Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls November 13, 2009
Posted by Jeff Block in Philosophy and Religion, Travel.Tags: daily quiet times, Dead Sea Scrolls, historicity of the Bible, Israel, Qumran, The Bible, work as worship
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We had traveled south from Jerusalem along the Jordan River to the Dead Sea to get to Masada, which is on the west side of the southern part of the sea. Driving back north along the western shore of the Dead Sea, we stopped at Khirbet Qumran. This is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947 by a young Bedouin shepherd boy who, while searching for a lost sheep, threw a stone into a cave in the limestone cliffs near Qumran. He heard something shatter, investigated, and found several of the clay jars that contained the Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls contains hundreds of pieces of Biblical text, as well as extrabiblical writings. Naturally, they get their name from the fact that they were found near the Dead Sea. Soon after the boy’s discovery, hundreds more scrolls were found in ten additional caves nearby. We saw from a distance to a number of these caves, and we toured through the archeological site where the scribes — likely the Essenes, a monk-like sect alongside the Sadducees and Pharisees — copied the scrolls, handing them down from generation to generation.
The Dead Sea Scrolls contained ancient copies of the Bible, in fact several copies of almost every book of the Old Testament. Many people think that the Bible has changed over time or that there isn’t much evidence to support the authenticity of scripture. Without reading the Bible or doing any research for themselves, they assume that it is unreliable as an historic non-fictional text. This is simply isn’t true. The Bible has passed more historic, literary, archeological, and other tests by far than any other book in the history of mankind – fiction or non-fiction – in terms of determining its authenticity. Tens of thousands of manuscripts exist, all nearly identical. Differences and discrepancies are all noted in the Biblical text even today. If you pick up a Bible and casually flip through it, you will notice that debated words and phrases are all footnoted and alternate possible words / phrases are included in the footnotes. I’m aware of no other book like that. In my mind, this underscores the reasonableness of belief in the authenticity of Scripture, but you have to be willing to believe it. Many don’t believe in God or Jesus or the Bible because they choose not to, not because there isn’t evidence or because reason to believe doesn’t exist.
More than 15,000 fragments of manuscripts where found in Qumran from 1947-1955 and are now called the Dead Sea Scrolls. These were assembled into 530 separate and distinct scrolls, a few of which were complete scrolls, but most were just larger overlapping fragments. Until the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, the oldest Biblical manuscripts dating back to the 7th or 8th century AD or so. For decades, historians routinely questioned these documents claiming that they were likely quite different from the original texts of Scripture, if not made up all together. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls proved that these manuscripts existed over 1,000 years earlier (back to ~ 150 BC) and were virtually identical to the Septuagint and other Masoretic texts that were found earlier but dated to times much later than the DSS. Again, no other ancient text enjoys this level of authentication. For comparison, there are 24,000 copies of New Testament manuscripts. Compare that with the following other ancient non-fictional texts…
| Work | When Written | Earliest Copy | Time Span | Copies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caesar’s Gallic Wars |
100-44 BC |
900 AD |
1,000 yrs |
10 |
| Plato’s Tetralogies |
427-347 BC |
900 AD |
1,200 yrs |
7 |
| Tacitus’ Annals |
100 AD |
1100 AD |
1,000 yrs |
20 |
| Pliny’s Histories |
61-113 AD |
850 AD |
750 yrs |
7 |
| Herodotus’ History |
480-425 BC |
900 AD |
1,300 yrs |
8 |
| New Testament | 40-70 AD |
180 AD |
120 yrs |
24,000 |
I’ve always heard that Homer’s “The Odyssey” was second place to the Bible in terms of number of manuscripts, but I was unable to find that information online when I searched for it. But compare any of the above texts to the Bible, and it’s clear that the Bible stands in a league of its own. At some point, it seems like the historicity of the Bible would be no longer questioned, but that’s not going to happen. The Bible itself predicts that there will always be false prophets (those who claim to speak for God but really don’t or who interpret His Word falsely, with or without malicious intent). See Matthew 24, 2 Peter 2, and 1 John 4, for example.
But I digress. Back to Qumran…
I took several pictures of placards at Qumran describing what archeologists had discovered there. They described how the discovery of benches, tables, and ink wells clearly indicated the rooms where monks had spent their lives copying Scripture. The Essene monks worked their entire lives to make only a few copies of the Bible in their lifetimes. In 68 BC, when Roman troops marched against Qumran during the First Jewish-Roman War, the scribes placed their scrolls – literally their lives’ work – in clay jars and hid them in secret caves in the hills of Qumran.
