3rd Post - Tuesday, April 1 - A very full day in Jerusalem

It was a long, full day in Jerusalem, tracing the steps of the passion from the Mount of Olives, beginning with Bethpage and Bethany, down the mountain to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Basilica of Agony. We crossed the Kidron Valley and climbed up to Mount Zion where we had a picnic lunch on the lawn overlooking the Kidron Valley. Following that we visited the church of St. Peter in Gallicante - commemorating the story of Peter denying Jesus - and the High Priest Caiaphas' house.

We completed the day with a visit to the Upper Room and then the Garden Tomb.

The day started with a poignant political reality - the "Wall of Separation." We stopped at the foot of the Mount of Olives at the wall, 2 1/2 times higher than the Berlin Wall, separating people from people, as well as people from their land. Sobering.

Beginning on the very top of the Mount of Olives and Bethpage, we reviewed the story of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This mural in the church in Bethpage.

Bethany, home of Mary & Martha and Lazarus, is now separated from the chapel in Bethpage by the 'Wall'.

Pater Noster Church on Mount of Olives. The Lord's Prayer is inscribed on plaques

around the compound in over 100 languages.

The Lord's Prayer on the outside wall of the Pater Noster Church

Tom & Joyce, Laura & Richard on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem

Dome of the Rock, Old City of Jerusalem

Thousands of Jewish graves cover the side of the Mount of Olives.

Jewish tradition says the Messiah will come from the east.

Jewish graves 'honored' with small stones.

Russian Orthodox Church

Garden of Gethsemane

Mural in the church - Jesus is arrested in the Garden

Basilica of the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane

The Mount of Olives from the Kidron Valley looking back up

Picnic on the lawn overlooking the Kidron Valley

The Kidron Valley below Jerusalem

St. Peter in Gallicante Church

Mural in the church - Jesus before the High Priest Caiaphas

In the dungeon in the basement of Caiaphas' house

Peter denies Jesus. Note the rooster on top of the column.

Golgotha - Place of the Skull

The Garden Tomb

"He is not here for He is Risen!"

Dave Harmon exits the Garden Tomb