First of all, happy Fathers’ Day to all of you dads! Most all of my dog friends still live with their dads and moms, but it’s just my brother and me. We miss our dad, but we still have a great time together. My brother went around to all the cemeteries yesterday – he was playing catch-up for Memorial Day because he was in Israel then.
Speaking of which, I think there are still two days to tell you about on his Israel trip! Here is their next to the last day in Jerusalem. They started at a park called the Garden Tomb, which some people think might be the spot of the cross and tomb. They also went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is where most people think those places are.
The Garden Tomb was discovered by a British fellow back in the 1800s. There is a big rock that kind of looks like a skull – it’s over on the far right side of this picture. Can you see it?
In the Bible, they say that the cross was at The Place of the Skull, so they started digging around and found other things. Here’s a tomb that’s nearby.
And here’s a wine press, like the one they saw at Nazareth Village. Wow, they sure had a lot of wine back then!
My brother said that place was very pretty. Here’s a picture of his friends Suzanne and Ben after they had been inside the tomb.
The group then went back into Old Jerusalem and saw the birthplace of Mary.
I told him, “Wow, I really like what they’ve done with the place!” but he said that this was a church that they built on top of the house. Here’s a picture of the house, which I think is still pretty, in its own way.
Nearby is the Pool of Bethesda. It sure would be deep if they filled it up! I’ll bet my brother could do a big cannonball there!
Next to the swimming pool is a pretty French church.
The group then walked on the Via Dolorosa. Have you heard of it? The name means “the way of sorrows” but it’s easier for me to remember it as Sad Street. It’s where Jesus carried His cross up to Golgotha. I had heard of filling stations and television stations, but Sad Street has 14 Stations of the Cross, and those are places where Jesus fell down, where His Mom came over to comfort Him, and twelve other places. This is a church that they built at one of the first stations.
My brother got to say a few words at each spot, although he said that their guide, Ran, did a much better job!
At the end of Sad Street is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is so big that it covers both where the cross and the tomb were. That’s probably even bigger than the Astrodome! This little place is actually on the roof the Church, and some monks from Ethiopia live there.
Now, wait until you see what happened next:
Those guys were wild! My brother said that the standoff went on for quite a while, so they all decided to go inside the Church. Even though it is so big, there are lots of pretty little chapels inside.
Then, they started seeing bigger parts of it!
Here is a mosaic of the story of Abraham and Isaac, where the angel said, “Wait! Look over there! There’s a ram caught in a thicket!”
Right next to it is a mosaic of Jesus. Wow, I never thought about how similar the two stories are!
Now, here’s what my brother calls the pièce de résistance! This beautiful place is where the cross actually was! I think they’ve redecorated since then. If you look down at the bottom left of the picture, you can see someone kneeling down. My brother said he got to put his hand right in the very spot!
I told you this Church was big! Here is another part of it, and the little house is built over Jesus’ tomb. The people are in line to get to go inside.
Here is another church inside the Church. It kind of reminds me of those Russian dolls, only much bigger!
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the end of Sad Street. I guess that’s also true in another way because, after Easter, you could change the name from Sad Street to Happy Avenue! If so, then here’s a picture of the group walking on Colorful Court in Old Jerusalem.
After lunch, some of the group went to a place called the Upper Room. I didn’t know this, but it’s actually the site of two very famous things. It’s where the disciples had the Last Supper with Jesus and it’s also where they were on Pentecost when the tongues of fire came down on them. Incoming!
I bet they got a good rate on the room because of the extended stay, although with the whole flaming tongues thing, they might have lost their deposit!
This pretty church has a funny name in English – it’s “Rooster Singing”! The Latin name is “Gallicantu”, which does sound a little better. Anyway, it is the place where Peter denied Jesus three times. Coincidentally, there are three churches, built one on top of the other. The one above is the top one. If you thought those angels around the stained glass were saxophones, don’t feel bad, because I did, too! I bet they could give the roosters a run for their money!
My brother didn’t get a picture of the middle church, but the one below is the bottom one and it’s almost like a cave. There were 27 Korean deacons singing there, and they are all going to become priests in the next couple of weeks. Wow, they sure sound a lot better than some rooster!
Well, I have one more day of the trip to tell you about. I’ll see you then!
Love, Winston