Scholars believe that a Roman soldier discovered at least some of the scrolls during the war, and purposefully tore them into smaller pieces, accounting for the many thousands of fragments. Of course, the ravages of time and animals likely contributed to this phenomenon as well. Even after the discovery of the scrolls, it took a while for scholars to effectively apply a process of chemically bathing the scrolls to restore them to a state that they could be unrolled and read. Imagine a 1,000 year old piece of parchment and how elaborate the process of simply unrolling such a scroll (without its crumbling to bits) would be! In fact, it took almost 50 years for scientists to fully process all 15,000 fragments found in Qumran. This unbelievably massive archeological task was completed in 2001.
Probably the most interesting aspect of the entire experience for me was thinking about the dedication and diligence of the monks. Can you imagine spending your whole life – day after day after day – copying the Bible? I thought about how I would feel such a weight of responsibility to work with precision – how careful I would want to be in my work – as worship to God. But isn’t that how all our work should be? God calls us to the careful study of His Word and the careful execution of our daily responsibilities in our jobs, whatever they are. Both can and should be worship to God. Unfortunately, I rarely take such care in my work, and I feel like I’m doing well when I even just read the Bible consistently for a few days in a row.
Being at Qumran and thinking about the Scribes who copied Scripture there makes me want to be more faithful in my study of God’s Word and in worshipping God through my work. May it be so for all of us.
For more information about the Dead Sea Scrolls, see: http://mi.byu.edu/dss/
Antonia’s Fortress November 12, 2009
Posted by Jeff Block in Bible Stories, Engineering, News, Politics and Culture, Travel.Tags: Antonia's Fortress, Herod Antipas, Herod the Great, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, Pontius Pilate, Roman government, The Bible
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Antonia’s fortress was built by Herod the Great in 34 BC, as part of his fairly significant expansion of the temple and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Situated on the northwest corner of the expanded temple mount esplanade, the fortress later became the headquarters of Pontius Pilate. Pilate is of course the Roman Prefect (Governor of the Roman province of Judea) who tried Jesus and ultimately approved His crucifixion. (See Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19)
By the way, I’ve always been a little confused at who all these Roman officials were in Jesus’ day and life. Let me take a quick second to try to clear up my own confusion, and perhaps you’ll find it beneficial as well. Rome made the region we now know as the State of Israel a province in 63 BC, following the Third Mithridatic War. After the war ended General Pompeius Magnus (also known as Pompey the Great) remained to secure the area. Subsequently, Herod the Great was installed as a “client king” over the region, called the Judaea Province. A client kingdom is a “term used to describe the subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs” (Wikipedia). We might also call this a satellite, puppet, or vassal state. In Jesus’ day, this was called the Herodian Kingdom.
So, Pompey conquered the region in 63 BC. Herod the Great became king of Israel under Roman rule in 37 or 36 BC (there’s some dispute), and ruled until 4 BC when he died, ostensibly of natural causes. And here’s an interesting (read: sick) tidbit…
From the Wikipedia: Josephus Flavius (a prominent secular historian) records that Herod was so concerned that no one would mourn his death, that he commanded a large group of distinguished men to come to Jericho, and he gave order that they should be killed at the time of his death so that the displays of grief that he craved would take place. Fortunately for them, Herod’s son Archilaus and sister Salome did not carry out this wish. Wild!
Anyway, Pompey conquers in 63 BC. Herod the Great rules from 37ish BC to 4 BC, establishing the Herodian Dynasty. When he died, the kingdom was divided among his three sons:
- Herod Archelaus received the largest part of the kingdom of Judaea including Jerusalem and the bulk of what we currently know as the State of Israel. He also retained the title of “king”. His only real reference in scripture is in the dream Joseph had in Matthew 2, in which an angel warned him to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt because Herod (the Great) was going to have all the children killed. Joseph ultimately returned to Galilee instead of Judaea to avoid Herod Archelaus, who was known to be as ruthless as his father.
- Herod Antipas became the Tetrarch of Galilee and a small slice of the territory beyond the Jordan River. This is the “Herod” we read about throughout the gospels in connection with Jesus’ life and death.
- Herod Philip II because the Tetrarch of much of what we now know as Jordan. This is the Philip who built Caesarea Philippi, and whose wife Salome so delighted Herod Antipas with her dancing (and whatever else) that he had John the Baptist killed in Matthew 14.
