15 July: Day 8: Via Dolorosa and camels

Via Dolorosa means the way of the suffering, but Papa and I felt good as we walked along the stations of the cross today. Mickey made it very clear that these stations are traditional, not historical, and that despite what the Catholic church says there is really no way to know exactly where Jesus was interrogated, crucified or buried. Therefore, the only reason to walk through these stations is to help us remember the suffering and importance of Jesus’ death.

A well-timed passerby.



We finished at the church of the Holy Sepulcher, which houses 6 churches of different denominations! This is a Crusader church that claims to contain the stone on which Jesus’ body was laid, the exact place of crucifixion, and the tomb where His body was for three days. Mickey said there is no agreement on where exactly Golgotha is, but that it was likely very very close to the city walls. We touched the Anointing Stone and wondered at how ornate (some might say gaudy) the interior of the church was. Our group met in the courtyard outside of the church and then we started hearing loud noises that went on for a long time. Mickey thought it was probably either fireworks for Ramadan, or police “noise grenades” for crowd control but he still had us wait in the courtyard until the noises subsided, although they started up again pretty quickly.

After that we “marched up Zion” and saw the Zion Gate, where you can see the shrapnel and bullet holes from when the city was lost in war.

We drove out of Jerusalem and stopped at a Samaritan museum and learned a bit about the modern Samaritans. There are only 900 left, and they still gather at their ruined temple to celebrate Passover every year. This was only a brief stop though, on our way to the tourist cheese-fest called “Abraham’s Tent.” Abraham’s servant met us in a gift shop and then led us on camels to Abraham’s tent. Abraham (who was Australian) talked to us a lot and then we ate lunch while he made weird jokes about American Idol. Then we rode camels back. I thought the whole things was terribly corny, but Papa loved riding the camels. He even bought his first souvenir of the trip – a little wooden camel.

 

After this we took our air-conditioned camel to visit Golgotha. “But wait,” you say, “didn’t you already visit Golgotha today?” Why yes we did, but you see that was the Catholic Golgotha and this is the Protestant Golgotha. This was a site called the Garden Tomb and boasts a hill that looks like a skull and a tomb that could be the one where Jesus’ body was laid. We had a nice little tour and two of the pastors in our group led us in taking Communion. Then we walked back to the hotel.

This post is short on pictures because I’m typing on the computer in the hotel lobby and can’t get to the USB port, so I could only go with whatever I had already uploaded. I’m excited to share all of our pictures when we get home in just a few days!  As always we thank God for our safety and ask for continued prayers.