awesome!!!!
Then we went to the Herodium, the Herodium to those who do not know is the place where Herod kept his summer palace and as you approach this place it looks like you are going to a volcano but once you get up the mountain you see that on the top is this whole with a whole bunch of ruins. You can actually see the outlines of the first floor of the Herodian palace. It was amazing! I just love that stuff when you can see the outlines of what it actually used to look like! I really liked this place, and it was really interesting to note that the town of Bethlehem was in viewing distance and if you remember correctly Herod ordered to have all the children killed that were born around Jesus' time because of the fact of Jesus being born. It was also interesting to figure out that the Herodian palace casts a shadow over Bethlehem, so if you think about it then you think that the Savior of all men was born under the shadow of the man who tried to kill him, the man that everyone feared, and Jesus was able to be born and escape the grasp of him.
Ahhhh! I love seeing Biblical places in real life, just reading them and looking at pictures is great but when you actually see it you can't imagine how awesome it actually is to feel the emotion and power of what Jesus went through and how the Bible actually works! So amazing!!!!
Peace and Love! God Bless and DO GOOD!!!
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