Touching the Promised Land 17 | Day 6 – THE MOUNT OF OLIVES
- Jul 7
- 10 min read
Updated: Jul 16
TEARS OVER JERUSALEM AND THE PROMISE OF RETURN
Leaving the archaeological site of Qumran, our journey finally brought us to Jerusalem—the very city where Solomon, the son of David, was promised he could build a dwelling place for the Name of the Lord (1 Kings 8:29); the city over which Jesus Christ wept in deep sorrow (Luke 19:41); and the place to which God's chosen people have at last returned after nearly two millennia of chastisement and diaspora.
In Hebrew, Jerusalem signifies the "City of Peace," yet since the twentieth century BC, this ancient stronghold has endured continuous warfare and bloodshed waged under a multitude of banners. It has been said, “Of all the beauty bestowed on earth, nine-tenths graces Jerusalem; yet of all the sorrow to break the world, nine-tenths lingers therein, too.” Peace remains elusive for this sacred city, yet the prayer for it persists—an ache that is as sincere as it is profound.
By the time of my visit, Jerusalem was home to a population of approximately 900,000, comprising around 540,000 Jewish residents, 330,000 Arab residents, and roughly one percent from other ethnic backgrounds. Amidst this vast populace, those who profess the Christian faith account for less than two per cent.
Although the definitive status of Jerusalem remains a matter of intense international dispute, the city has been under the de facto control and administration of Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967.
Highlights
1) Orientation
We arrived in Jerusalem in the late afternoon. Rather than entering the Old City from the west side of the Kidron Valley, we made our way to the Mount of Olives in the east, exploring on foot several key sites highlighted within the red circle on the map.
To visitors like me, the "Holy City of Jerusalem" refers specifically to the Old City—the brownish area on the center-right of the map—a walled enclave encompassing roughly one square kilometre. It is home to some 350,000 to 400,000 inhabitants residing in the Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish Quarters. Rising above its south-eastern corner is the Temple Mount, the "Holy of Holies" within Jerusalem.
For the following three nights, my base was the historic King David Hotel, located just to the west of the Old City. I specifically requested this hotel, partly for its exceptional proximity, offering sweeping views of the Old City’s weathered walls, shifting domes, and prominent spires, and partly for the hotel’s own legendary history.
The greater part of my eighth day would be dedicated to the Old City itself, which I shall record in subsequent travelogues.
2) The Mount of Olives Ridge
The Mount of Olives ridge is a limestone formation flanking the eastern edge of the Old City. Its three summits, from south to north, are the Mount of Corruption (also called Mt. of Offense as shown in the Topomap), the Mount of Olives, and Mount Scopus.
The Mount of Corruption is recorded in the Old Testament as the site where Solomon built altars for his foreign wives, which King Josiah later desecrated (2 Kings 23:13). From Qumran, we drove to this summit, made my first stop at the Rehavam Observation Point, and walked northward toward the central peak.
The central peak is the Mount of Olives, named millennia ago for the groves that clothed its slopes. Because Jesus left the indelible prints of His final earthly days upon this mountainside, it is revered by Christians worldwide as exceptionally holy ground.
To the far north of the ridge lies Mount Scopus, home to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As we drove past on our way to the Mount of Corruption, my guide shared an intriguing insight: early Zionist leaders often referred to this university, standing on the crest of the third summit, as "Israel’s Third Temple"—a testament to the immense cultural and intellectual reverence the institution commands in the hearts of Israelis. As moisture from the Mediterranean is trapped by the ridge on the western slopes, the landscape to the east drops sharply away into the barren Judean wilderness, stretching all the way to the Dead Sea.
3) The Steps of Jesus Christ
The central peak of the ridge is directly opposite the Golden Gate of the Temple Mount across the Kidron Valley. The New Testament gospels preserve a rich tapestry of our Lord's movements in this area:
On Palm Sunday, Jesus set out from Bethphage down the olive-covered slopes, riding into Jerusalem upon a donkey’s colt to precisely fulfill the words of the prophet (Matthew 21:4). He walked into the temple through the Golden Gate, cleansed His Father’s house (Luke 19:45; Matthew 21:12), healed the blind and the lame, and taught the crowds (Matthew 21:14).
“Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening He went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear Him at the temple.” (Luke 21:37-38)
When He approached the city along the descent, He looked upon the Holy City and wept over its impending fate (Luke 19:41), foretelling the city’s absolute desolation. The church of Dominus Flevit stands on the slope today to commemorate this moment.
At the end of the Passover, prior to His arrest, He endured His agony of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:36–46), utterly submitting to the Father's sovereign will to lay down His life for the redemption of mankind.
Following His glorious resurrection, it was from the Mount of Olives that He was taken up into heaven before the eyes of His disciples (Acts 1:9–11), an event commemorated by the Chapel of the Ascension on the upper slope.
4) World Heritage
In 1981, following a proposal by the Kingdom of Jordan, the custodian of the Temple Mount compound, UNESCO inscribed "Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls" as a World Heritage site. In 2001, Israel proposed a wider definition of "Jerusalem" for the Tentative List, which explicitly includes the Mount of Olives.
Sightseeing Notes
The sun was dipping low in the sky as our vehicle climbed the roads of the Mount of Corruption. I arrived at the Rehavam Observation Point (also known as the Gandhi Overlook) at approximately four o'clock. This vantage point served as the starting threshold of my two-hour walking descent. We followed the blue path, walking from the overlook down to Yad Avshalom.
Owing to security concerns, my guide preferred not to take me to the Chapel of the Ascension at the very summit, nor to the adjacent Church of the Pater Noster, and I chose not to press the matter. Some of these sites sit deep within the Arab residential area at the crest of the hill, where my Jewish guide understandably felt vulnerable. He noted in passing, that the Chapel of the Ascension is now enclosed within the compound of a mosque.
1. The Rehavam Observation Point
The terrace is named in memory of the late right-wing Israeli politician Rehavam Ze'evi, who was assassinated in 2001—a retaliatory strike following Israel's targeted killing of a Palestinian commander. Standing dozens of metres above the Temple Mount, this point offers an exceptional panoramic view of Jerusalem.
Gazing westward, the solemnity and grandeur of the Old City are laid bare across the Kidron Valley. Meanwhile, the immense, sprawling necropolis cascading down the slopes toward the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:12) is striking. Viewed from here, the Old City appears as an island of crowded domes and minarets, hemmed in by tier upon tier of whitewashed graves stretching from the valley floor to the city walls.
My guide explained that the slopes running down into the Kidron Valley have served as a premier burial ground for Jewish priests and believers for thousands of years; today, a plot here is nearly impossible to secure. By long-standing tradition, the sarcophagi are oriented with the feet pointing directly towards the Temple Mount. It is believed that upon the Day of Judgment, the dead will rise facing the holy site, ready to march towards the Temple.
Conversely, directly across the valley, nestled beneath the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, lies a dense Muslim cemetery, standing like a sentinel between the valley and the sanctuary. Looking at these vast graveyards covering the hillsides, there is something profoundly melancholic, even chilling, in the thought that this earthly standoff is expected to persist into the world to come.
Looking northwards, the slope of the Mount of Olives is dotted with the grey teardrop dome of Dominus Flevit, the gleaming golden onions of the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene, the unique "bubble roof" of the Church of All Nations, and the modern expanse of Jerusalem spreading into the distance.
Standing upon a terrace named after an assassinated leader, listening to the deep-seated, generational hostility detailed by a local guide, while knowing this is the place where our Savior will return one day—the shock is profound. Yet, as I shifted my gaze to my own "team"—a secular Jewish guide and a Palestinian Christian driver, working together in harmony and navigating the day with genuine warmth—the longing for the "City of Peace" to truly live up to its name felt wonderfully real and within reach.
2. Dominus Flevit (The Lord Wept)
The name of this sanctuary translates from the Latin as "The Lord Wept." An initial chapel was erected here during the Crusader era to mark the traditional spot where Christ wept over the city. Following the fall of the Crusader Kingdom, that structure fell into ruin. The present church, designed by the renowned architect Antonio Barluzzi, was commissioned by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and completed in 1955.
