Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Mount of Olives

 

The first place our pilgrimage went on our first morning in Jerusalem was the Mount of Olives. From here there is that great view of Jerusalem. Next to the Church called "The Lord Wept" is a small fenced in garden of olive trees. Some of these trees actually could have been here in the time of Jesus. Olive trees are known to last sometimes more than 2,000 years. This one looks like an old man and there was another with an even larger trunk. Three men and a woman were harvesting the olives while we were there. They spread a large cloth under the tree and shake the tree. One man is on a ladder. I didn't notice what we was doing.
Before the trip I had envisioned sitting quietly in the garden which Mark and Matthew call "Gethsemane." Of course I was disappointed, but it was satisfying to see some olive trees that Jesus might have seen. Luke calls it the "Mount of Olives." John says that Jesus and the disciples crossed the Kidron Valley and entered a "garden." They are all, however, in agreement that this is where Jesus prayed that he might not suffer and yet accepted whatever God willed for him.
The same Jesus living within me can bring my will in line with God's.
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