Following Jesus in Jerusalem #15: The Garden of Gethsemane

shalom and welcome to another vlog by danny the digger and this time i'm at the entry to one of the most significant sights in the narrative of jesus in jerusalem this is the garden of gethsemane let's get right into it so this is one of the most famous landmarks of jerusalem one of the most popular places that every christian pilgrim coming to jerusalem will visit the garden of gethsemane a garden that to this day holds quite a few olive trees some of them are centuries old look at the trunk of this olive tree as well as [Music] this one in fact in this case the trunk split and there's a stone support to keep it from falling as it is such an old olive tree by local tradition these olive trees go back to the time of jesus they are 2 000 years old tree experts that i've consulted with have said that this is let's say a bit unlikely but they do say that they are the oldest olive trees known from the mountains of jerusalem some said that they date to the ottoman period and others suggested they even go back to the time of the crusaders one finger is for sure they are the oldest olive trees in this region and you could say that these are descendants of the olive trees that stood here in the time of jesus and yes we are at the foothill of mount of olives so it makes sense that there would be olive trees here and the name gethsemane means the place of gat the olive press stepping site so the name of the site suggests that this was actually an olive press an industrial area so fitting for a place like mount of olives but if this was an olive press can archaeology provide any evidence and the answer is yes wait and see but then on the other hand if there was an olive press here how could this be available for jesus and the disciples after the last supper after all an industrial area is not somewhere where you can take a nap yes the garden of gethsemane we are told by all the gospels was used by jesus and the disciples after that famous last supper after that satyr night a long evening with four cups of wine and unleavened bread jesus of course giving it a new meaning but then they decide not to return to bethany the place where he usually stays but actually just cross over exit the old city indeed and let me tilt the camera so you can see the old city it's right there right under the sun is the eastern wall of uh the old city of jerusalem in fact you can see the little top of the dome of the rock the place where the jewish temple used to be right behind these walls so after the last supper they come out of the old city but instead of going all the way to bethany where he usually stays they decide to spend the night in the garden of gethsemane and needless to say this is such an important holy christian site that this beautiful shrine completed in 1925 is indeed an appropriate structure to mark this location and the events that it witnessed this site is called the church of all nations designed by the renowned italian architect that the franciscans hired for many projects his name was antonio berluzzi and it is built over remains of a crusader era church which is built over the remains of the byzantine era church which is built over the rock believed to be the place where jesus expressed his sorrow his agony as he was about to be captured here's a map showing it all the garden of gethsemane the rock of agony and the set of churches built over it the current one is following the alignment of the byzantine church and the site where the disciples waited for jesus when he went to the rock of agony said to be a stone throw away that site is identified here the glotto of gethsemane the cave of gethsemane and the olive press itself but the olive press site the cave is not open in the afternoon for this you will have to wait for my next chapter but the church of all nations over the rock of agony is open and accessible it looks so beautiful especially in the afternoon light in fact before going in i would like to show you the facade in a proper way because this is such a brilliant design by barluzzi here we go i'm actually experimenting and filming for the first time now when the camera is constantly mounted to a tripod it's a bit less easy to operate it but then you can simply hold it wherever you want of course there is a slight problem that you need to be able to tilt it here we go look at this beautiful facade showing you an image of jesus and the father and the angels in the middle and people both the poor and the rich approaching him them for salvation people on the right include also mary and martha holding the dead body of lazarus a miracle that jesus performed healing him resurrecting him in bethany which is over the edge of a mount of olives and in the front you can see four standing figures with an open book these are matthew mark luke and john all of the gospels record the following events after the last supper jesus and the disciples decide to head out of the city and according to the gospel of john we are told specifically that they crossed the kidron and entered a garden and while they were arranging themselves there jesus asked to go by himself but he told them sustained stay awake with me a message that is delivered to christians to this day stay awake not just in the physical way also in the spiritual way but as you probably know each time he came back he found them sound asleep and let's now enter the church itself whose interior is another architectural masterpiece here we go dimmed light enters the church on daily basis a deliberate design by berlutzi let me switch the camera ah that's better dim light enters this church to echo the night in which the disciples and jesus retreat to the site and then jesus goes by himself addressing the lord please pass this cup away from me a bit of a surprising message coming from the son of god who's supposed to be following the divine sequence of events so scholars suggest this is the earthly jesus expressing his fear from the pain he's about to witness so on the top you have the mosaic world presenting the cry of jesus to the heavens but the angel comforting him as it's all meant to be and beneath hold on let me stabilize myself here here it is the rock of agony itself big natural rock a bit scarred from chips that pilgrims took from it in the past but said to be the place where jesus expresses agony but let me see if i can find here an english version so i can read it to you then jesus went with them to a place called gethsemane he said to his disciples stay here while i go over there and pray he took along peter and zebedee two sons and began to experience sorrow and distress then he said to them my heart is nearly broken with sorrow remain here and stay awake with me he advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer by father if it is possible let this cup pass me by still let it be as you would have it not his eye when he returned to his disciples he found them asleep he said to peter so you could not stay awake with me for even an hour be on guard and pray that you may not undergo trial the spirit is willing but the nature is weak and he repeated this and again found peter and the disciples asleep but after his third return another disciple approached him and that is presented in the image here on the left first of all actually here's the image on the right that is presenting jesus returning and being upset at the week in flesh and in spirit perhaps disciples that they keep falling asleep and on the left is the image of one of the disciples that will mark him to the priests who have been looking after him for a while yes the priests which were blamed by jesus of being corrupted and he was right they were corrupted even the mishnah admits this they are eager to capture him get him off the streets and it will be judas iscariot who will come and kiss him the kiss of betray as it is known and jesus will be