Here’s a map of the region from Wikipedia:
Herod the Great was king. His sons became Tetrarchs, which were like joint-lesser-kings. And Pilate was a Prefect or Governor for Rome in Judaea. Governors were responsible for taxation and financial management, they were the province’s chief judge, and they commanded the military forces within the province. In the Roman world, there two primary types of provinces:
- Imperial, over which the Emporer ruled directly
- Senatorial, over which the Roman Senate appointed governors
There were also equestrian provinces, which were “smaller, but potentially difficult provinces” (Wikipedia) that required special attention. These were typically newly-conquered provinces or places where the natives were particularly restless. Judaea was one of these provices. According to legend, Pontius Pilate was a particularly cruel, intractible man, so it makes sense that the Emporer or the local King (Herod) would appoint him over the Jews, because they were routinely rebelling and causing all manner of trouble for Rome.
So, it’s into this environment that Jesus was brought before Pilate in the fortress we explored today. Of course, that ancient building was completely gone, replaced by busy markets in the Muslim quarter. But we were able to go down under the city into what I would call “catacombs”. These were the foundations of the original Antonio’s fortress.
The foundations were the classic Roman arch architecture, which was used throughout Herod the Great’s design of the expanded temple mount esplanade. The arch was designed according to the fundamental principle of “compressive stresses”, which made it extremely strong, even when supporting extreme weight. In fact, our tour guide went out of his way more than once to talk about how these arches got stronger the more weight you put on top of them. I’ll have to research that more; maybe my phsycist brother will shed some light for us.
Anyway, we saw the arches that formed the foundation of the fortress, and the huge storerooms and cisterns which resulted. Some was original, some wasn’t. We even saw an etching in the concrete that was an ancient Roman game, I think called “Four Kings”. This is thought to possibly the game the soldiers were playing when they “cast lots for Jesus’ clothes” in John 19, for example.
The Pool of Bethesda November 12, 2009
Posted by Jeff Block in Bible Stories, News, Politics and Culture, Philosophy and Religion, Travel.Tags: Benny Hinn, Bethesda, Bethsaida, healing, Israel, Jesus, new life in Christ, The Bible
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Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
This story, from John 5:1-9, took place just outside what was once the Sheep Gate at a place called Bethesda. Today, this is an archeological site in the Muslim quarter of the old city. Once there, we saw that (like many archeological sites), this one consisted of many layers built up over the centuries. The ruins of the original pool and colonnades were a good 30 feet down in a pit that had been dug by archeologists to reveal the past. At one end, we could see the stairs that the paralyzed man in Jesus story could have been sitting on.
In the time of Constantine, a church was built on this site. Then, later, the Muslims built a masque there. Both have distinct architectural styles that our guide pointed out, but I can’t remember the details of either by looking at my pictures. It’s enough to say that these places are hard to envision when we see them buried under layers of other things that other people built there.
This pool is also referred to as the Pool of Bethsaida. One thought I found interesting is that it is believed this might have been a translation error, and that translators of Ancient Greek Biblical manuscripts mistook the name “Bethesda” for name of the town of Bethsaida, where Jesus fed the 5,000 in Matthew 6 – a place to the NE, now in modern-day Jordan.
But the most interesting thing to me about this place is the Biblical story…
A man is laying there on a mat paralyzed for 38 years. Evidently, when the waters of this little pool “were stirred”, the first person who got in the pool was healed of whatever ailed him. What’s up with that!? Did that really happen? Seems a little mystical and bizarre, doesn’t it? Was this perhaps an ancient day version of the same shenanigans people like Benny Hinn have perpetrated in our time? Who knows!
But when Jesus arrived on the seen, He had compassion on this man. Who knows who else was there or what their problems were, but God “will have mercy on whom [He] will have mercy, and [He] will have compassion on whom [He] will have compassion.” (Exodus 30:19 NIV) So, God chose this man, ostensibly not choosing others. And who knows why? All I know is that it’s amazingly wonderful to be chosen by God, as it was for the paralytic at Bethesda.
So, Jesus asks him if he wants to be well. Amazing question. Most people – myself included at times – complain a lot, whine about their circumstances, blame all kinds of people for all kinds of things, but very few do the hard work of changing. I think we like being victims. I think we’d rather wallow in our circumstances and be pitied and get free lunches because we’re downtrodden than to do the hard work of actual change. And I think this has implications in my personal life, in the corporate life of the church, in our country’s pursuit of “social justice”, and all kinds of other areas.
