Mount of Olives

Every first timer to Israel would be taken to the Mount of Olives to have a panoramic view of the city of Jerusalem. This is similar to viewing Kota Kinabalu city from the Signal Hill Observatory.

It is believed that Jesus, in his final journey to Jerusalem, paused at the Mount of Olives, looked across the Kidron Valley toward Jerusalem and wept over the city. There, he predicted: 

Quote - And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. for the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation." Unquote.

True to the prediction, the Romans invaded and besieged Jerusalem in AD70. The city was levelled and destroyed. The Temple was burnt to the ground.

Jerusalem, reckoned to be the most contested piece of real estate on earth has had a turbulent history. For over 3,500 years, it was attacked and plundered by many empires - the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Seljuk Turks, Crusaders and then the Ottoman Turks. 

In 1980, Israel annexed East Jerusalem which was then under the jurisdiction of Jordan and declared Jerusalem to be the unified capital of Israel. This declaration however has yet to be recognized by the United Nation.

From the Mount of Olives, we saw the Dome of the Rock erected on Mount Moriah which ironically is now the undisputed landmark of the city of Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock remains to these days as the key flash point of agitation and tension in this city reversed and deemed holy by three major religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The huge Jewish Cemetery at the southwest of Mount of Olives.

The Jewish Cemetery in the southwestern slope of the Mount of Olives is regarded as one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries. It contains between 70,000 and 150,000 graves and memorials. Herein interred the remains of rabbis, cultural figures, politicians, victims of terrorist attacks as well as Christians and individuals recognized as "Righteous among the Nations".  Princess Alice of Battenburg, mother of Prince Philip, the late husband of Queen Elizabeth II is one rare Christian buried there. For her role in sheltering Jewish refugees in Greece during the Second World War, she was recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" and allowed to be buried at the Mount of Olives. Oskar Schindler, a German made famous by Steven Spielberg's movie, "The Schinldler's List" is another individual recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" and allowed to be buried in Jerusalem. He too was credited for having saved at least 1,200 persecuted Jews (Read here).

Many chose Mount of Olives as their final resting place because of what Prophet Zachariah said in Zachariah 14: 4 - "On the day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south." They believed they will be the first ones to see Jesus when he comes back again!

At the Mount of Olives, we remembered the weeping of Jesus over Jerusalem and his prediction of the destruction of this city.

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There is a church built at the western slope of the Mount of Olives. This tear-shaped church called the Church of Dominus Flevit (Latin for "the Lord wept") was designed to commemorate Jesus' weeping over Jerusalem. There is a clear glass panel on one side of the wall which allows a clear panoramic view of Jerusalem to remind worshippers of Jesus looking down at this city. This design reminds me of the little Church of Good Shepherd in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand which we visited in March 2016 (Read here). The feeling evoked from the two scenes however is very different!

Congregation inside the Church can have a view of

Jerusalem through the glass panel.