Jerusalem Awaits
Jesus’ final words to his disciples come from Acts 1:7-8:
“It is not for you to know the times or periods that the father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”
Old Jerusalem is where Christ was crucified, and tradition says Solomon built his great temple, its remnants today being the Western Wall- Judaism’s holiest site. During our Western wall experience (or wailing wall as it’s sometimes called), many blue starred flags emphasized the 6 rows of Israeli youth in military green awaiting induction. Muslims believe devoutly that Prophet Mohamed swooned thru Jerusalem on his notorious Night Journey, so just around the bend the Muslim temple – the gold gilded dome of the rock serves as a Moslem’s 2nd holiest site, Mecca number one.
If a guide was pressed for time (let’s say a Methodist tour guide was needing to be early for a church potluck that evening) you could be led in a short time through 1 of 7 gates through the ancient walled city of Jerusalem- Entering Dung gate could start everyone at the Jewish quarter’s Wailing Wall, where Christians, Jews and Muslims pray or place written prayers between the huge blocks. Leaving the wall, distant glimpses of that gold Dome of the Rock in the Muslim quarter soon appear.
Then you’d trek through the spirited shoppers in the Christian quarter (which between the fresh odors and beckoning merchants has the first 9 of 14 stations of the cross- on Jesus’ excruciating journey to his crucifixion). Christ’s final 5 stations adjoin the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, first built in 300 AD. Here Christ was crucified, at least one Christian tradition says.
All this after initially donning a paper Jewish yarmulke on your head at the Western Wall, then, like thunder - Mosques cry to Allah’s faithful via loudspeaker. A Muslim Call to prayer, randomly seconds apart, (chant-like and foreboding) from at least 3 different Mosques 5 times daily.
Perhaps finally you ponder and pray amidst incense tranquilly wafting amidst Christ’s Holy place of suffering and death. Candles adorn the dark tomb in super nova lines of brightness. You’re unmistakably in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher among other dazzled Christians with the hierarchs - Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Catholic who are the keepers- thronging at Christ’s site of crucifixion and burial…
Old Jerusalem’s narrow and humanistic shopping corridors dramatize old school food presentation; fresh fruit and veggies, meat, fish and poultry, still oven warm pita and sesame breads, all enrapturing the senses, creating dynamic shopping opportunities- comparably, most shopping malls seem passé and plastic.
The Most Biblical Colorful Political tiny town within a city ever imagined melds with cultural Divisions and splendor. Thousands of years, multiple attacks and wars necessitated 9 re-buildings (with a San Francisco style earthquake in the middle). With so many unresolved fears, stark misunderstandings, and various world viewpoints floating about, our minds searched for truths.
WWJ DO? WWJ Think? WWJ say?
One remarkable area a tour could overlook is the crammed dwellings and hodge-podge everyday life in the 4 religious quarters. They cohabitate, each with just a few square blocks, centered in the biblical world - Muslims, Jews, Christians and Armenians.
Suddenly, reveling in such unparalleled diversity, strife and beauty, you know why this land - the land of our Lord’s Passion.. The land of the first believers - eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ – The first and last, OUR lord and savior.
“…. You will be my witness in Jerusalem, …….And to the ends of the earth,” There is but one God, no matter his name, one Christ we worship and praise. My friends, Jerusalem awaits your witness.
George Sperry
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