Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem
peter_asirvatham@yahoo.co.in
As I beheld Jerusalem for the first time in daylight, I recalled three verses from Psalm 122:- I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the LORD." Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. (v. 1,2) and, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (v.6) It was the morning of 30th April, 2008, my family and I were on The Mount of Olives, Israel, part of a 29 member pilgrim group led by brother Raphael of our church and, head of Family of Jesus Tours. Earlier that morning after leaving Bethlehem, we went to The Chapel of Ascension on Mount of Olives, from where Lord Jesus Christ had ascended to heaven. From there we visited The Church of Pater Noster, where Jesus had taught his disciples "Our Father" - The LORD's prayer. Now, we were still on Mount of Olives, looking at Jerusalem, more specifically, the walled city of old Jerusalem.
We did catch a glimpse of Jerusalem from our bus on the evening (28.04.2008) as we crossed into Israel from Egypt. The view of Jerusalem from outside the Church of Dominus Flevit was breathtaking. It was from here that Lord Jesus Christ had wept for Jerusalem.
The Dome of the Rock-the Islamic mosque with the golden dome that dominates every other landmark on the Temple Mount shone brilliantly and seemed to attract every ones attention from other holy sites. As our tour guide kept pointing out the places of biblical interest around Jerusalem, I was looking through the view-finder of my camera-mounted with a tele-lens, for that one place which in Jesus' time would have been easily recognisable-the surviving western wall of The Temple. It was not easy to spot the Western or Wailing Wall but, beyond The Dome of The Rock I could see two blue coloured domes. While the golden dome of the mosque seemed to dwarf the ones of The Church of The Holy Sepulchre in magnificence; the domes of the church dwarfed the brilliant Dome of The Rock in sheer significance-martyrdom of the highest order for all mankind. It is the place venerated by Orthodox Christians as the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and later, resurrected.
After feasting our eyes on the historic Holy City we made our way downhill, down The Palm Sunday Road to The Garden of Gethsemane. We couldn't keep quiet like the people who marched along with Jesus on his Triumphal Entry of Jerusalem, even though we had no palm fronds we all sang, "Osanna paaduvoum." Mr. Sayed, our tour guide, an Israeli-Arab Christian who knows quite a few Tamil words like "Vaangae, vaangae sheekeram vaangae, busikku pongae," informed us that to our left was the "kidhron palathaaku". When we heard the way he pronounced "kidhron palathaaku" we couldn't stop but laugh and correct his Tamil. We corrected him that "palathaaku" means, literally, "attack the tooth." Perhaps he knew the meaning all along and wanted to make our walk memorable. It was, thanks to Sayed's meticulous planning we could visit so many places.
The Church of Agony is built around the bedrock in the garden where Jesus, in anguish sweated blood on the night he was betrayed. Here we had to maintain silence as a church service was in progress. Left to ourselves we would have sung, "Paareer gethsemane, poongavil yaen nesara ai, paavi aenakaai..." The Garden of Gethsemane is divided in two by a road running through; one part adjoining The Church of Agony. Here the olive trees are cordoned off from pilgrims as some of the trees are believed to be more than 2000 years old. We had some peace and quiet in the second part of the garden where, brother Raphael led us in prayer. Many of us felt overwhelmed here, tears flowed down our cheeks. Some of my family and colleagues had requested me to pray for them from here. It was such a privilege to be on this pilgrimage. Leaving the garden of Gethsemane, we went to Mount Zion. The "Upper room" is a small room some short distance from the Tomb of David. Here, I could only say silent prayers in my heart as I tried to imagine our Lord's Last Supper. As we exited the room, I was strangely reminded of Judas Iscariot, leaving the room to collect his thirty pieces of silver.
Cute paintings of roosters on small tiles on compound walls directed us to The Church of St. Peter. Here, some pieces of art poignantly depicted the hours leading up to Jesus' passion. One, a mosaic showing Jesus being mocked by soldiers. A bas-relief showing Jesus being bound and dragged away to Caiaphas' house and, a bronze sculpture where Peter is surrounded by two soldiers and vehemently denying knowing Jesus to a young woman. A rooster above the shade of the sculpture brought to mind how Jesus' words came true regarding Peter's bravado earlier that night in the Upper Room. How Peter wept bitterly when Jesus turned and looked at him! Words cannot really express some of the feelings I went through in this tour.
My family and I thank the Lord, for, in His Providence he had allowed us to see the Holy Land.
The places and events narrated are only half-a-day's itinerary of Day Five of our pilgrimage. There were so many places of biblical importance we visited in the ten day tour of Egypt, Israel and Jordan. What an awesome experience it was to stand in "Terra Sancta" or "Sacred terrain," to tread upon, with my unworthy feet, the places where Jesus Christ had walked two thousand years ago!
On day nine of our tour we crossed the Israel-Jordan border. While I was pushing the trolley with my baggage towards the Jordanian customs office, suddenly the trolley veered off and made a small U-turn. Seeing this, my wife Grace commented, "Your suitcase doesn't want to leave Israel." I retorted, "May be I'll come back to Israel again!" How awesome it would be to come back and behold The Holy places, and recite the verse all over again, "Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem."
