November 13, 2009

Bob’s Sabbatical

November 13, 2009 – Behold the Man

 

            The
Palestinian Perspective last night was delayed because the speaker way held up
at one of the various checkpoints he had to go through just to get here.  That is a way of life for Palestinians.  His presentation was titled: “Shattered
Peace, Israeli Militarism and Unilateralism.” 
That pretty much says it all, in terms of their perspective on life and
the future here.  He certainly did not
agree with militants, but spoke to the utter frustration of being “invisible”
and powerless, saying that most Palestinians would be more than willing to
share territory, have a parallel government and be free to move about.  They do not sense the same willingness from
the Israelies.

 

            We began
our day this morning at the top of the Mount of Olives, at Bethphage.  We were at a chapel that commemorates Jesus’
arrival in Jerusalem (note the palm branches) in the fresco behind the
Altar.  They also have a stone in the Church,
which is actually from the Crusader era, purported to be the “mounting stone”
Jesus used to get on the donkey.  The
stone is taller than most donkeys.

            We were
reminded of the contrast between Herod’s Kingdom and the Kingdom of God.  Herod also arrived in Jerusalem this week,
from Caesarea Maritina.  He came with
chariots, steeds, armies, etc. as a show of Roman power for the Jewish Passover
festival.  Jesus, head held high, but
riding on a simple donkey, purposely distinguishes himself from the likes of
Herod.  Above the entrance is a carving
of two crossed hands.  One is Jesus’ and
the other is St. Francis’, who received the stigmata, and visited Jerusalem.  We were in Assisi, in the rain, three weeks
ago.

            Our next
stop was at Dominus Flevit (“the Lord Wept” [Luke 19:41]), part-way down the
Mt. of Olives.  The chapel is shaped like
a tear-drop (Berlucci, again).  It had a
chalice in the window behind the Altar (“let this cup pass from me” [Matthew
26:39].  We had about 45 minutes of quiet
time.

            We
walked down the steep hillside toward the Gesthemane and the Kidron Valley.  It started to rain.  This is not Good Friday, but it is Friday the
13^th.  We thought about how
much and how far people, and Jesus walked. 
He didn’t ride horses, camels or donkeys.  Riding one on his entry to Jerusalem was not
the norm for him.  As we gathered in a
garden, wet and cold, we were reminded that it was cold that night in
Gesthemane as well – Peter sat in the Caiaphas’ courtyard warming himself by a
fire while Jesus was being questioned inside.

            There
are thousands of people here today, all trying to get into the Gesthemane Basilica.  We walk up to a nearby garden area, where we
are the only group!  Again we have time
for silence.  [Follow-up on yesterday’s
note about silence:  No other tour groups
to bother us today, but since it is Friday, the Moslem holy day, the speakers of
minerets in Jerusalem carry loud calls to prayer that make it very hard to
concentrate.  Someone commented that this
is a way for the Muslims to make their voices heard, but we are not sure it
does not aggravate the situation.  Later
we learned that a similar thing will happen from the Jewish area later today,
at the beginning of their Sabbath.]

            One
thing I have appreciated this time is that the course has been good about keeping
the chronology of Jesus life.  We have
visited places to get a feel for life under Roman rule in the First Century as
we have traveled around, but we began our walk with Jesus in Bethlehem, went to
Nazareth, came back through Jericho, and are pretty much keeping visits to
sites in good order.  My last visit here
was very different.  We went to whatever
was close by, just to be able to say we had been there.  This time it is easier to appreciate Jesus’
life, ministry and last days.

            Peace,

              Bob