My guide pointed out that the stylized urns gracing the roof are modelled after ancient Judean tear vials, used by women to collect tears of mourning. Though I listened with a bit of skepticism, it later occurred to me that if ancient Chinese culture preserved a tradition of gathering hair in small baskets out of filial reverence, it is entirely plausible that ancient Hebrew women used vials to preserve their tears.
Inside, behind the high altar, a semi-circular window frames the distant dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre through the central crucifix.
While taking in this view, we chanced upon a group of Indian pilgrims—the visitors visible outside the window wearing distinctive red caps. They moved through the grounds singing hymns of praise.....
3. The Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations
The name Gethsemane derives from an Aramaic phrase meaning "Oil Press." The garden is still populated by ancient, gnarled olive trees, several of which have been carbon-dated to around the eleventh century. Local tradition holds that these trees are offshoots cultivated from the very root stock that stood there during the lifetime of Christ.
The grey domes visible above the foliage belong to the Church of All Nations. Completed in 1924, this Franciscan basilica was funded by donations from a multitude of countries. Each of its twelve domes is decorated with the Franciscan insignia alongside the national coats of arms or flags of the donor nations. The church also features vibrant mosaics funded by other nations.
Inside the church, directly in front of the altar lies a massive rock encircled by an iron fence shaped like a crown of thorns. This is traditionally revered as the "Rock of Agony," where our Lord prayed: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Shortly after this prayer, He was taken by a crowd led by Judas, sent by the chief priests and elders (Matthew 26:36–46). The Lord Jesus drank the cup with great obedience to our Heavenly Father, fulfilling His plan by becoming the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, granting us the freedom to choose God and be justified by faith.
The wall behind the altar is dominated by a haunting golden mosaic depicting the moment of Gethsemane: as Jesus prays in the depths of His anguish, an angel descends from heaven holding the cup, while His disciples sleep under the trees in the lower corner.
As the late afternoon sun hit the western-facing facade, the golden mosaics of the portico seemed to catch fire. Remarkably, the outdoor altar is shared for worship across all major Christian denominations—a rare ecumenical arrangement that makes the title "Church of All Nations" truly fitting.
Resting on the stone benches, my guide mentioned that Israeli children are taught that the Land of Milk and Honey is blessed with seven primary fruits, one of which is the olive. He hummed a traditional childhood rhyme to remember them: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. It is beautiful.
4. Yad Avshalom
For centuries, this imposing, rock-cut monument at the base of the Kidron Valley was traditionally identified as the pillar erected by David’s rebellious son, Absalom. Modern archaeology has revealed that the architecture dates back roughly two thousand years—a millennium too late for Absalom. Nevertheless, as my guide noted, this has never deterred local parents from bringing their disobedient children to this tower, using it as a stern visual parable: "Make sure you do not end up like Absalom."
If I Had More Time...
I am quite content to have covered the Garden of Gethsemane and Dominus Flevit relatively well. However, given our tight schedule, I had to skip the Chapel of the Ascension, Pater Noster Church, the Church of Mary Magdalene, and other sites.
It is worth noting that, regardless of ethnicity or religious creed, the local people presented no direct threat. During my time traversing Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, I never once felt unsafe. For the most part, unless I encountered a stark road sign or a specific warning from my guide, I was rarely aware of whether I was passing through a Jewish or an Arab neighborhood.
If time permitted, I would have paid a visit to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on the northern peak to get a first-hand impression of that "third temple," and go to the top of the summit to visit Pater Noster Church, Chapel of the Ascension, and then walked the route from Bethphage to the valley as our Lord once did.
Touching the Promised Land 18 | Day 7 – INTRO
A HISTORY OF DEFIANCE, A LAND OF PROMISE
Day 7 took us across a landscape where the weight of history felt almost tangible—from the echoes of colonial struggle to the stark, haunting silence of a desert fortress, and finally to the quiet resilience found in ancient villages. Amidst the complexity of prophecy, political defiance, and the enduring wisdom of the land itself. It was a day of profound contrasts, yet unified by the unmistakable, beating heart of a people defined by their hope.
[ to be continued ]
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