But here, Jesus wants to know (I assume) if the man is sincere. “Are you sure you want to no longer be able to lay here and play the victim? It might seem like your life now is hard, and surely it is, but the new life I have the power to give you is also hard. It’s different-hard. Better, but not free of pain or challenge or obstacles. Even once you can walk, there will still be places you want to go that others will beat you to, etc. Now, do you want to get well?” Obviously, I’m putting words in Jesus mouth here, but they seem like reasonable words, don’t they? … knowing our Father.
The man says “yes”, and Jesus says, “well then get up and walk, and take your mat with you”. This was the Sabbath. Jesus knew that. It was unlawful (in the eyes of men) for the paralytic man to carry his mat on the Sabbath. Jesus knew that too. I love Jesus’ style! He was never all that intimidated by the laws of men. Nor is God intimidated by your laws or the rules of your church/denomination that don’t come from the Bible. God’s actually pretty secure. And He routinely and overtly tramples underfoot man’s attempts to “ascend above the tops of the clouds, and make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). And here He does it again.
The Pharisees wigged out. They couldn’t care less that the man could walk. No compassion. No mercy. No rejoicing in his new found life. Imagine the man’s shock when all they cared about was that he was carrying his mat. Talk about raining on his parade. Can you imagine how he must have thought, “Are you kidding? I can *WALK*! Screw the mat!” What else could possibly have mattered to him?
So, for me, the Pool of Bethesda is a reminder of many things…
- God has a new, better life to offer us.
- God desires this for everyone, but not everyone will be chosen to receive it. Harsh but true.
- We have to want it, and be willing to reach out for it. This will always mean leaving something behind in which we are tempted to place false value
- The world around us is always focused on the wrong things. They will always think they know better for us than God. Forget the mat! Focus on Jesus.
- The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)
- When Jesus gives you a new life, make sure you remember that it was God’s doing and that others around you need to hear what God has done for you.
Hopefully I will take these things away from this place, not just pictures of a few layers of history.
Mount Zion and the Upper Room November 11, 2009
Posted by Jeff Block in Bible Stories, Travel.Tags: David, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, last supper, Mount Zion, Pentecost, The Apostles, The Bible
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After we left Caiaphas’s house, we boarded the bus, drove a block or so, parked the bus, and disembarked. We were still on Mount Zion, just down the street from Caiaphas’s place, at the tomb where it’s believed David is buried. We didn’t go inside the church itself, but it was pretty cool from the outside. We did go in a little room from the Crusader era (12th century architecture) that commemorates the belief that this is also the location of both the Last Supper and Pentecost.
There was actually some significant controversy within our group as to whether or not this really was the place of both the last supper, Pentecost, and potentially even one of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. As our guide was explaining that this was all true, it didn’t sit right with me. So, when we got out to the courtyard, I read Acts 2 aloud slowly and we carefully analyzed the passage as a group. We were debating that it didn’t make sense for 3,000 people to be saved in a tiny upper room. The Bible clearly states that “they were We concluded that “they were all together in one place”, so this happened in one place. Then, “a sound like a mighty rushing wind … filled the entire house where they were sitting”. This clearly indicates that they were indoors. Then, they began to speak in different languages (or at least everyone around them heard them in their native tongue), and a crowd gathered. So much so that 3,000 people were saved, which implies that there were likely many more there who didn’t come to trust in Christ. So, we concluded that they must have started inside in fear and then moved outside in boldness once the Holy Spirit had descended upon them.
We also debated whether or not the Last Supper, Jesus’ second post-resurrection appearance, and Pentecost would all have happened in the same place. That just doesn’t seem likely to me. In both Matthew 26 (from v17) and Luke 22 (from v7), Jesus instructs the disciples to go meet a (seemingly random) man in Jerusalem to prepare an upper room – Luke even uses the term “guest room” – for them that they might observe the Passover together. We know that Jesus is arrested that night, and the disciples (except for Peter) disperse in fear of also being arrested. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that they would retreat back to a random guy’s guest quarters. Would they be able to trust this person not to give them up? Would the room even still be available the next day? Etc. It seems far more likely that they’d pull back to Mary’s house or the home of a trusted follower of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea even. And just because the disciples retreated to a particular place when Jesus was arrested and killed, doesn’t mean that they would necessarily be hiding in the same place when He appears to them in John 20 (from v19).after His resurrection.