A selection of (24) photos taken on Day Five.
peter_asirvatham@yahoo.co.in
As I beheld Jerusalem for the first time in daylight, I recalled three verses from Psalm 122:- I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the LORD." Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. (v. 1,2) and, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (v.6) It was the morning of 30th April, 2008, my family and I were on The Mount of Olives, Israel, part of a 29 member pilgrim group led by brother Raphael of our church and, head of Family of Jesus Tours. Earlier that morning after leaving Bethlehem, we went to The Chapel of Ascension on Mount of Olives, from where Lord Jesus Christ had ascended to heaven. From there we visited The Church of Pater Noster, where Jesus had taught his disciples "Our Father" - The LORD's prayer. Now, we were still on Mount of Olives, looking at Jerusalem, more specifically, the walled city of old Jerusalem.
We did catch a glimpse of Jerusalem from our bus on the evening (28.04.2008) as we crossed into Israel from Egypt. The view of Jerusalem from outside the Church of Dominus Flevit was breathtaking. It was from here that Lord Jesus Christ had wept for Jerusalem.
The Dome of the Rock-the Islamic mosque with the golden dome that dominates every other landmark on the Temple Mount shone brilliantly and seemed to attract every ones attention from other holy sites. As our tour guide kept pointing out the places of biblical interest around Jerusalem, I was looking through the view-finder of my camera-mounted with a tele-lens, for that one place which in Jesus' time would have been easily recognisable-the surviving western wall of The Temple. It was not easy to spot the Western or Wailing Wall but, beyond The Dome of The Rock I could see two blue coloured domes. While the golden dome of the mosque seemed to dwarf the ones of The Church of The Holy Sepulchre in magnificence; the domes of the church dwarfed the brilliant Dome of The Rock in sheer significance-martyrdom of the highest order for all mankind. It is the place venerated by Orthodox Christians as the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and later, resurrected.
After feasting our eyes on the historic Holy City we made our way downhill, down The Palm Sunday Road to The Garden of Gethsemane. We couldn't keep quiet like the people who marched along with Jesus on his Triumphal Entry of Jerusalem, even though we had no palm fronds we all sang, "Osanna paaduvoum." Mr. Sayed, our tour guide, an Israeli-Arab Christian who knows quite a few Tamil words like "Vaangae, vaangae sheekeram vaangae, busikku pongae," informed us that to our left was the "kidhron palathaaku". When we heard the way he pronounced "kidhron palathaaku" we couldn't stop but laugh and correct his Tamil. We corrected him that "palathaaku" means, literally, "attack the tooth." Perhaps he knew the meaning all along and wanted to make our walk memorable. It was, thanks to Sayed's meticulous planning we could visit so many places.
The Church of Agony is built around the bedrock in the garden where Jesus, in anguish sweated blood on the night he was betrayed. Here we had to maintain silence as a church service was in progress. Left to ourselves we would have sung, "Paareer gethsemane, poongavil yaen nesara ai, paavi aenakaai..." The Garden of Gethsemane is divided in two by a road running through; one part adjoining The Church of Agony. Here the olive trees are cordoned off from pilgrims as some of the trees are believed to be more than 2000 years old. We had some peace and quiet in the second part of the garden where, brother Raphael led us in prayer. Many of us felt overwhelmed here, tears flowed down our cheeks. Some of my family and colleagues had requested me to pray for them from here. It was such a privilege to be on this pilgrimage. Leaving the garden of Gethsemane, we went to Mount Zion. The "Upper room" is a small room some short distance from the Tomb of David. Here, I could only say silent prayers in my heart as I tried to imagine our Lord's Last Supper. As we exited the room, I was strangely reminded of Judas Iscariot, leaving the room to collect his thirty pieces of silver.
Cute paintings of roosters on small tiles on compound walls directed us to The Church of St. Peter. Here, some pieces of art poignantly depicted the hours leading up to Jesus' passion. One, a mosaic showing Jesus being mocked by soldiers. A bas-relief showing Jesus being bound and dragged away to Caiaphas' house and, a bronze sculpture where Peter is surrounded by two soldiers and vehemently denying knowing Jesus to a young woman. A rooster above the shade of the sculpture brought to mind how Jesus' words came true regarding Peter's bravado earlier that night in the Upper Room. How Peter wept bitterly when Jesus turned and looked at him! Words cannot really express some of the feelings I went through in this tour.
My family and I thank the Lord, for, in His Providence he had allowed us to see the Holy Land.
The places and events narrated are only half-a-day's itinerary of Day Five of our pilgrimage. There were so many places of biblical importance we visited in the ten day tour of Egypt, Israel and Jordan. What an awesome experience it was to stand in "Terra Sancta" or "Sacred terrain," to tread upon, with my unworthy feet, the places where Jesus Christ had walked two thousand years ago!
On day nine of our tour we crossed the Israel-Jordan border. While I was pushing the trolley with my baggage towards the Jordanian customs office, suddenly the trolley veered off and made a small U-turn. Seeing this, my wife Grace commented, "Your suitcase doesn't want to leave Israel." I retorted, "May be I'll come back to Israel again!" How awesome it would be to come back and behold The Holy places, and recite the verse all over again, "Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem."
A selection of (24) photos taken on Day Five.
2 comments:
Hi Peter, Welcome to the world of blogging!
John
welcome pete... nice read....
P.S.did you inform the uncrowned king of bloggin, that you have finally joined him in his crusades :)
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