|
 |
|
 |
|
David was no crybaby. He had courage,
audacity and vision. Yet, when he was
in deep distress, he wasn't ashamed to shed
tears. When David fled Jerusalem in
the wake of the revolt of his son Absalom,
David ascended the Mount of Olives, weeping
as he went, barefoot with his head covered.
"And all the people who were with him
covered their heads and went up, weeping as
they went up." (Second Samuel 15:30) |
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
The Mount of Olives today
with Dominus Flevit (the Lord wept) in the
center |
|
|
The revolt fizzled when Absalom's long curly
locks got caught in a terebinth tree as his
mule pranced forward. David's major
general Joab finished him off by hurling a
spear through his heart. When David
heard the news he wept once again, crying "O
my son Absalom – my son, my son Absalom. If
only I had died in your place! O Absalom my
son, my son!" |
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
Absalom's Tomb in the
Kidron Valley below the Mount of Olives |
|
|
|
Roughly one thousand years later, Jesus made
a triumphant entry into Jerusalem along the
very same route of David's retreat. As
Biblical geographer Jay Baggett puts it,
"Whereas David's journey on this section of
road had been marked by widespread weeping,
heads covered in sorrow, robes and cloaks
torn in grief, Jesus' followers were
exuberant, lining the roadway with their
cloaks and palm branches – making a smooth
path so unlike the one the barefoot David
walked." |
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
Palm branches on a tree
grown from a 2,000-year-old date pit |
|
|
|
And the boisterous crowds shouted, "Hosanna
to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the
highest heaven!" (Matthew 21:9)
Hosanna, or in Hebrew, Hoshiya Na
means "deliver us." The cheering
crowds were greeting Jesus as King and
Redeemer. |
|
|
|
In the midst of this pandemonium, probably
midway down the mount, Jesus stopped and
looked at the city. Before him was a
tall gleaming white marble sanctuary topped
by gold spikes (to keep the pigeons from
littering), anchored in the largest temple
plaza of the ancient world. |
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
Model of the Second Temple
courtyard and sanctuary |
|
|
|
Then Jesus wept. In a dirge that mirrored
David's for his rebellious murdered son,
Jesus cried, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…" (Matthew
23:37) |
|
|
|
We remember this event at the modern chapel
of Dominus Flevit (meaning "the Lord wept")
on the Mount of Olives. The church,
built in 1954, was designed by an Italian
architect in the shape of a teardrop. |
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
Church of Dominus Flevit
on the Mount of Olives |
|
|
|
On the four corners supporting the dome, the
architect put sculpted urns to catch the
teardrops. Tear bottles were fairly common
in Rome around the first century AD. Female
mourners filled small glass bottles up to
four inches in height with tears and placed
them in burial tombs as symbols of respect
for the deceased. |
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
Ancient Roman "tear
bottles" about to be examined by a
prospective buyer |
|
|
|
Sometimes women were even paid to cry into
these glass vessels, as they walked along
the mourning procession. Those crying the
loudest with the most tears received the
most compensation, or so legend goes. The
more anguish and tears produced, the more
important and valued the deceased person was
perceived to be. |
|
|
|
As Jesus approached the city, he wept,
saying, "If you had known, even you,
especially in this your day, the things that
make for your peace! But now they are hidden
from your eyes. For days will come upon you
when your enemies will build an embankment
around you, surround you and close you in on
every side….: (Luke 19:41+) |
|
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
The green arrows above and
below show the descent on "Palm Sunday Road" |
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
The traditional Palm
Sunday Road passes by Dominus Flevit |
|
|
|
In this case Jesus followed David's
footsteps in reverse. David fled the city in
defeat, whereas Jesus entered the city in
triumph. Jesus (and his followers)
remembered David's first triumph in
Jerusalem, that is, David conquered the city
despite the taunts of the Jebusites who
shouted "You shall not come in here, for the
blind and the lame will repel you." (Second
Samuel 5:6) It is not a coincidence that
when Jesus entered Jerusalem; he made a
point to heal specifically the lame and also
the blind. |
|
|
|
When you come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem –
don't put it off! -- be sure to descend the
Mount of Olives where Jesus wept over the
city. And we'll sing on "Palm Sunday Road"
where the crowds cheered Hosanna.to the son
of David. |
|
|
|
Copyright 2016 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
|
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
View onto Jerusalem from
Dominus Flevit |
|
|
|
"Let's
rejoice where Jesus wept" (as text
without the photos) is one in the series of
free bimonthly e-letters sent on request to
tour leaders, pastors, clergy, teachers,
Bible students, colleagues and friends.
If you'd like to receive "Holy Sites: Gila's
Highlights" please
contact
Gila. |
|
|
|
Postscript from Robert Miller from
Gorebridge, Scotland: |
|
|
|
Just a little note of thanks for your
article on Jesus weeping over the city of
Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) I have
always linked the incident of David crossing
the brook Kidron, weeping as he went as he
fled from Absalom with the verse in
Hebrews 5:7 “who in the days of his
flesh, offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto him that
was able to save him from death, and was
heard in that he feared” as the experience
of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.
Likewise Jesus had left the upper room
and crossed the brook Kidron before entering
the garden. David was fleeing from an
erring son, but Jesus as God’s son “being
obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross.” (Philippians 2:8) That
being the case it is interesting that all
the recorded tears of Jesus were on the
Mount of Olives, at the grave of Lazarus in
Bethany (John 11), the one you refer
to at Dominus Flevit (Luke 19) and
Gethsemane (Hebrews 5). |
|
|
