First Field Day!

Today was our first "class." We took a five hour walking tour of the old city. My group contains all the grad students, a few of the undergrads, and is lead by Paul Wright. We started on Mount Zion, went to the traditional site of the "Upper Room," looked at maps of the city through the ages, and examined how history is still affecting life today. As he quoted Faulkner, "The past isn't dead. It isn't even past." We saw where they are rebuilding a large synagog, we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (or the Church of the Resurrection), and examined the topography of the land.

Favorite quotes of the day (both by Dr. Wright):
"Come to Jerusalem and get high!" (vertically, that is)
"The writers of the old testament had their feet in this dirt. In a sense, they had their minds in the dirt."

Here's my first impression "paper" on the day's walk.

Sunday, August 31, 2008
Old City Walking Tour

Today was a day that I have looked forward to for months – my first day of “class” here at JUC. There is just so much I want to learn -- I’m always anxious for school to start. This school started with a five hour walk in the Old City of Jerusalem. I had been to Jerusalem before and had heard and seen much of what we heard and saw today, but there were still new things to learn and think about. For that matter, there are old things from last time I was here that I haven’t finished thinking about.

One thing that struck me (or re-struck me) today was all the different belief systems represented on this tiny plot of land. There are, of course, the three main divisions: Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and each of them claims this land as a holy place. But then there are the divisions within each of those religions, some of them nearly as dramatic as the divisions between the main groups. Most of the “holy” sites we visited today are claimed to some extent by all three main groups. It’s odd…all three claim to have basically the same roots, and yet they are so different and there is so much strife between them. Even sadder are the riots that occur yearly during Easter in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher caused by conflicts between the six churches represented there. The Bible says that Christians will be known by their love for each other. I know many who would question whether or not most people in these orthodox churches are really saved; however, giving them the benefit of the doubt for the moment, they certainly don’t seem to act like Christians towards each other. How do they act towards Jews and Muslims? Are they displaying the fruits of the Spirit in other areas of their lives? One hopes so.

The Temple Mount is one area that is claimed as a holy site by all three main religions here. I was reading a book this summer that even conjectured that that area might have been a Jebusite religious site before the city was conquered by David. For that matter, some say that even before that, it was the Mount Moriah where Abraham sacrificed Isaac. Who knows exactly how long ago that area first started to be considered “holy.” I certainly don’t. Is this a normal human habit, to build a new holy site on top of an old, perhaps in hopes of absorbing the power of the previous god, or at least gaining his followers? Or, possibly, is there something about that sight that is inherently holy? I have had at least two people comment today about how they just “felt different” when they visited the Western Wall. Is that due to the holiness of the site? Or perhaps a site with so much history makes us feel more connected to others, including the founders of our faith? I can think of numerous possible explanations…perhaps it’s a combination of all of them.

One thing that has been in the back of my mind for quite sometime is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Since I am now in the land that is the source (or one of the sources) of that conflict that issue has been poking itself into my consciousness a bit more often. I don’t really know enough about either side to make any sort of informed comment on it. I think I tend to be a bit of a “problem solver” though, so I keep thinking about how to find a solution. Of course I know the situation is too complex for any simple human solution. I really believe that the only way that the Israelis and Palestinians will ever live in peace is for them both to have peace with God through His Son, Jesus. For now, at least we can share the gospel and work on reconciling believers with different backgrounds.

I’ll finish with a thought from the end of Psalm 122. We looked at the first part of this Psalm in class today, and I’m sure we’ll get to this part, but I’m going to skip a head a bit.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
Because of the house of the LORD our God
I will seek your good.

Lord, bring peace to Jerusalem. Amen.