Last Day in Israel

beside the garden tomb

Jim coming out of the garden tomb

The place where Jesus may have been held the night before the crucifixion.

It is hard to believe our trip to the Holy Land is drawing to a close. With a late night plane flight, we have the day for touring and last minute shopping. We left a little later in the morning than we have been so we could pack up all our bags and set them outside our rooms to be stored. With one last visit on the bus by Kojak, the jewelry merchant, we headed off for our morning's excursions. We went to the rooftop of a church where we had a great birdseye view of the city. As Hillel said, things are falling into place and we are seeing how all the pieces of the puzzle fit. He is an excellent guide. Next we went into a church that is built over the spot where it is speculated that Jesus was held overnight after he was arrested. He was kept in an empty water cistern where the guards could watch over him. We saw the steps where he would have been led away the next day. Then we went to the Garden tomb, another spot that is thought by some to be the tomb where He was laid the next day. It was a beautiful place now and all around were quiet spots where groups could meet and have communion or talks. We saw the tomb and then we took communion together in one of those places nearby.

Instead of going out to lunch, Maen, our driver, suggested he order pizza and we find a nice spot overlooking the city and enjoy the views together. So it was a really nice time together in a quiet spot and the views were spectacular. The hooded crows were excited that we were leaving the remains in a nearby trash can and they called and circled around overhead as we ate. We had a wonderful devotion as we waited for the food to arrive and it was just a really nice way for us to be together on our last day.
After lunch, those that wanted to went to the Old City shopping, some went back to the hotel to rest, and the others of us went to the museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. The museum is really impressive and built just for these. It is still amazing to me to see these scrolls and to know that they hold further copies of so many of the important documents from such a long time ago. After the museum visit, we went back to the hotel.

We had several rooms where we could clean up and get ready for our long plane flight home. Our luggage was in one room and we were able to get to it and put the last few things we bought where it needed to be. Then we had dinner together and the ones of us heading home identified our luggage and headed off to Tel Aviv on the bus. It was about an hour's ride. There was a group of , I think, seven who were going on for an extension to Egypt. Since we had already been to Egypt, we gave them our sage advice and waved goodbye to them. At the airport, Fred had to go through extensive questioning and then they pulled out a couple of our group and asked them the same questions. Then we had to send all our checked luggage through the xray machine. Once it was xrayed and cleared, we were able to go check in. Jim's bag was singled out for further hand searching-it turned out to be the pottery plate we bought that they could not figure out! Several other people also got the joy of having the bags searched. We checked in at the counter and went on through security (we did not have to take our shoes off or present our small zip lock baggie of liquids) and through the immigration station. After that, it was on to the gate. There is a lot of shopping at the Tel Aviv airport and it had free wi fi also, which was nice to use and read the news and so forth to while away the time til we boarded. Sigh, it was not a totally full flight so alas, no upgrade to first class this time. But Jim and I both had gotten aisle seats when we checked a couple of weeks ago and changed our seats so we'd have as much room as possible. It was a nice flight and I slept a good part of the time, thanks to the help of dramamine and the long day of touring. We arrived in Atlanta at about 5:30 AM and actually had to wait about 10 min until the airport opened. Jim and I got randomly selected (as did Emily and Fred, Ken, and two of the Texas group, to go through the agricultural check. Luckily, we all passed and no contraband was found. We managed to get through all the lines of re-entering the country and Express 85 was waiting for us to take us back to Auburn. It was a nice, quiet ride as most of us were pretty tired.

So that brings to a close a wonderful trip to a most special place. I never thought in my lifetime that it would be peaceful enough for me to feel safe to go visit. But I am so thankful that we went and I never ever felt unsafe anywhere we were. EO does a good job of being sure we were where there was not a problem. To walk where Jesus walked was an experience that is hard to describe. It is very special and truly brings the Bible to life and helps me to understand so much. For me, it is a very special treasure, indeed.