'As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.' (Psalm 125:2) We are in the 3000 year old capital of Israel. After viewing the city panorama from the Mount of Olives we descended down the Bethany Hallel road towards Jerusalem. Below us lay the Kidron Valley; on its upper slopes sits the Golden Gate which was sealed by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to prevent the Jewish Messiah returning. A cemetery was established in front of the gate since the Ottomans believed a grave would make a Jew ritually unclean, effectively preventing God's Messiah from entering the eternal city. If only Suleiman had known that graves have no power over God's Son. Beyond the city walls lies Mount Moriah, where Solomon's temple and the Second Temple once stood. The Dome of the Rock mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, dominates the summit. Jerusalem at the time of Jesus was three times larger in land area than that marked out by the present walls. Extensive (and sometimes expensive) Jewish tombs on the slopes of the Mount of Olives face the city in the hope of a future resurrection. Two thousand year old ossuaries that contain the bones of Christian families have also been found. Jews are buried in the ground but not in coffins and rocks not flowers are placed on their tombs to remember the dead. We turned left into the Dominus Flevit ('The Lord Wept') church which is built in the shape of a tear. It was poignant that we were studying the Scriptures where David, fleeing Absalom's rebellion, and Jesus, entering the city at Passover (Luke 19:41), both wept. 'If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes' (Luke 19:42). Jesus enjoyed his last moment here with his disciples before he ascended. The disciples saw his crucified hands lifted to bless and heard his blessing (Luke 24:40; 50-52). We are blessed with salvation through the cross and have God's blessing as we witness to the world. At the foot of the Mount of Olives is the garden called Gethsemane, once a large olive orchard. Many olive trees were used by the Romans to fuel the fires that burned the temple in 70 AD as part of their scorched earth policy. However an olive tree regenerates and regrows if the root remains. We saw two thousand year old trees that were there during Jesus' agony. We meditated on the movements in Mark 14:32-42: Sit - Watch - Pray - Rise. Told to sit, watch and pray, three future Church leaders and New Testament authors Peter, James and John, instead slept through Jesus' night of sorrow. By contrast Jesus, in the face of its full horror, grew in determination to drink the cup of suffering for sin. We entered the Upper City near the place where wealthy Jews associated with the Herodian dynasty and High Priest. A large villa that could be Caiaphas' house sits under a church built by French Catholics. Here Jesus was interrogated, denied due process and condemned in an illegal night time trial. He had challenged the High Priest's power and prosperity so they played the blasphemy card. Pilate, an unpopular man who walked on thin ice with Rome, knew that a revolt would not be tolerated. Pilate considered Jesus and his followers as Galilean zealots (Peter carried a knife after all) yet knew Jesus was innocent of the indictments. And the fickle crowd that had once cheered, now cried, 'Crucify him'. After a short visit to the Upper Room and a leisurely walk through the ancient streets crammed with modern Passover pilgrims we finished at the Wailing Wall. Walking through the old city on a Passover holiday gave us a sense of the faith and festivity of a first century pilgrimage. The temple mount above the wall was not open nor is it accessible to any person carrying a Bible. How glad we are to know the Lord Jesus - the true temple - and to be part of his temple. 'For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.' (Ephesians 2:18-22)