Day 6 - In the Steps of Jesus

Day 6 – In the Steps of Jesus
 
How does one even begin to reflect in a single day, one brief devotional, about “the steps of Jesus”? But that’s what we will do on day 6.
 
So, here we go (in chronological, not actual visitation order) … in one day we will walk the steps of a miracle during Jesus’ ministry. We’ll stand in the Garden of Gethsemane and reflect on his last night on earth. We’ll see the locations that tradition thinks would have been where Christ was crucified. We’ll step into a couple first century tombs, one of which may have been the tomb where Jesus conquered death. 
 
I found Peter’s words helpful to keep perspective – “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8)
 
The steps we will walk in just one day changed the course of human history, not only for a thousand years, but for eternity.
 
As I was reflecting on the key texts for day 6, a couple themes jumped out to me. On one hand, we see the theme of walking through affliction, suffering, hate, shame, betrayal, mocking, and death.
 
But, on the other hand we see that’s not the main point. All of the pain and suffering was so that God’s people can walk to seek understanding, to have hope, restoration, healing, and ultimately anticipation of an eternal resurrection with Jesus.
 
Our trip to Israel is an absolute unique blessing and experience. However, my challenge to each of us today is to not so much have our main focus be on the where and the what that we will be experiencing, as much as the who and the why.
 
Let’s consider some of our sites and key passages with these thoughts in mind.
 
Psalm 129 & Luke 13:31-35
Our morning reading and prayer will once again come from a Psalm of Ascent. This one is titled “They Have Afflicted me from My Youth” and demonstrates the themes of affliction, yet need for understanding. The psalmist uses the words afflicted, plowed upon my back, hate, shame, withers to describe his experience. 
 
The second half of the psalm seems to be a plea to the Lord for divine judgment on “all who hate Zion” (v. 5). I think the lament, and then the imprecatory aspects of psalm 129 express not only the psalmist’s agony and frustration, but also a lack of understanding by his tormentors. (Imprecatory psalms are those that invoke judgment, calamity or curses upon one’s enemies or those perceived as the enemies of God.)
 
The psalmist says that those who pass by his tormentors don’t say “The blessing of the LORD be upon you! We bless you in the name of the LORD!” (v. 8) They don’t say the blessing over them because his tormentors clearly did not know, or were unwilling to understand, who the Lord is.
 
We see the same themes in Luke 13:31-35. Jesus expresses his affliction and suffering through lament over Jerusalem (v. 34-35):
 
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing. [ie. did not understand] Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
 
Jesus’ warning to Jerusalem is the same verbiage and imprecatory prayer that the psalmist uses in Psalm 129 – we must believe and profess in the name of the Lord in order to be blessed in the name of the Lord.
 

*We will walk by the Tomb of the Prophets on the slope of the Mount of Olives, 

but won’t be able to enter the it today. Day 6 is Saturday, Shabbat (Sabbath)

 for the Jews, so the tomb will be closed.*

 
The Garden Tomb – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

The sites we visit today will be out of chronological order for logistical reasons. But we start our day with the resurrection and living hope of our Lord! 
 
Our first stop this morning will be at the Garden Tomb, which is one possible location/type of tomb where Jesus might have been buried. We will celebrate communion together, and be able to go into the tomb.     

The Garden Tomb

The Empty Tomb

Mount of Olives/Church of the Ascension – Acts 1:6-12
This short passage fascinates me. The disciples had just spent 40 days with Jesus after his death and resurrection (Acts 1:3). After experiencing, and seeing with their own eyes, all that they had seen, it baffles me that they would ask Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (v. 6) 
 
Even though they clearly have hope for restoration, they seem to not have full understanding yet. (In Acts chapter 2 we read of their receiving the Holy Spirit, which does give them understanding.) But, at the moment of the ascension when Jesus was lifted up and taken out of their site in a cloud, we only read of them looking into heaven. 
 
Yes, let us look in awe and wonder into the clouds when we stand on the Mount of Olives and visit the Chapel of the Ascension. But let us also allow the understanding and power of the Holy Spirit move us in such a way that we don’t just “stand looking into heaven.” (v. 11)

Looking over the Old City & Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives

The Garden of Gethsemane – Matthew 26:36-50
Our next stop is the beautiful Garden of Gethsemane, which we read about in the gospels of Matthew and Mark.
 
