The Olive Tree Hotel
Our home in Jerusalem. This beautiful hotel sits near the Damascus Gate to the Old City.
Our home in Jerusalem. This beautiful hotel sits near the Damascus Gate to the Old City.
This church (actually five churches) marks the traditional site of Calvary and the Tomb of Resurrection. It is a sacred site, but also is a reminder of the divisions that still haunt the Body of Christ.
This was taken outside the church that marks where Jesus wept over the city. Note the Dome of the Rock in the background that marks the site of the Temple in Jesus' day.
The Garden sits in the bottom of the Kidron Valley between the Mount of Olives and the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem. Some of the olive trees date to the time of Jesus.
The wall bisecting the hill diagonally from right to left is the road that Jesus road into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We walked down the steep path. To the right is a Jewish cemetery with all the graves oriented toward the Temple Mount.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is the oldest continually operating church in Christendom. This photo was taken down in the cave under the church where tradition says that Jesus was born. I am touching the star-shaped symbol that marks the traditional spot of Christ's birth.
This is the infamous wall built by the Israelis to separate the Palestinians. This was taken in Bethlehem, which is in the West Bank. The people of Bethlehem welcomed us warmly, but are suffering a great deal because of the separation. There is 60% unemployment, and tourism is the only income for many. Note the United Methodist logo painted on the wall.
One of the most beautiful spots on earth, in my opinion. Jesus and his disciples spent much of their time here. This photo was taken outside the Church of the Primacy of Peter.
Jesus performed much of his early ministry in and around the town of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. The ruins of this small town provide a fascinating look at life at the time of Jesus. I'm standing here beside a column in the synagogue, built in the 4th century over the original synagogue where Jesus taught.
This is one view of Qumran, site of the Essene community that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. The site is along the Dead Sea, some 1300 feet below sea level. The scrolls were found in a series of caves nearby and were preserved by the extremely dry desert climate.
These steps go up from the Kidron Valley toward the area of Jerusalem where the Upper Room was and where Jesus was imprisoned near the house of Caiaphas the High Priest. Jesus and his disciples would have used these steps to leave the Upper Room to go to Gethsemane, and Jesus would have been brought up these steps to his trial.
The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This mosque marks the spot, according to tradition, where Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him. It is also the site of the Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD.
The Garden Tomb dates to the first century and may be the tomb of Jesus, though the traditional site is in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. At any rate, it does represent the kind of tomb and setting in which Jesus was buried and resurrected.
