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Welcome to Israel! This is the temple mount as seen from Mount of Olives. It is quite amazing to see history laid out before your eyes in Israel. For some, the soil, the stones, the buildings and even the ruins have significant spiritual value.
Many come to Israel on spiritual pilgrimage - looking for a new level of spiritual insight or change by connecting to the tangible artifacts of this most central place of religious focus in the world.
An important lesson I learned can be illustrated first by this spectacular ruin. This is the site of the pools of Bethesda – meaning, “house of mercy”, where Jesus healed a lame man. These pools were originally created by Solomon for the washing of sheep which would be sacrificed at the temple. These pools, in fact, are located by what is known as the "sheep gate" - although the gate is no longer there.
Over time, the sheep pools became a place of supernaturalism - and the belief arose that there was actual healing that could take place there. For a time, this was a place of paganism, but in the time of Christ, the Jews were there once again - but many were still holding onto the supernatural aura hanging about the history of the pools.
The book of John, chapter 5, we find a man who was lame for 38 years waiting to get well. John relates how he believed an angel would stir up the water and that the first one in into the water would be healed. The stirring of the water might have been an angel, or perhaps this was just their belief. This doesn’t really match the character of God, though, and seems more like a cruel game.
Either way – the man was not receiving mercy in “the house of mercy!” It wasn’t until Jesus was there in person that he found healing. There was no potency in the place – but only in the Person of Jesus Christ!
The next spot in our lesson is at the famous “Western Wall” or “Wailing Wall” – the most important religious spot of the Jews. This is the nearest location to the place where the Temple was located. There is a place down under a tunnel which is the closest place that you can get to where the Jews believe that the Holy of Holies was. It is a sacred place and the men who gather here must keep their heads covered.
Faithful Jews who come to this spot believe that this is the closest you can come to God on earth and this is where your prayers have the shortest route to reach God. In fact, many will leave a written prayer in the cracks of the stones, as you can see in this picture. You can actually fax your prayers to Jerusalem and the Rabbis here will put your prayer in the wall for you!
I was anticipating a special time of prayer and reflection at the wall. This “holy” ground is the most hotly contested real estate on earth and I was truly expecting a special “buzz” to be about this place.
I covered my head and reverently approached the wall with my Bible open to Psalm 32 and prepared my heart for confession and brokenness. I figured that there was no better place on earth to meet with God and that I would walk away with a new sense of God’s presence and reality in my life.
It was a complete let down! The lesson continues...
As I walked into the men’s prayer area, one guy asked me for a donation “for the synagogue”. I was OK with this – we allow people to give donations in churches all over the world. No problem. I understand this and was prepared to give.
As I was praying at the wall, though, another gentleman interrupted my communion with God. It was very odd. He started to pray for me in Hebrew and broken English – I could barely make out what he was saying, but I think I heard “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” and “Mary” – a very strange prayer indeed for a Jew!
Next, he instructed me to kiss the wall. I certainly didn’t want to offend anyone – being at the high holy spot on the earth for Judaism, so I meekly kissed the wall, desperately hoping that he would leave me alone so I could get back to my prayer time.
But not quite yet! He then opened his torah book and flashed a bunch of bills at me and said “for the Jews!” He was asking for another donation! I was really in shock. I explained that I had already given, but he demanded to know how much – which I didn’t tell him, but he claimed that whatever I had given wasn’t enough and that I had to give more. I politely asked him to leave me alone so that I could pray, but he told me he would be back in a few minutes to settle up. Instead of spending time praying, I was being shaken down! It felt like extortion!
Just as the lame man found no mercy in the "house of mercy," I found no prayer in the "house of prayer". Jesus once used a whip to straighten out a similar situation at the temple years ago. I felt like He needed to come clean house once again.
The next stop in our lesson is at the Garden Tomb. This is a humble location outside the Old City that many believe is the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. It sure fits the geography explained in the gospel accounts.
The difference about this place is explained in a little sign on the door to the ancient tomb. It is a reminder that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven. He isn’t in Israel any more or less than He is anywhere else in the world!
In fact, Jesus is truly alive in His Church and not in a physical location. There are no more “holy spots” since Jesus died on the cross. The Bible tells us that the veil in the temple was torn and the Holy Place was exposed to everyone. In the same way, we have access to God through Jesus alone and not though a special building, shrine, temple, mosque, church or monument.
The last location in our lesson is a waterfall in a stream from Mt. Hermon as it flows towards the Jordan river. These waters flow down hidden ravines and canyons and require a bit of a hike to find. This was one of the most pleasant surprises I had in Israel – true "streams in the desert" bringing life to dead places.
What is special about Israel is that this is where God unfolded His plan of salvation and where Jesus walked, taught, lived, breathed, died and resurrected for us. The buildings, rocks, monuments and ruins are neat and prove that the Bible account is true, but we have to remember that the True Living Water -Jesus Himself, flows in our hearts. The local gathering of believers to worship Jesus is much more “holy ground” in God’s eyes than any physical place on earth!
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