Thursday, April 17, 2008
The first place we went, after arriving in Jerusalem, was the Mount of Olives. The look -out spot that we went to provides a beautiful view of Jerusalem. You can see the city walls and the Dome of the Rock from this vantage point. It takes you a while to soak in all that you're viewing. After a few minutes of intensely looking around it occurred to me that there aren't many olive trees on the Mount of Olives. What happened to all the olive trees? There are a few in the Garden of Gethsemane, but only a handful. I wondered if people cut down all the trees to build all of the churches that are on the Mount of Olives. There are several churches that have been built on the Mount of Olives. The churches are beautiful and represent some of the important events that happened on the Mount of Olives. 
Another church on the Mount of Olives is the Church of all Nations. Twelve different countries participated in the building of this church. This church is also called the Basilica of Agony. This of course is to signify the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane where he prayed, "not my will but Thine be done."
But perhaps one of the greatest things to occur on the Mount of Olives is when Jesus ascended back to heaven. There is a church that is built to remember this event, the Church of the Ascension. It's built on the highest point at the Mount of Olives. Acts 1:9-12 details the event. "After this he was taken up before there very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.' Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives".
One church is called Dominus Flevit (the Lord weeps). This church was built in 1955 and the dome of the church is in the shape of a tear drop. This parallels with Luke 19:41 which reads, "As Jesus approached Jerusalem (from the Mount of Olives), he saw the city and wept over it." Jesus cried over the city that he loved so much. He wept over the coming destruction and the fact that the people did not recognize the time of God's coming to them (v.44). The tears of Jesus say a lot about Him. They reveal the heart of our King. This is how God feels about those who miss their day (opportunity) on what would bring peace (Verse 42). He sorrows. God is not willing that anyone should perish. The tears of Jesus measure the infinite value of souls. Jesus went to the cross so that we could be at peace with God and he cried for those who would not listen.
Another church on the Mount of Olives is the Church of all Nations. Twelve different countries participated in the building of this church. This church is also called the Basilica of Agony. This of course is to signify the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane where he prayed, "not my will but Thine be done."
But perhaps one of the greatest things to occur on the Mount of Olives is when Jesus ascended back to heaven. There is a church that is built to remember this event, the Church of the Ascension. It's built on the highest point at the Mount of Olives. Acts 1:9-12 details the event. "After this he was taken up before there very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.' Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives".Now that's a tourist attraction. That would have been a great event to attend. But the greatest event is still to come, "This same Jesus will come back". Are you ready for that?
So, there's not a lot of olive trees on the Mount of Olives, but a lot of great things happened there. And the best is yet to come!
God Bless.
Pastor Tim
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