Day 2 In Jerusalem

Today was our second day in Israel, and was it a great one! I learned so many new things, and saw things that I've been reading in the Bible for years, only now being finally being able to put a real perspective on everything. We started off the day by going up the Mount of Olives and visiting the Teardrop Church, where it stands to represent when Jesus wept. The view was amazing, but kind of sad in a way. Only because nothing really stands there except the church and many Jewish graves waiting for the Messiah to come. Back home, I never really put a thought to the Jewish of Muslim faith, but after seeing sights such as this, and being with the people in the streets I see how devote they are to their faith, and my heart can't help but go out to them. Afterwards, we walked down the steep hill to the Garden of Gethsemane. Before coming here I had created such a beautiful image of what it would like, and after seeing it today I don't really know what to think. A grassy area was fenced in on the side of a huge Catholic church, with flowers, and an olive tree from the actual time of Jesus. To be honest, it looked more like a regular courtyard than anything else. But just knowing what had happened there with our Savior I couldn't help but feel my heart tremble. Taking a few moments to pray, in the middle of the chaotic scene, full of people from all over the world, to see the same thing I was, helped me to remember, that even though the garden itself has changed tremendously, my God has never, and will never change. And I praise him for that. I would have to say that my most favorite site was the House of Caiaphas, mainly because I have been picturing in the worst way possible all my life. What I mean to say is that it was not what I expected a all. Knowing that this was the place where Jesus was brought to be tried, and then brought in the dongeon to be wipped, already made it a special place to me. But it was not until the whole class crammed into a small "room" that was excavated and in the basement of this building that I felt overwhelmed in God's power, and promise. It was dark, hot, and the noises from the floor above us could still be heard. hat's when our professor had a student read a scripture out loud, reminding us what Jesus felt like when he was down in the dongeon. He knew what he was going to be facing, yet he still endured it all. He could hear the peopl out side, reminding him of his friends and family, who were now denying him, and no one was comoing to save him. All he could do was sit, wait and hold onto fiath. It was at that moment that the entore class started singing the worship song "I Love You, Lord" and I couldn't help but start to cry. For in my heart I know what he had gone through, yet as a human I feel no better than those who denied his nme that very night. BUt the glorious thing about my God is that he doesn't seem me in the way. He loves me, and I him; at that very moment I could finally sense, and come to a better understanding what Jesus had to go through to die on the cross. Movies, won't do it justice, pictures could never help us see it clearly, and words will never be able to interpret that kind f struggle he had to have gone through. But tonight, as I write this I have a joy in my heart that I can't explain, for my Savor has died for me and one day will return!