Day in Jerusalem

The Temple Mount which is now controlled by Muslims, was the place of worship for Yaweh, God of the Israelites. Herod the Great is known for his reconstruction of the Temple Mount in 20 BCE. Today the Temple Mount can give us a rough estimate of the size of this construction during the days of Yeshua. Having never been on top of the Temple Mount before, I was amazed by its size. I was not expecting the mount itself to be that large of a distance from its northern side to its southern side as well as from the eastern wall to its western wall. Although the measurement of today’s Temple Mount does not measure up with Herod’s Temple Mount, it still provides us with a more realistic picture of its immense size. The Dome of the Rock is another story. We stood below the Golden Dome and looked up at its enormous size, only to realize that the temple built by Herod was significantly superior.
Mark 11: 12-18 records when Jesus clears the temple of its buyers and sellers. From my understanding, the buying and selling within the temple was not an uncommon thing. For the most part this market place would have been conducted in the area of the Royal Stoa. However, we know from other sources that this market place was moved out into the gentile court, for whatever reason. Gentiles were only aloud to worship in the Gentile court and here were all these distractions, people buying and selling, while they were trying to worship. Then enters Yeshua who says, “…My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations ‘(including the Gentiles) (Mark 11:17). How dare these chief priest and teachers of the law interfere with a Gentile worshiping God. As I stood on the Temple Mount, we were able to guess at where the Gentile court would have been. Although we weren’t allowed to enter the Dome of the Rock, it was neat to think how close we were standing to where God had dwelled, but now God dwells in us.
The Burnt House of Kathros and the remains of the home of a high priest, possibly the high priest who tried Yeshua, were interesting visits. These structures were very large and we could also see remnance of tiled mosaics on the floors that give us the idea, these people were very wealthy and most likely someone of importance. Most of these homes wouldn’t have looked much differently than our homes in America. The miniature model of the high priest home included a court yard which is significant when we relate it to the passage in Luke 22, “…seizing him, they led him away to the house of the high priest…and Peter stood in the middle of the courtyard…” Whether or not this is the exact home of the high priest that tried Yeshua, it gives us an idea of who and where this event was taking place. The Garden Tomb was also another interesting stop. Skull Hill in this case was definitely outside the city wall and probably in a place where travelers would have passed by when entering the city. The person being crucified would been at eye level with the people passing by, and most likely completely naked. Excavations have found a tomb not far from the site which by some is thought to be the tomb where Christ was buried. It dates to the first temple period. However, John 20 says, “…there was a newly hewn tomb which no one had ever been laid.’ The problem here is that if this tomb dates to the first temple period, then there is no way it would fit the description of Yeshua’s tomb. Our tour guide also points out that there is a place for the rolling stone. Again, this area extends further and appears to be a place for water. There was however the finding of a cistern and the remains of a wine press. If this was a garden, the cistern would have been used for watering, and since there is remains of a wine press, we can assume the garden was a ‘vineyard’. John 20, “And at the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden…” We cannot be sure of the exact location of Yeshua’s crucifixion and burial.