Gethsemane, Bethlehem, etc.

Tuesday, July 21

Another great day!

Our first stop was the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane. According to our guide, scientists from the University of California have tested and found several of the olive trees on the side of the hill to be more than 2,000 years old. “Pilgrim” traffic was heavy throughout the area which made it a little less appealing to me but we were able to read a passage from the Bible and sing “When My Love for Christ Grows Weak then in thought I go to thee, Garden of Gethsemane” We concluded our time there tracing what might have been the route of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem so many years ago.

At the bottom of the hill we re-boarded our bus and made our way to the Israel Museum, a part of which is the Shrine of the Book, which houses most of the publically displayed Dead Sea Scrolls, including the scroll of Isaiah which is a complete copy of the book.

After that we headed for Bethlehem, behind the dividing wall erected by the Israelis. We had lunch at a souvenir and antiquities shop owned and operated by the family that first received and evaluated the Dead Sea Scrolls. They indeed have been given the privilege of keeping one of the original jars in which some of the scrolls were found but the scrolls and other artifacts have become the possession of the state. They are a lovely, gracious family and one woman on our tour remembers her father telling of meeting the current owner’s grandfather (the man who received the scrolls originally) many years ago. They felt like old friends.

A visit to the Shepherd’s Field memorial and then the oldest continuously operating Christian church in the world The Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. We read the accounts, sang “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” etc.

It was a great day but the crowds were quite intense at most locations and the street hawkers and others were somewhat distracting, but overall it was a truly great experience.