Choosy Mitchells Choose JIF

Via Dolorosa!

This is the way of pain... Jesus carried the cross for us on down this road! Well, down the road that lies beneath this modern road.

There is a church built in the area that used to be Antonio's fortress where Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate, whipped, and given the cross to bear.

On the floor that was the courtyard of Antonio's Fortress is etched the game of "kings." This was a game played by the Roman Centurians which would help them decide which of the prisoners they would make a king by giving them a "crown" and extra punishment. My heart sank as I heard this.

In the corner of the room, the ancient road begins. The very "Via Dolorosa" that Jesus carried the cross on. This was one of the most powerful moments of my (Steven's) life.

Us and the Crew from House!

While on our walk along the Western Wall, I swore one of the guys we kept running into looked familiar... that was because I had seen him on the show "House." Bekah and Maddie got to take a picture with Amber Tamblyn before they started getting mobbed and left.

The Wailing Wall!

After praying on the Wailing Wall, which is the wall closest to the Holy of Holies, we walked along the tunnel which has been dug along the entirety of the Western Wall.

These are the rocks of Mt. Moriah... the mountain which the Temple was built upon. Before that it was the mountain that Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac on!

The Temple Mount!

These are the Southern steps! Jesus taught on these very steps!

This is a Mikveh. They were used for the ritual cleaning of the Jews on their way to the Temple. There were many of these near the southern steps and our guide pointed out that these were probably used for the baptisms on the day that Peter preached on the Pentecost in Acts 2!

Just around the corner from the Southern Steps is Robinson's Arch. At the top of the arch on the wall, was another entrance to the Temple.

Under the bridge that Robinson's Arch held up, were the stalls where people could change money (moneychangers!) and buy sacrifices. This was one of those stalls!! Jesus probably walked right past this stall!

You know how Satan tempted Jesus on the Pinnacle of the temple? Well, this is the Pinnacle! It no longer stands atop the wall of the Temple of course. But it was on this stone that Jesus was tempted by Satan (well, this is a replica placed where they found the original which is safely stowed at a museum of course).

There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. Here are the stones of the original wall of the Temple... not one upon another. The wall above them was built by the Muslims.

Jerusalem!

Our first day in Jerusalem, we went to the city of David. This was where David's palace was in Jerusalem!

We headed to Hezekiah's tunnel which King Hezekiah had built to divert the water from the exposed well back to a pool inside the walls of the city. P. Matt had been there before and was excited to go. We didn't know what we were in for!

We descend to the tunnel!

Over half of the group went through the tunnel. It was pitch black, had a low ceiling, was sometimes not too wide either, and had a little over 2 feet of water in it. It took us about a half hour to walk it too! We all turned off our lights a couple times to help us realize how truly stuck we would have been if we didn't have flash lights. :O)

Did we enjoy it? HECK YES!!!

Here are some of our friends in the tunnel taking a break.

Here we are! Notice the smiles!

On the other side of the tunnel, we saw where the water was going. They painted up what it would have looked like back in the day and one of the paintings looks exactly like Nathan!!!

I'm waving to my friend Obadiah!

And here is the actual spot. The pool of Siloam! What makes this spot super cool is that this is the very spot that Jesus sent the blind man after putting the mud he made with spit on his eyes! After the man washed in this water, he gained his sight!

Devotional at Caesarea Maritima.

P. Matt challenged us to follow Paul's example in being bold with the gospel and taking seriously the call to preach to everyone we encounter... even those who are to judge us.

We had a great time of prayer and meditation here before cruising around and catching some sights. Here are some of the sights that I deemed worthy to share.