Christian Jerusalem, Bethlehem And Jericho, 2 Days From Tel Aviv

We drive south from Jerusalem in the direction of the Dead Sea on the way we pass the Inn of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) and continue on through the Biblical wilderness of the Judean Desert. We pass Wadi Kelt and can see the 5th century Monastery of Saint George. We pause at the mark which indicates that we have reached "sea level" and from there we continue on to Jericho 258 meters below sea level. This ancient city features in both the New and Old Testament. Joshua led his troops around the city walls until they fell (Joshua 6) and Jesus entered Jericho after his sojourn in the wilderness (Luke 19:1-10). When Jesus entered Jericho, The City of Palms, the tax collector Zachaeus climbed a sycamore tree to see him better and we stop to take a look at this ancient tree. Jesus spent forty days and forty nights on the nearby Mount Temptation, here the devil tried to turn Jesus away from God but Jesus responded "Man shall not live by bread alone." (Mathew 4:1-4). Our journey takes us back towards Jerusalem and the Judean Mountains where we visit Bethlehem, both the home of Jesse, King David's father and the place where Jesus was born (Mathew 2:1).

From Manger Square we enter through a small door into the Church of the Nativity. The church was built in the 4th century over the grotto where Jesus was born and later in the 6th century the church was reconstructed. In recent times the church has been restored and renovated. Within the church is the Grotto of the Nativity where a star marks the spot where Jesus was born and an altar to the three Wise Men. Next we visit the Crusader Church of Saint Catherine and see the underground grotto where Saint Jerome painstakingly translated the Bible from Hebrew to Latin, creating the Vulgate. We make another stop in Bethlehem at the Shepherds Field where an Angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds on Christmas night to tell them of the imminent birth of the savior.

Our tour starts on the Mount of Olives were we visit the Church of the Ascension. The church marks the spot where Jesus ascended to heaven and there is a rock with an imprinted footprint thought to be where Jesus stood before his ascension (Luke 24:50 – 51). The original church built here was in 390 but most of the chapel building we see today is from the Crusader period (1150).

Nearby is the Church of the Pater Nostre (Sanctuary of the Eleona), on this spot Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer. There are plaques on the walls with the Lord's Prayer written in more than a hundred languages. We see a Crusader cloister and the grotto where Jesus would have taught. This is also where Jesus told his disciples of the eminent destruction of Jerusalem and the 2nd coming.

From the Mount of Olives we look out over the City of Gold across the ancient Jewish cemetery and to the Old City and Temple Mount beyond. We begin to descend the mount pausing at the Dominus Flevit (the Lord Wept). It was here that Christ cried as he envisioned the destruction of Jerusalem. The Dominus Flevit was designed by architect Antonio Barluzzi to resemble a teardrop. Through the window above the altar we can see the Old City where the Second Temple once stood.

A little further along we get to the Church of All Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane. It was here that Jesus prayed before his arrest (Mark 14:32-46). The church was funded by a number of nations which each have their coat of arms displayed in decorative glass on the ceiling. The entrance is through tall columns which support a mosaic showing Jesus as the connection between God and man.

We cross the Kidron Valley and arrive at the Lion's Gate of Jerusalem's Old City. We see the pools of Bethesda as mentioned in the Gospel of John. We visit the Crusader Church of Saint Anne constructed above a grotto thought to be where Jesus' mother Mary was born.

In the Convent of the Sisters of Zion we enter the cellars to see the water cistern dating back to the Second Temple era. We see the Lithostratos, engraved Roman flagstones, which are part of extensive archaeological findings beneath the convent. It is believed that here Pontius Pilate stood in judgment of Jesus in the courtyard of Praetorium. From here we set out along the Via Dolorosa retracing the route Jesus took as he carried his cross towards his crucifixion.