Getting to know beautiful Jerusalem...

“Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth,
within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress.”
Psalm 48:1-3

First of all I will emphasize on the importance of Jerusalem. It is located in between continents, and God chose it to proclaim His gospel to the nations. It’s not that we take the place as more important than the event, but the fact that it exists tells us that what we believe in is REAL. I am not saying that I believe it because it is proven to be real. It is a physical evidence of our what I already believe in.
Entering Jerusalem I started matching history with reality, size and simplicity. The places are just like any other, the stones (even stones that people kiss and venerate are just that: stones), people lived just like people do now with no super powers, in no fantasy world: it was real. For some reason Bible stories get mystified quite often and seem to have taken place in another type of world. But Jesus was able to take the ordinary, mundane things to make about His plan! It was challenging remembering this during the entire walk.

We started at the Jaffa gate, in ancient times it used to be an important place, where public declarations were made. Right by the gate was the citadel, from the top we could see the Eastern part of the city like the Mt. of Olives with the tower of Ascension, the Augusta Victoria Hospital Church, and the Hebrew University. We could also see the Dome of the Rock, which is in the place of the Temple. It is there not because the Muslims think it’s a holy site for them. They could have just done it where their leader died or was born. Instead they chose that place because it stands as a physical “proof” that Islam is the “final” revelation from god, and they are telling that to the other religions. This land has controversial status even now! In the present GOD is declaring to the nations that His judgment is real, and we cannot escape it, but we find hope, Israel also has hope in the prophecies found in the Bible. He will come back for the faithful, because He is faithful even though the physical Temple structure is not present.

The first protestant Church in the Middle East was very interesting. We learned of how little things have big consequences, specially when done with the intention of sharing the gospel of Jesus. The causational history of that Church made me realize that there are no obstacles for God, we just have to be faithful to His command of making disciples.

Then we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, here fanatism was eminent. With the only fact that different denominations own the land in which the church is tells something about how religious people can be about a special place, or a special rock thinking that certain things, being in specific places, doing especial things can get them closer or gain them more acceptance from God. This doesn’t mean that we should not regard the place. It is important as it assures us it is this earth that the Bible is talking about!