This past week in Jerusalem has been quite the week. The Jewish holiday of Passover (or Pesach) began at sundown last Monday, and both the Greek Orthodox Easter and Western Protestant Catholic Easter were this past Sunday, April 4th. (These are usually two different Sundays as the western Church follows the Gregorian calendar, and the Eastern Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar. It's an interesting topic--if you'd like to read more, try http://www.factmonster.com/spot/easter1.html) I was so excited to be here in Jerusalem during this holiday season, and it was even more special to be here this year as it is not often all three holidays fall so close together! It is a unique time to be in Jerusalem, and I hope I can share some of my experiences and the city's atmosphere with you.
The Jewish feast of Pesach began at sunset last Monday; to be specific, at 6:33pm here in Jerusalem. But, none of us volunteers were in Jerusalem--we had a volunteers' day out!! Everyone pitched in that morning to get some cleaning done, breakfast cleaned up, lunch made, and dinner packed. By 1pm, we were on a bus headed out of Jerusalem, down to the Dead Sea.
It was a beautiful day--blue skies and bright sun. It was slightly cool in Jerusalem that morning with a breeze, but quite warm down at the Dead Sea. We set up camp at the Ein Gedi beach and everyone scattered to relax and enjoy the afternoon. Some got into the salty waters of the Dead Sea, quite a few kicked a soccer ball around or threw a frisbee, others of us just sat in the shade and read books. It was such an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon. I read some of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. :-)
As the sun began to set, we gathered around the "dinner table"--plates, cups, forks, and food laid out on picnic blankets on the ground. There were close to 30 of us, and we began by reading the story of the exodus from Egypt in Exodus 12. This story came alive as we read it in the dusk out in the desert. I have never experienced a Seder meal as meaningful as this one! There are simply not words to describe it. We did not do the full Passover Haggadah, but it was still a special meal and time in fellowship with each other.
It was close to two hours from the time we sat down for dinner until we had completely finished. And by this time, the sun had completely set. However, Passover always falls on a night with a full moon, so it was not pitch dark. We had lit candles at the "table" according to tradition, but the constant breeze would not let them remain lit. After dinner, we sang some Hebrew songs, and then everybody lapsed into their own activities.
The bus was not going to return for us until 12:30am (!), so we had lots of time. I ended up sitting with a small group of friends, and we joined in an impromptu praise session. Beno is 15 and quite skilled on the guitar; he can play numerous songs by memory. We sang song after song, praise songs and hymns. It was a beautiful time of praise and worship, and a couple others were adding in harmony. This was probably the highlight of my evening. It was the perfect end to a perfect afternoon/evening!!
The bus came late to take us back to Jerusalem, and we got back to Christ Church around 2am. I didn't waste any time climbing into bed knowing I was on the breakfast shift the next morning, and the alarm would be going off at 5:30!! It as a short night, but I was able to get through my shift the next day better than I expected. :-) I did go to bed around 4 Tuesday afternoon, got up to eat "dinner" (cereal and a banana) at 9, and then went back to bed for the rest of the night. But, the short night and lack of sleep were a very small price to pay for such a special celebration.
The Ein Gedi beach where we spent our afternoon and evening (March 29th). This is looking east toward Jordan, and the waters of the Dead Sea are deceptively inviting.
Later in the afternoon, the haze cleared off a bit, and it was easy to see the Jordan shoreline. Aren't the colors beautiful? It was a lovely afternoon.
Looking down at our "camping" area . . . Four of our company did spend the night here and returned to Jerusalem the next morning, but for the most part, this served simply as our home base. Some used the tents to change in, the umbrellas provided us shade during the afternoon, and we spread out our dinner here.
This is definitely desert terrain . . . the hills are so large and awesome.
Looking west into the desert (and in the direction of Jerusalem) as the sun set . . . it was beautiful!!
While the sun was sinking in the west, a full moon was rising in the east. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
This picture doesn't really do justice to how this looked in real life. The moon reflected off the waters of the Dead Sea, and stars were beginning to shine. We were singing praise song after praise song in amazing harmony under the light of this full moon . . .
Maundy Thursday--April 1, 2010
The next "big event" of the week was Thursday--Maundy Thursday. This is the day churches remember Jesus' Last Supper, his betrayal, and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. I worked the breakfast shift Thursday morning, so I was free to attend service that evening. It has been quite a few years since the last time I attended a liturgical Maundy Thursday service, and the opportunity to do so this year caused me to realize how much I've missed it.
The service includes a time of Communion, of course. In many ways, the service here could be duplicated anywhere else, but what came after the formal service is unique to Jerusalem alone. We all gathered in the church's courtyard and then proceeded to walk out the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, down into/across the Kidron Valley, and up the Mount of Olives to Gethsemane. I had seen on the schedule this walk was planned, and there was no way I was going to miss it!! Nowhere else in the world can a person follow in Jesus' footsteps like they can in Jerusalem. It was a quieter, meditational walk as we remembered Jesus Himself taking this walk, knowing what was coming.
It was an interesting combination of remembering His walk from 2,000 years ago and yet still absorbing the atmosphere of Jerusalem on Maundy Thursday evening, 2010. It was pretty noisy and chaotic. There were police everywhere, cars everywhere, buses lined up on the roads, and crowds of people everywhere. At first, I was wishing it was quieter and more similar to what Jesus and His disciples would have experienced. But then I realized this probably was not so different from their evening. It was Passover, and Jerusalem would have been filled and overflowing with Pilgrims. Mass gatherings like this would have made the Romans quite nervous, so their guards would have been out in force. It would have been loud and busy. And on top of that, the disciples were arguing along the way about who was the greatest. So, our experience was actually quite authentic.
It took close to an hour to arrive at Gethsemane, and then we gathered to hear the story of Jesus praying and being betrayed in the garden. After that, we were allowed to spend as much (or as little) time as we wanted in personal thought and prayer. It was another unforgettable evening.
I walked back with three men from the church, as it was late and dark and maybe not the safest to be walking by myself. We walked back through the Old City, on part of the Via Dolorosa. What an experience. It was everything I could have hoped for and more.
We walked to the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene. The traditional site of Gethsemane is a little lower on the Mount of Olives. It was crazily busy, and up here we had a little more quiet and opportunity to ponder the events we were commemorating.
Gathering together as a group to hear the gospel account of Jesus in Gethsemane and some thoughts on what it means to follow Him and carry our cross . . .
Maybe not the best picture technically, but it comes close to capturing the atmosphere in the semi-darkness under the olive trees . . .
A little closer look at the olive trees . . .
Looking back across the Kidron Valley at Jerusalem (the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock are easily visible) from the Mount of Olives . . . It was quite easy to imagine and picture the events of this night 2000 years ago . . .
Another look back at Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives--this is slightly to the right of the above picture (looking more northwest than straight west) . . .
This is plenty for now . . . I will add more later about more of my experiences in Jerusalem during Holy Week--check back soon!
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