One of the most popular posts on Apricots Today is The Christmas Story: In Real Life. In our many trips to Israel while living in the Middle East, we took a vast collection of pictures relating to the Easter story as well. Enjoy this modern day walk through the Easter events.
{scripture taken from The Message}
The Royal Welcome {Matthew 21:1-11}
When
they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives,
Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the
village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt
with her. Untie her and bring them to me.
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| Donkeys can still be seen today on streets in the cities and villages. |
The
disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the
donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus
mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on
the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the
trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds
followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed
is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”
 |
| Palm trees cover the landscape today as well. |
The Last Supper {Matthew 26:17-19, 26-30}
On the first of
the Days of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said,
“Where do you want us to prepare your Passover meal?”
He
said, “Enter the city. Go up to a certain man and say, ‘The Teacher
says, My time is near. I and my disciples plan to celebrate the Passover
meal at your house.’” The disciples followed Jesus’ instructions to the
letter, and prepared the Passover meal.
 |
| Church built on the site of the Last Supper location. |
During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:
Take, eat.
This is my body.
This is my body.
Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:
Drink this, all of you.
This is my blood,
God’s new covenant poured out for many people
for the forgiveness of sins.
This is my blood,
God’s new covenant poured out for many people
for the forgiveness of sins.
“I’ll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I’ll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father.”
 |
| Last Supper, 1896 work by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret |
They sang a hymn and went directly to Mount Olives.
 |
| Standing near the Last Supper site looking toward the Mt. of Olives. Tombs of the Prophets are on the bottom right. The golden domes on the hill are the Russian Chapel of the Ascension. |
Gethsemane {Matthew 26: 36-39}
Then
Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his
disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow.
Then he said, “This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep
vigil with me.”
Going
a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, “My Father, if there is
any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?”
 |
| The garden of Gethsemane where some olive trees are estimated to be 2000 years old. |
The Crucifixion {Matthew 27:27-56}
The
soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor’s palace
and got the entire brigade together for some fun. They stripped him and
dressed him in a red toga. They plaited a crown from branches of a
thornbush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for
a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: “Bravo,
King of the Jews!” they said. “Bravo!” Then they spit on him and hit him
on the head with the stick. When they had had their fun, they took off
the toga and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to
the crucifixion.
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| The Chapel of Flagellation believed to be where Jesus was handed the cross and flogged. |
Along
the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry
Jesus’ cross.
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| The corner on the Via Dolorosa (The Way of Sorrows) where Simon took the cross. |
Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call “Skull Hill,”
they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but
when he tasted it he wouldn’t drink it.
 |
| You can see the skull in the side of the hill outside the city walls today. This hill is behind a modern day bus depot! |
After
they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to
die, they whiled away the time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above
his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right,
the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking
their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the
Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save
yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”
The
high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right
there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun
at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel, is he?
Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers
then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he
wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?” Even the two
criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.
From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around midafternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
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| Religious scholars spend time studying near the site of the Temple today. |
From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around midafternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Some
bystanders who heard him said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them
ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he
could drink. The others joked, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s see if
Elijah comes and saves him.”
But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
At
that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There
was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What’s more, tombs
were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were
raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the
holy city, and appeared to many.)
 |
| Tombs surrounding the old city. Temple Mount in the background. |
The
captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake
and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said,
“This has to be the Son of God!”
There
were also quite a few women watching from a distance, women who had
followed Jesus from Galilee in order to serve him. Among them were Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the
Zebedee brothers.
The Tomb {Matthew 27:57-66}
Late
in the afternoon a wealthy man from Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus,
arrived. His name was Joseph. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’
body. Pilate granted his request. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in
clean linens, put it in his own tomb, a new tomb only recently cut into
the rock, and rolled a large stone across the entrance. Then he went
off.
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| Traditional tomb stone used to roll in front of tombs that are cut into the side of the rocky hills. |
But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed, sitting in plain view
of the tomb. After
sundown, the high priests and Pharisees arranged a meeting with Pilate.
They said, “Sir, we just remembered that that liar announced while he
was still alive, ‘After three days I will be raised.’ We’ve got to get
that tomb sealed until the third day. There’s a good chance his
disciples will come and steal the corpse and then go around saying,
‘He’s risen from the dead.’ Then we’ll be worse off than before, the
final deceit surpassing the first.”
Pilate
told them, “You will have a guard. Go ahead and secure it the best you
can.” So they went out and secured the tomb, sealing the stone and
posting guards.
Risen from the Dead {Matthew 28:1-7}
After
the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth
reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven,
came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and
then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments
shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They
were so frightened, they couldn’t move.
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| The Garden Tomb just outside the city walls - one of the possible sites of Jesus' burial. |
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| The other possible burial site - memorialized inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. |
The
angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re
looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He
was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was
placed.
“Now,
get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He is risen from the
dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’
That’s the message.”
Happy Easter!
(Just for perspective. The pots are stacked to the ceiling in a store with 15 foot ceilings.)
