Jesus' Prison

After visiting the room where the Last Supper was held, I sat there deciding whether to give up, slumped my way down the hill, and poof! There right in front of me was St. Peter in Gallicantu, which I planned to see today but was rapidly un-planning due to exhaustion. yeee-hah, no effort! I slumped my way down the hill (you know it's bad when you're slumping your way downhill). And stood for awhile staring into space, with a couple tour bus drivers beginning to think me nutty (that's after the police and the army people at the top of the hill thought I was nutty. Must be an accurate representation. ;)

Jesus' Prison
Finally I expended my remaining energy and slumped down the rest of the hill, to the cave-prison Caiaphas may have held Jesus in, as well as where Peter and John were jailed. Funny, I'd always pictured the angel rescuing Peter from a cell with clanging metal doors and junky cots, like you see in movies.

It wasn't difficult to imagine cruelty happening here. The cat o'nine tails, men thrown against walls streaked with blood, slipping in puddles of it on uneven stone. It made me realize the agony they endured, and how little I endure for Christ. And what I'm called to, should I be called to it.


A close-up of the wall. The ledge in the upper right may have held a dim lamp, fueled by olive oil. Jerusalem can get pretty cold during the winter, and evenings in early spring are definitely chilly. With stone walls thoroughly chilled by months of winter, Jesus must have been shivering in here. Perhaps he sat on that stone step, praying to his Father, wanting to call on the legion of angels in heaven to rescue him, but loving us enough not to.

After many tour groups and much contemplation I went to their shop to get lunch. I was so exhausted, the guy took pity on me and gave me 25% off the Coke, and the candy bar for free! Maybe I should look exhausted more often.

The Field of Blood
Just outside of here is Akeldama, the Field of Blood where Judas allegedly hung himself. It overlooks the Kidron Valley, and if he had fallen he could have rolled quite far down this somewhat rocky hill, depending on which tree he picked and which direction the wind was blowing. Across the Valley is Gethsemane, where he betrayed Jesus.

Some of them are like willow trees hanging down to reach the ground. There are yellow ones, but they are too thin to hang yourself on.

Aaaagh!
My next stop was a walk through the Holyland Hotel model of Jerusalem in Jesus’ day. It includes a model of the Temple, which I was hoping to see before going to the Temple grounds tomorrow. Unfortunately they moved it to the Israel Museum, which doesn't sell tickets on the Sabbath.

You can visit. You just can't buy a ticket? They're week-long tickets. I guess it's not against the Sabbath to have someone in the office checking tickets and letting you in and whatnot, but it is against the Sabbath to ring up a new ticket? I dunno. This Sabbath thing confuses me. OK, got to run. ciao! me

I also saw the Upper Room today. You might also be interested in my posts on the Grove of Gethsemane and the Cave of Gethsemane