Gethsemane

Well, friends, today we continue on our journey in Israel.  

I have been waiting to post this because I wanted to add some wonderful videos I took inside the Church of All Nations and also of one of our professors talking about this area, but I cannot figure out how to put the videos from my phone onto my computer.  :(  If anyone knows how this feat can be accomplished, I am open to your help! :)  

Our next stop was the Garden of Gethsemane

One key piece of information I learned on this trip was that a gethsemane is an olive press.  Here in the same place where the olives were pressed in a thorough and difficult process to become oil, Jesus prayed to His Father, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want." Matthew 26:39 NRSV

Considering the suffering Christ went through on our behalf, makes the idea of the olive press even more of a fitting setting.

This view is of the City of David

This rock is one Jesus may have fallen on during his time in Gethsemane.

Today, the Church of All Nations rests on this spot.  These are the beautiful columns outside the front.

Carving above the door.

One of the gorgeous stained glass windows

The interior of the church at the front.

Stunning ceiling 

Closeup of some of the beautiful artwork on the ceiling.

Artwork

Beautiful dome ceiling

Another view of the fresco at the front of the church

Another image depicting Judas' betrayal of Christ.

Closeup of the dome ceiling

A crown of thorns encircles a rock at the front of the church.  Perhaps this rock is another traditional site where Christ may have fallen and prayed.

The architecture inside was magnificent.

These olive trees are very old and may have been there at the time of Christ.

Exterior of the church

More olive trees

The Jerusalem cross

This cross can symbolize many things, including Christ in the center and the four gospels surrounding him or Jerusalem in the center and the four corners of the earth where the gospel was sent.

A view of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem

A view of the Church of All Nations from the Jerusalem city wall.