Jerusalem: City of David

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Just to the south of the Old City wall built by Turks is the City of David. Solomon built the temple, but David never built within the walls of the current Old City. It's a great descent from Mount Zion to the Pools of Siloam and along the way great history and biblical events. 
Our first stop was the Upper Room--outside we read a portion of John 17 where Jesus prays for us, our unity and our communion with Jesus and the Father. We were inspired by the six churches that cannot agree at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre--why can't we get the one thing Jesus prayed for us right? This is also the location of Pentecost for the disciples--recieving the Holy Spirit to empower them to live out what Jesus had called them to.
We entered David's Tomb where men entered to the right and women to the left, and watched men rock and pray, fervently crying out to God.
We walked Hezekiah's tunnel which was built from two ends and met up in the same location. So much has been excavated of the tunnels and waterways thousands of years old.
At the bottom was a surprise: the pools of Siloam. In ancient times the road to the temple passed by the pools, where people would stop and be purified on their way. This is where Jesus healed the man blind from birth. We read the great story where they questioned the parents to see if they knew him, or if this was really their son. "All I know," he says, "is I was blind but now I see." Jesus uses the miracle to speak to spiritual blindness. Who are the blind? Who can really see?
We took taxi vans up to the Davidson Center where we toured the Temple walls, the ancient road along the southwestern wall of the Temple, and the Temple Steps. There are few places we can say with certainty that Jesus walked and he was there as a child, at festivals throughout his life, and of course his last visit to Jerusalem. He used the temple to teach about access to God, his own body, and Paul tells us we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He's our high priest, the lamb of God, and he gives us access to the Holy of Holies. He washes us clean and purifies us, and we can approach the throne of grace with confidence. We sat there on the temple steps singing "There is a Redeemer."
We ended our day at the Western Walls, "whaling wall," where faithful men and women pray (separately because of the distraction). Later that night we walked the tour of the Western Wall Tunnel where they have excavated the location closest to the Holy of Holies--with just a few women praying inches from the wall.
It's overwhelming being in Jerusalem. So much to see and relate to our faith in Jerusalem. What a privilege to be here.

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