April 11,2009

I am just sick about it, I just wrote a whole entry about our day today and it was erased. I will have to rewrite when I get back from St. Anne's tonight, where we are going to a special Easter Service there with Kent Brown. We had a great and meaningful day.

We went to the Jerusalem Center. Beautiful and the best views of all Jerusalem. Church was watching last week's Conference so we wandered the grounds and enjoyed the garden with the olive presses and took note of the map that had all the significant sites on it, gave us a good lay of the land. We rejoined our guides, Nader- the Christian guide and Yoshi (only one more day.) We headed to Paster Noter, where there are many tablets inlaid with the Lord's Prayer in different languages. The Lord's Prayer was believed to be given to the 12 here in this area or he at least prayed with them here. Many also believe this is where he ascended into heaven after spending 40 days as the resurected Christ with his apostles and disciples.

We went past Gethsemanae, since we will see that tomorrow and made our way to Caiphas's House. This was the first place that Christ came after suffering for our sins in Gethsemane and being turned over by Judas to those that bound him and took him here. Caiphas's house was much more moving than I expected. It is almost surely the place where Christ was lowered into a small, dark cell- high security cell where Christ would have been held. He then was taken to Antonio's Fortress where the Roman Judge would have have to approve his execution. Pontious Pilot was the judge then and he washed his hands of Christ, but to please the Jews he gave them Christ to execute, but not until they mocked and beat him and released him to be taken and hung from the cross. We then walked a few stations of the Cross, which Christ would have walked, but on a layer below the street level we were on, since these roads would have been built later. It is still the same path and route that he would have made his way to be hung.

We went to St Anne's church, before the garden, since it was right around the corner. Tonight we returned there. Next to the church that they believe was where Mary, the mother of Christ, was born. Catholics believe that Anne was pure enough to bear the pure Mary. The old Crusader church is in perfect condition with incredible acoustics. Tonight we went there to be a part of an Easter Celebration. The monks there sang beautifully and the sound was unbeleivable and was quite a beautiful ceremony as we held lit candles and heard them speak sections of the Bible in French. There is a small grotto, cave where they beleive was the home of Mary and her mother Anne. Mary they beleive was layed to rest close to there on the mount of Olives, which is near by.

Next to St. Anne's is the Pools of Bethesda. There are no longer Pools, but this is where Christ healed the man who was 38 years old and had waited for many years to be healed here. You had to be the first one to touch the water when the gods stirred it. Christ told the man to rise and walk and talk his matt. It is significant, our guide thought, that CHrist healed this man and it was recorded. The guide thought because this man had showed great patience in waiting and that he didn't tell him to touch the water, since it was supposed to be moved by pagan gods, but he healed him without the water, proving that he was the one with the powers to heal.

The Garden Tomb was very nice and a perfect setting to contemplate what happened here, the miracle of Easter, of the Resurrection. This was discovered not too long ago. The tomb has a large opening for a large rock- which it states that it needed a big stone. There is a trough that the stone could have rolled over the entracnce. The mount of the skull. Golgotha is right next to it, which they said the Joseph of Arimethea took Christ to his tomb. This proves to be aa garden, since it has one of the largest cisterns and the water would have been for irrigation. We went inside the tomb, carved from stoned. There is a weeping room with the grave site in the chamber to the right. It is amazing. We sat together and read Matthew. It was nice and had a pleasant feeling about it.

We came home and the girls took a nap for a bit before we returned and met Kent brown and his wife Gayle for the ceremony at St. Annes'. Following we said goodbye to Yossi!! And then we walked from the hotel to dinner at a great restaurant called Calvary. Great day.