So, anyway, we had some interesting discussion, but much of this was never resolved. Our tour guide didn’t really have answers for me, and I haven’t taken time to research the topic since my Internet connectivity has been spotty. For now, I’m content to assume that a lot of speculation has gone into saying that this particular church in Mount Zion is the location of all four of these historic places:
- King David’s burial (1 Kings 2)
- The Last Supper (Matthew 26 and Luke 22)
- Jesus’ 2nd post-resurrection appearance (John 20)
- Pentecost (Acts 2)
And I’m okay with that. What’s far more important to me is that these events happened, not exactly where they happened. But I am far less willing (having not seen any convincing evidence) to assume that they all happened in the same place out of (what I perceive to be) convenience on the part of those making the assumption.
The House of Caiaphas November 11, 2009
Posted by Jeff Block in Bible Stories, Travel.Tags: Caiaphas, David, Garden of Gethsemane, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, Kidron Valley, Maundy Thursday, Mount of Olives, Mount Zion, The Bible, Tyropaeion Valley, Valley of Gehenna
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Matthew 26 records that, on Thursday night after the last supper with His disciples, Jesus retreated to the Mount of Olives to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. He typically went alone, but this time asked Peter, James, and John (His closest friends) to go with Him. There He agonized under the weight of the mission before Him, knowing that it would be impossibly hard to go to the cross, and be separated from the unbroken circle of fellowship He’d experienced with God from eternity past as He paid an unimaginable price for the sins of the entire world … for my sin and yours. Eventually, though, Jesus resolved, “Shall I not drink the cup my Father has given me?” as recorded in John 18:11.
After Jesus had submitted Himself to His Father and resolved to go through with His mission, He was ready to be handed over to the authorities, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Knowing this was coming, He woke the disciples (who couldn’t watch with Him even for an hour – sounds familiar), and waited for Judas to arrive with a bunch of thugs claiming to be doing God’s work.
Jesus permitted Himself to be captured, and the soldiers took Him away in chains (ostensibly) to the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest. There, He was interrogated and mocked, and ultimately thrown into a cistern in Caiaphas’ basement.
After lunch at the Sheraton in Jerusalem, we headed for the house of Caiaphas. Jesus would have been marched down the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley, and up the side of Mount Zion just south of Mount Moriah where the temple mount is located. These are fairly small mountains we’re talking about here, but it’s still a bit of hike. I’d say He would have had to march maybe 2 miles – nothing for someone who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from Nazareth three times a year. We took the bus.
Or course, there’s a church built on top of Caiaphas’ place, which wasn’t really worth going through so I won’t bore you with details. But under the church in the basement was the actual chamber where Jesus is thought to have been kept. Now that’s interesting! We stood in the old cistern where they believe He was and read a psalm together. Unfortunately, I don’t remember which it was. It was amazing to be where Jesus might have personally been. They also think that He was dropped down into the water in the room from a hole in the ceiling, which had to be 15 feet above the floor. Whether there was a lot of water and he had to tread water all night or there was a little water and he was basically getting dropped on the floor from that height… Either way, doesn’t sound like He would have had a pleasant night.
I have to say that my amazement never wears off in terms of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. It doesn’t get anymore profound than God’s humbling Himself to the level that Jesus did, even to the point of physical death and spiritual separation from God the Father. Praise be to the Living God for the grace and love He shows us in Christ!
In the way of additional information about Jerusalem, here are a few of the places our guide pointed out to us from the roof of the church that commemorates the house of Caiaphas:
- We saw “David’s City” on Mount Zion between the Kidron and Tyropaeion valleys. This was the (MUCH smaller) area covered by Jerusalem in David’s time before Solomon built the temple.
- We saw the location of the Pool of Siloam at southern end of the Tyropaeion valley
- We saw the Valley of Gehenna west of Mount Zion. In ancient times, residents of Jerusalem threw their garbage out of the Dung gate into the valley, because the stench would then drift southeast away from the city into the wilderness, blown by the breeze coming off the Mediterranean Sea. Jesus referred to Gehenna as a metaphor for hell, because the fires in the valley (consuming the garbage) never went out.
The three valleys – Kidron, Tyropaeion, and Gehenna – form the Hebrew letter “W” or “Shin”, which is the first letter in “Shaddai”, the Hebrew name for God. Our tour guide mentioned this more than once with great pride. It was clear that he believed this to mean that God regards the Israelites as special.- We saw a wall being erected (seemed nearly done) by Israel where they believe the border of a Palestinian state will one day reside. We ask our guide if Israelis are angry about having to give up territory to the Palestinians. He said yes, but that they had to do so, because the Palestinian population is growing much faster than the Jewish population. Therefore, he said that if they don’t allow a state to be formed and give up some land, in 50-100 years, Palestinians will control the government of Israel anyway and take everything. So, better to give them their own state so that they leave Israel alone (in theory). Interesting take; sounds like a familiar problem.
