Bethlehem Lutheran Church

We awoke to find the sun burning hot on the urban streets. Leaving our guesthouse, we ascended the Mount of Olives and began walking back to Jerusalem as Christ did on Palm Sunday. The Mount of Olives hardly reflects its former state of shepherds and nomads living and working in caves and herding animals. Now a commercial onslaught of cars, busses, tourists, and shops, we stretched our imaginations and envisioned an ancient world. Following Christ’s descent into Jerusalem we stopped, read verses, and discussed the reality of thousands of people packed into the narrow streets waiving palms as Christ entered the city of Jerusalem.

A visit to the Western Wailing Wall found us surrounded by schoolchildren on field trips, travelers, soldiers, and others gathering to place written prayers into the cracks of the wall to be taken by the angel at night.

Waiting out the heat of the day, we resumed after lunch at the Church of the Condemnation. We followed Christ’s steps as he carried the cross from the Condemnation to Golgotha: reflecting and praying at each of the fourteen Stations of the Cross. Sometimes we stopped mid-market, other stations we found ourselves alone and off the beaten track. The final stations are located in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; a conglomeration of old and new, plain and ornate, and rivalry and cooperation. Many faith groups have active worship sites within the vast church. At the same time, pilgrims gather from across the globe here to worship where Christ was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead.

The day’s walk made concrete the final days of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Seeing and feeling the space and distance solidified the verses and brought new meanings to the words.  We are blessed to expand our understanding of the Gospels and will be forever changed by our time following in Christ’s final steps.

(Jenna Westby)