Israel Day 10

The last day of our time in Israel...

We began the morning in the Upper Room. This was the place of Jesus' observance of the Last Supper with the disciples. Here He washed their feet. Here He gave the commandment, "Love one another."

Many of the well-known teachings of Jesus were given in this intimate setting, just before His arrest:

"If you love Me, keep my commandments."
"In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again."
"I am the vine, you are the branches."
"If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father."

It was here that Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, the remembrance feast of the New Covenant in His blood, shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. This was where, 50 days after the resurrection on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 believers. Again, we had a great time of worship and prayer. This was the Sabbath day here in Israel and God orchestrated the timing. We were able to spend a long time of worship and prayer here. Much of the time, we were the only ones in the Upper Room.

We then visited Caiaphas' house, where Jesus was tried before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. It was here, before the High priest that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God. This claim resulted in a charge of blasphemy and the accompanying death penalty. We saw the prison and the dungeon where Jesus was likely held.

Our last biblical site was Bethlehem and the Shepherd's Field where the incarnation began...where the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The cave and fields gave us a great visual perspective of where unto us, a Savior was born, Immanuel, God with us.

My 1100 pictures will have to refresh my memories of the many sites and ten days of travel. We leave tonight at 2:30 AM for the airport and 'Home Sweet Home', but the land of Israel goes with me, forever in my heart.

Lord, restore Your people. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Enjoying the Journey,
David