The Garden of Gethsemane November 11, 2009
Posted by Jeff Block in Bible Stories, Philosophy and Religion, Travel.Tags: Garden of Gethsemane, Israel, James MacDonald, Jerusalem, Jesus, Lindsay McCaul, Mount of Olives, street vendors, surrender, The Bible
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The Garden of Gethsemane was not at all what I pictured from reading about it in the Bible. I imagined a vast apple orchard, where Jesus was betrayed in the midst of flowering trees and green meadowy grass. Maybe a daisy or two here or there, but certainly a nice flat spacious valley of lush greenery.
We walked from the Necropole down a narrow stone street. A few street vendors called out to us to try to sell us stuff. “Bags 4 for $10!” … “Bookmarks, $2!” … “I’ll give you 2 goats for your used Volkswagen!” That kind of thing.
At one point we walked by a Bedouin-looking guy with a mule that he made smile at us by holding his head and squeezing. He looked the part in every way, and his mule made a fine circus animal. I think he was selling rides, but I’m not sure because I was too busy trying to A) stay with the group so as not to get lost in Jerusalem, and B) fight off the street vendors who insisted that I’d look great in 5 brightly colored scarves for $10.
At another point we saw cars coming within inches of each other and driving through mobs of people with far less regard for their safety than my western sensibilities were comfortable with. Masses of people, narrow winding roads, steep hills, no sidewalks, aggressive drivers, and a total disregard for (perhaps lack of existence of) traffic laws added up to a mildly stressful walking-down-the-street-to-the-garden experience. But we managed.
When we finally got to the garden (only a few minutes walk from the Necropole), it was not at all want I expected (as I said). Instead of a flat lush expanse, it was a fairly steep rocky embankment. There were lots of trees (some of them evidently many hundreds of years old), winding paths up the slopes, and large boulders. There was less grass than there was underbrush, but it was green, and lush, and beautiful in its own way. I think I found it beautiful most because of its Biblical significance and because I was there with dozens of godly Jesus-loving fanatics, like myself. In fact, around these folks I feel the need to step it up a notch.
By the way, just for the record, the Garden of Gethsemane is where Jesus went to pray with Peter, James and John after the last supper on the Thursday night before He was captured and crucified. Judas brought the religious SS out the garden and kissed Jesus to make sure they knew which one He was. Peter cut off the guard’s ear, which Jesus healed. Then they took Him to Caiaphas’ place on the south side of the city to hold Him until He could be tried before Pilot in the morning. The disciples were neither able to pray with Jesus (weak), stop the arresting guards (misguided), or stay with Jesus when He was captured (afraid). And then Peter denied Jesus three times while He waited to stand trial. The more I read about these disciple guys, the more I relate to them. Sigh!
Oh, and check out Matthew 26 to read the story for yourself (which I highly encourage). In the meantime, back to the garden in present times…
After we’d rallied up and selected some nice comfortable stones to sit on, Lindsay McCaul led us in worship (awesome!), and James MacDonald preached on giving hard things to God. As usual, he exposited the Scriptures, rather than just walking through a couple random thoughts supported deductively by Google-located Bible verses. And his delivery brimmed with the expectation that we would actually apply the Word to our lives, not just listen to a message, which I’m all about! James’ main point was that Jesus had to surrender His will to God — to be willing to do something extremely hard that His Father had called Him to do. His question to us was, “What hard thing is God asking you to surrender to Him?” He focused on Jesus’ words in John 18:11, which I absolutely love: “Shall I not drink the cup my Father has given me?”
When he had finished his brief message, James directed us to spread out and get alone with God in the garden. Unlike the message two nights before on the Sea of Galilee or the previous morning on the Mount of Beatitudes, I knew exactly what God was asking me to do and how James’ message applied to my life personally. Although that felt really good, the task at hand feels intimidating. No, of course I’m not going to share in this context what I’m talking about, but I would say this… God calls us to trust Him with our whole hearts, our whole lives. Not only is it foolish and impractical to withhold from God any part of who we are, it keeps us from the life God wants us to have. Fullness of joy only exists in total surrender.