taken from here and back to jerusalem back into the city but this time as a prisoner is an inmate interrogated by the high priest and the sanhedrin and then handed over to pilatus for trial this site will never be mentioned again in the gospels and it will probably be forgotten in general after the destruction of the city by the romans 300 years later when christianity becomes the religion of the roman empire this site is identified sanctified and the first church is built over it the remains of the mosaic floor of that church can should be visible right here i know it's very hard to see it but the modern church oh here are more remains of that church there we go but what's nice is that the modern church the berlutzi church is also replicating these geometric patterns paying tribute to the first church that was built here and yes there was a church here in the byzantine period again in the crusader times and in 1925 i believe the current modern church was built completed echoing so remarkably the event both by the dim light and also let me try and [Music] tilt to the top so you can see how lutzy designed the ceiling to look like a starry night and even branches of olive trees can be seen there but you may notice also the flag of france the american eagle excuse me over here as well as the german eagle this church is called the church of all nations as it was really built by donations of different countries or should i say by donations are different catholic communities of different countries that provided to build this but as an archaeologist can we confirm that this is really the rock of agony if someone sits on a rock and cries archaeology wouldn't detect anything however if the site is called the garden of gethsemane meaning the garden of the olive press olive press is something that archaeology can detect and we do have some clues for the existence in the past of an older press here and that's at the next site so here we go i must say the experiment with this tripod is working pretty good as it enables me to stop at various locations and just talk to the camera [Music] yes quite a few people have commented that they would like to see me also in front of the camera not just the voice in the back so you see i'm listening to your comments i love your comments by the way please feel free to comment and give me feedback it warms my heart to see that people are listening are appreciating my gained experience over these sites now here's a nice anecdote a few actually first of all what if you're not catholic and you still want to visit this site what if you're i don't know protestant or ethiopian or greek you want to visit the the site the rock of agony but without going into a catholic church yes there are some people that objected that well here is the alternative rock of agony believe it or not and when you have pilgrims here you can often see some of them kneeling and crying over this rock this bedrock because between us how can you tell if that's the place or this is the place both are about a stone throw away both are valid candidates and some people prefer to sanctify this rock is the place of this event another interesting anecdote is the young olive tree over here let me zoom in can you read it olivo piantato da e santo santo paolo the six this is of course an indication that this specific olive tree is rather young platinum in 1964 but by a very specific person by paul vi yes in 1964 for the first time ever or should i say for the first time since the days of peter was considered as the first pope by the catholic church only 2 000 years later a pope will again visit the holy land and it will be paul six who will set the precedent yes not in the byzantine period not in the time of the crusaders never before paul vi did any single pope care to actually come to the holy land and see the land where his faith comes from so that tree was planted by him and he said the president that all the uh other popes would follow uh john paul ii benedictus and in 2014 you see here the sign of pope who planted that little olive tree it still has to grow on may 26 2014 okay and it seems that every pope nowadays also comes to the holy land it's of course a big blessing it shows to the christian catholic world and in general to the christian world that israel is safe and welcoming the christians and if i may add when franciscus came he also shook hands with no not with me not with me although one of my colleagues and friends at south salomon was his guide at the western wall but he actually shook hands with my um brother-in-law my sister is married to a professor of agriculture at the vulcan institute and they developed a new type of wheat which they named after him hold on hold on of course i'm mixing up francisco's with benedictus it was benedictus who shook hands with professor itamar glaser professor of agriculture and my relative through marriage and of course he was very excited about the fact that the pope shook his hand which of course for us is jews well he's an important person but he's not a saint he's not sacred he said if only a catholic person would be shaking his hand he would be so much more excited than i was he was still excited to tell that story now this is of course the garden of gethsemane and the rock of agony but where is the grotto where is the cave of the olive press let's step out and i know it's not open but i want to show you how it's linked and how it fits the distance okay the new testament tells us it was a stone throw away and indeed if you put the cave and the rock on a map they are about a stone throw away isn't it funny that in the middle east you say that something is a stone throw away in distance [Music] some people like throwing a lot of stones here okay um here is a two mark of a muslim historian of the 15th century mujiradin who just happens to be in the vicinity of gethsemane [Music] not only the garden and the grotto but also next to this beautiful site which is unfortunately also closed it's called the tomb of mary yes did you know mary was buried here well the new testament doesn't say so but there are traditions about her fate [Music] whether she really died or just fell asleep was she taken up to the heavens or not and where did all of this happen this will definitely be another topic i could cover but we are now on a different mission looking for the grotto and there it is it is indeed underground it is indeed the grotto [Music] it is also maintained by the franciscans [Music] and although the sign says that it's also open in the afternoon that's not the case when you have a raging pandemic this is recorded doing the omicron infection wave but hopefully within a month or so hopefully god willing literally god willing uh this will all be behind us and sites will be open on full basis i mean the sites are still open but just unlimited hours and people could visit and tomorrow morning when it will be open i will complete the journey the quest for the garden of gethsemane showing you what the grotto where the disciples fell asleep looked like and especially the archaeological testimony that you know proof is maybe very too strong of a word but provides very significant evidence to the understanding that there was an olive press here so stay tuned and of course subscribe like if you want to keep notified of uh my next vlogs and if you're in a generous mood almost two years with no work i'm really low on financial means and i could really use a proper audio as well as a better phone with better memory and better uh battery it is what it is but when there's a wheel there's a way i hope you've all enjoyed it stay tuned for the next chapter because the best is yet to come later [Music]

Channel: Danny The Digger / Tour Guide Israel

Views: 20,024

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Id: KCK9MVcdT8M

Length: 23min 17sec (1397 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 25 2022