Final Day and a Half

The pilgrimage team spent their last day and a half getting to know Jerusalem and walking the paths that Jesus walked.

Palm Sunday walk from Bethphage to Gethsemane stopping at the Church of All Nations

Bethphage:

Bethphage is a Christian religious site in Israel.
Bethphage is mentioned in the New Testament as the place in ancient Israel from which Jesus sent his disciples to find a donkey and a colt, upon which he would ride into Jerusalem.
Unknown villagers living there (the owners of the colt according to Luke's Gospel) permitted Jesus' disciples to take the colt away for Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There is an annual Palm Sunday walk into Jerusalem which begins here.
Eusebius of Caesarea located it on the Mount of Olives. It was likely on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and the limit of a Sabbath-day's journey from Jerusalem. (Wikipedia)

Church of All Nations:

There is an interesting 4 minute video describing the church:
https://youtu.be/AY458jPRBYU?t=161


THE WESTERN WALL (formerly known as the Wailing Wall)


ST. PETER of GALLICANTU:

One of the most striking churches in Jerusalem commemorates the apostle Peter’s triple denial of his Master, his immediate repentance and his reconciliation with Christ after the Resurrection.
Built on an almost sheer hillside, the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu stands on the eastern slope of Mount Zion.
On its roof rises a golden rooster atop a black cross — recalling Christ’s prophesy that Peter would deny him three times “before the cock crows”. Galli-cantu means cockcrow in Latin.
Peter’s denial of Christ is recorded in all four Gospels (most succinctly in Matthew 26:69-75). Three of the Gospels also record his bitter tears of remorse.
The scene of Peter’s disgrace was the courtyard of the high priest Caiaphas. The Assumptionist congregation, which built St Peter in Gallicantu over the ruins of a Byzantine basilica, believes it stands on the site of the high priest’s house.
Under the church is a dungeon thought to be the cell where Jesus was detained for the night following his arrest.

The lower levels of the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu contain what are believed to have been a guardroom and a prisoner’s cell, both hewn out of bedrock.
• The guardroom contains wall fixtures to attach prisoners’ chains. Holes in the stone pillars would have been used to fasten a prisoner’s hands and feet when he was flogged. Bowls carved in the floor are believed to have contained salt and vinegar, either to aggravate the pain or to disinfect the wounds.
Jesus, of course, was not flogged by the Jews but by the Romans. But some of his disciples, probably including Peter, were flogged by order of the Jewish council after the Resurrection for teaching in the name of Jesus in the Temple (Acts 5:40).
• The prisoner’s cell offers a sobering insight into where Christ might have spent the night before he was crucified. It has become known as “Christ’s Prison”.
The only access to the bottle-necked cell was through a shaft from above, so the prisoner would have been lowered and raised by means of a rope harness. A mosaic depicting Jesus in such a harness is outside on the south wall of the church.
A small window from the guardroom served as a peephole for a guard standing on a stone block.

The evening was spent having a special ceremony, enjoying a final dinner in Jerusalem and going to the American Colony for a drink.

SUNDAY

The team spent the morning choosing different activities.  I'm sure some shopped!  Others went to Hezekiah's Tunnel:

There were lots of alternative options, which you will hear from your pilgrim.

Last I heard, everyone is safely en route from Tel Aviv to JFK.  Praying for safe travel.  Hope you have enjoying following along on this exciting adventure.