Suffering

Following the walk of Jesus...an incredible day that traced the last 2 days of Jesus life.

Entered the old City of Jerusalem through the Dung Gate and spent time exploring the Temple Mount and learning about the Walls, the Gates and the Temple.  After observing those praying at the Wailing Wall we we lead by our guide on a tour of the tunnels that stretch under the Muslim quarter.  I is amazing to see how each conquering empire built on top of the other stretching back to Solomon.  

Via Delarosa

Exiting the tunnels we travel down the Via Delarosa stopping at stations 2, 5 & 8.  We stop at the Pool of Bethesda and St. Anne’s church to sign and pray.  We were greeted by a Catholic Father who grew up in Timmins, Ontario but has been living in Jerusalem and serving as one of the directors of St. Anne’s for decades.  He was wonderful, welcoming still so Canadian .- he encouraged us to enter the church and singing saying that “to sing once is to pray twice.”  Inside St. Annes there were groups from all over the world singing different songs and hymns one following after the other.  When it was our turn our leader chose to sing,  “Thank You oh my Father” by Keith Green.  At first I cringed a bit wondering if we should have picked a sacred song rather than a seventies Christian pop tune but then I noticed dozens of other people from different groups most of whom did not speak English knew the song and were joining us.  By the time we got to the chorus everyone was singing and it was very moving.  The acoustics inside St. Annes are amazing and it just felt great to be worshiping with others of like faith without the tension of the day before.  

The walls of the Pools of Bethesda - there was a cistern with water in it...I thought Andrew should get in, but it looked kind of thick!

We climbed the Mount of Olives and walked through the Garden of Gethsimene.  It all began to come together.  The whole story of the last week of Jesus life took place right here - you can see it all - Ciaphas’ house, the Praetorium (trail before Pilate), the Via Dolorosa (journey to the cross).  We began to retrace his steps and reflect on suffering of Christ.

Dome of the Rock; the arches to the right of the Dome is the courtyard where Jesus was on trial

Garden of Gethsemene

The gate (now closed in) that Jesus walked through carrying the cross

In the afternoon we moved from the suffering of Christ to the suffering of humanity as we “toured” the holocaust museum, where we also had lunch and where people were upset that, because of kosher laws, we could not eat have ice cream in the same part of the food court where we ate lunch - the contradictions, ironies and irreconcilable realities that have ear marked this trip continue - an ice cream stand at the holocaust museum?   

This horrific story impacts you on so many levels.  First, there is the immense size and pervasiveness of the suffering, the depth of the hatred and the realization that this stretched across Europe and around the world.    Second, there is the individual stories of unimaginable torture, inhuman treatment, of families and people stripped of everything and then killed, literally torn apart and destroyed.  You don’t even want to look at it, let alone take it into your heart and yet you know that you owe it to those who received this abuse to at least help remember their story, their lives, their name - to give them back at least a tiny portion of their dignity and value.  Third, there is the heroic side - stories of people doing the right thing, standing up for others even at the cost of their own lives.  Volunteering death so that others might live another day.    Fourth, there is the understanding that this may be a historical event for most of us but to the Jewish people this is an every day reality, an open wound, a continued threat.  Both our guide and bus driver have no extended family as most of us do - cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents etc. because they are children of the few who survived alone.   

 The part that I had not grasp until coming here was the suffering of the children.  Almost 2 million children suffered and were killed in the holocaust - they were deemed even of less value because they could not work.   There is a children’s memorial at the holocaust museum - a dark room filled with glass and mirrors giving thousands of reflections, each representing a child, from six candles - one for every million people murdered.    We drove back to the hotel in relative silence.  Revelation 21:4-7 kept running through my mind as I thought, “Oh come Lord Jesus and save us from ourselves.”  It was through his suffering that he is able to give us hope in the midst of ours.