This passage very much underscores the themes of affliction, betrayal, suffering, and also a lack of understanding. Jesus asks Peter, James, and John (his inner circle of closest friends) to keep watch and sit with him while he prayed – even describing his own present mental state to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” (v. 38)
 
Jesus earnestly asks the Father, if it is possible, to let the cup pass from him. He knew what his mission and the Father’s will was. And, during his time of great distress, his closest companions couldn’t even stay awake. I don’t think this was in malice. I think it’s more because they lacked full understanding of what was at stake and what was about to take place. What human could have possibly understood??
 
The suffering and betrayal intensify at the end of the portion when Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested. 

The Garden of Gethsemane

The Pool of Bethesda – John 5:1-9
In the middle of this full and powerful day, we will also visit the remains of the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
 
Jesus’ asks the man an interesting question – “Do you want to be healed?” (v. 6) Why would Jesus ask that question? Who wouldn’t want to be healed after being an invalid for almost four decades? 
 
There are many reasons we could both speculate and apply Jesus’ question to the man, and to our own lives. But, for our current discussion, I think it’s possible that Jesus wanted the man to have full understanding for himself about who was asking the question. He’d been waiting all those years for the opportunity for the water to heal him. Even his response and answer to Jesus was about not being able to get into the pool before the water is stirred up. (v. 7)
 
Jesus didn’t assist him in getting into the water. We don’t have record of Jesus addressing anything about the water in his response. He simply told the man to “get up, take up your bed, and walk.” (v. 8) It was the Word alone that healed the man, not the water. Jesus’ response was one that would leave no doubt, or lack of understanding, in the man whom he had just healed. 

Remains of the Pool of Bethesda

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre – Matthew 27:33-37, 57-61
Our final stop today is to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is the traditional site believed to be where Jesus was crucified. 

We again see the themes of suffering and faithful hope vividly in this Matthew passage. The soldiers of the governor (Matthew 27:27) had no understanding. They mocked Jesus, putting a sign over his head with the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
 
Joseph of Arimathea on the other hand remained faithful, and demonstrated hopeful actions, even without full understanding. He asked Pilate for the body of Jesus and buried him in his own new tomb. 
 
Luke 23:54-56 gives us another detail into the faithful hope of Joseph of Arimathea. Because the Sabbath was beginning, after he finished burying Jesus’ body, Joseph went home and rested according to the commandment. He couldn’t have fully known what would happen on Sunday, but nevertheless he rested.

 

Staircase to Golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Another first century tomb - in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

*** Side note: It’s very important when we are studying any passage or site to keep in mind both the historical and current context. This is true in many ways, but for this particular site the question becomes how could Jesus have been buried here? There seems to be a contradiction between Hebrews 13:12 that says, “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood,” and Matthew 27:33, “they came to a place called Golgotha.” Golgotha, the site where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is, is inside the city gates of Jerusalem. How can that be considered the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion?
 
The answer is that the borders of the city were expanded after the death of Jesus. You can see on the map that the border inside the brown lines would have been the walls of the city in the time of Jesus. The pink lines show how the wall was expanded by Herod Agrippa I between AD 37-44. ***

We’ll start our day with at an empty grave and end with the traditional place of Jesus’ death and burial. That’s the way we can sum up in one day “in the steps of Jesus.” He is the who and the why that we are here, why we have a living hope.
 
It can be tempting to stay in the where and the what – the affliction, suffering, shame of this life, or even the awe of standing on the same soil that he did. But, knowing the “why” Jesus did what he did gives us hope, restoration, healing, and strength to have the understanding and willingness to eagerly say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
 
Reflection Questions
What traditionally comes to mind when you think about walking in the steps of Jesus?  (Consider Matthew 16:24 and 1 Peter 2:21) How does a greater understanding affect our ability to follow Jesus?
 
When you only understand pieces along your faith and life journey, what compels you to continue following Jesus?
 
How might changing the primary focus from the where and the what, to the who and the why, affect your experience at the sites?
 
Some of the sites we will visit are “traditionally” believed to be the actual sites, but not necessarily definitive. Does this in any way diminish the experience? 
 
Read Deuteronomy 34:4-8. Do you think there is a parallel between what we read in verse 7 to some of the unknowns we may encounter today, and throughout our trip? Why might God not reveal specific details to us? (Consider Deuteronomy 29:29)

Day 6 Locations/Sites:

(1) Garden Tomb

(2) Mount of Olives

(3) Ascension Church

(4) Tomb of the Prophets

(5) Garden of Gethsemane

(6) Saint Anne's Church

(7) Pool of Bethesda

(8) Church of the Holy Sepulchre