What a great day – with much less steps involved!
Our first stop was the Upper Room. Interesting to see the Muslim statue in there, wasn’t it? We then walked over to the church built on the old prison. Wasn’t the statue of Peter awesome? It was the one with two female servants and a guard looking at Peter, and Peter has an expression of “I don’t know?” And on top sits a rooster. Peter denies Jesus three times, and then the rooster crows – signifying Jesus’ truth in his prophecy.
I have often thought about how I can relate to Peter. I can have much zeal for God in talk, but then less in action. Even after Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, he still falls into the temptation of people-pleasing (Galatians 2:11-14). Thankfully Paul straightens him out! But Jesus always forgives him, and he always forgives us.
You probably took a photo of the statue. Well, picture yourself sitting where Peter is. It’s humbling.
After that we took a bus ride over to the Israel museum where we saw two major things: the mini model of the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Shrine of the Book. Firstly, the model is very helpful to get an idea of the layout of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time. And it’s just incredibly well done – hours upon hours of work was put into building it. Secondly, the Shrine of the Book is a special area in which the history and artifacts of the Dead Sea Scrolls are explained and presented. Although we’ve yet to see the Qumran Caves (that’s tomorrow), we got to see some of the Scriptures that were contained in the pots that were found in the 20th century – but we’ll hear more about that tomorrow.
From there we bussed over to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. Again, an extraordinary museum. The time, energy, and money put into this museum is outstanding. I’ve told many today that if you wanted to read, look at, and watch everything in there it would take days! Even though it’s an incredibly sad piece of history, I hope you enjoyed your experience of Yad Vashem.
After that, some went shopping in Old Jerusalem, and others went back to the hotel. Shopping was fun, yes, but for those who didn’t go, it’s not the end of the world. Lot’s of souvenirs, dishes, juices, and other trinkets.
It’s also interesting to note that today, Friday, marks the last Friday of Ramadan (a Muslim festival), and at sundown marks the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath. So, busy! I know some who’ve left to go to the Western Wall tonight to take in the scene! Well, I’m going to hang back!
Anyways, I’m off to bed!
Isaac
