Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Holy Land Tour: Southern Steps

Bright and early the next morning we returned to the old City of Jerusalem and went to the Southern Steps of the Second Temple which is now a national park.


Our group gathered on the Southern Steps while Dave led us in a devotion based on one of the Great Ends of the Church (all the devotions were based on one of the Great Ends): The Preservation of the Truth. He closed with a quote from Robert Frost, " You don't abandon truth because it is no longer in fashion. Wait a while and it wil come back."


These are the ruins of the steps that Jesus walked on to go up into the temple. From these steps you can see the Mount of Olives where the Garden of Gethsemane and the place of Jesus' ascension to heaven are located. I was impressed by the close proximity of these important places in Jerusalem.

On the western side of the Southern Steps you can walk down to see the excavation of the wall which reveals the stones thrown down by the Roman soldiers when the Temple was destroyed.

1 comment:

Robin said...

So interesting to see how much STONE there is. I think I would feel claustrophobic, which gives rise to some thoughts about how landscape, whether natural or humanly devised, affects our outlook on and approach to life.