Just across the Kidron Valley to the east of Jerusalem is a long ridge called the Mount of Olives. Yes, it’s not a peak, which is what many of us think of when we hear the word “mount” or “mountain”. The Mount of Olives that we know from the New Testament is actually a ridge about two miles long with three small “peaks,” or hills. It rises a few hundred feet above the city and offers a spectacular view of Jerusalem, especially of the Old City and the Temple Mount.
The soil on the southern part of the ridge is less productive, so that area became the city’s cemetery. The northern parts are more fertile and contained commercial olive groves for many centuries in antiquity. Jewish tradition based on the Book of Zechariah holds that when the Messiah comes at the end of the age, he will appear on the Mount of Olives and the resurrection of the dead will begin. For this reason, burial on the Mount of Olives is highly desirable, and on parts of the hillside literally thousands of grave markers are visible.
The olive groves were a popular camping place for Jewish pilgrims during ancient feast times when the city became quite crowded and places to stay tripled in cost. As a Galilean, Jesus would have traveled to Jerusalem many times to observe the feasts and knew the Mount of Olives very well. Toward the northern end and just over the ridge to the east, the city of Bethany is located. Bethany was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, one of Jesus’ favorite places to visit. The town is less than a mile from Jerusalem, which one would reach by walking up the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives and then descending toward the valley and the city’s gates.
Because of the Mount of Olives’ close connection with the ministry of Jesus, Christian churches, chapels, and shrines have dotted the landscape for centuries. On the Mount of Olives, among other events, Jesus taught his disciples, wept over Jerusalem, rode into the city on a donkey to the cheers of the people, prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, was arrested, and ascended to heaven after his resurrection. Even by the sixth century, the Mount of Olives had at least twenty-four churches, some with monasteries.
On our Holy Land pilgrimages, we often walk together down the Mount of Olives from the top to the Garden of Gethsemane at the bottom. The journey is called the “Palm Sunday walk,” and it includes visits to several places associated with Jesus and his ministry. This is part of an especially meaningful day in Jerusalem for Christian groups. In my next several posts, I will introduce some of the key places that we visit along this walk, including the church called Dominus Flevit, the Pater Noster Church, the Church of All Nations (Basilica of Agony), and the Garden of Gethsemane itself. I’ll also mention the Chapel of the Ascension as another point of interest on the Mount of Olives.
As I write this, Palm Sunday is about six weeks away. Let’s take our own virtual Palm Sunday walk together as we approach the season in which Christ-followers around the world remember (and hopefully encounter) the events around which the Christian faith traditionally revolves—the suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus.
