Day 14: “This is a Covenant Poured Out in My Blood”

We started the day at the City of David, which was formerly Jebus. From Joshua to David, Israel conquered all the cities within the Promised Land except Jebus, because it was a well-fortified city on a hill. The Jebusites were arrogant about their stronghold, so much so that they taunted David.

“And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, ‘You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off’—thinking, ‘David cannot come in here.’” – 2 Samuel 5:6

David found a way into the sewer to conquer the Jebusites, and he took the city for himself. Later, he donated this city, Jerusalem, to become the capital of Judah. Jesus’s two recorded miracles in Jerusalem – healing a blind man, then a lame man – would have furthered His case in people’s mind that He was the Son of David.

We then went to Hezekiah’s Tunnel, which is the ¾ mile tunnel that connects the underground spring outside of Jerusalem into the city at the Pool of Siloam. Hezekiah’s men built this tunnel (2 Kings 20:20) and buried it before the Assyrians attacked to make sure the Israelites had a protected water supply.

Though it was a miracle that the two sides of digging met to connect the tunnel, it appears that God had already protected the Israelites. As Sennacherib of Assyria was encamped around Jerusalem, God struck down over half of the Assyrian army in one night. Then, Sennacherib fled back to Assyria.

We spent the rest of our day next to the Temple Mount, which is the site of the original Temple to God on Mt. Moriah. This is also a holy site for Muslims, because Mohammed is said to have taken a “night flight” to heaven from this spot. This area is in constant religious and political turmoil between Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

When God called the Hebrews to Israel, Solomon built a Temple to God, which God’s glory lived in until the Babylonians conquered it in 563 BC. The Israelites spent 70 years in Babylon, and then some were allowed to return to Israel. Under Zerubabel, Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt the Temple at the same location.

Fifty years before Jesus was born, the Temple had been expanded by Herod the Great to include a “mount” so that Mt. Moriah would be “flattened” and more people could worship in the Temple courts. All of the original Temple Mount stones were cut by priests at a quarry off-site, because they did not want to disrespect God with the sound of hammers.

Every stone was cut to fit an exact spot, and these stones were huge. The lower stones weighed as much as 24 tons. This was an incredible feat of construction, and to this day no one knows how they were able to carve with such precision and move such large stones this far.

Shavuot (“Weeks”) is the Jewish celebration of Moses receiving the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. Every year, the Israelites would read passages from Exodus, Habakkuk, and Ezekiel about how God’s presence is symbolized by fire, wind, and thunder. Then, the book of Ruth would be read to illustrate that God presence is shown by His people in how they care about the poor.

Not coincidentally, God chose Shavuot (Greek: “Pentecost”) to be the day He gave His Holy Spirit to followers of Jesus. There was a sound of thunder, and wind filled the Temple (called the “House” in Luke 24:53), then tongues of fire came on the heads of the disciples. This must have been an impressive picture of God’s presence to those standing nearby.

Near the Temple, 48 mikvehs (“ritual cleansing baths”) have been found to date. Everyone who entered the Temple would have had to cleanse themselves in “living water” to be pure before God. When the Spirit of God came out of the Temple on Shavuot, the 3000 people that committed to following Jesus would have used these mikvehs to be baptized.

Further, the number of the church was added to everyday because Jesus’s followers cared for each other’s practical needs. This was always the mission of God’s people, and caring for the weak, poor, and oppressed is a sign of God’s presence.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers … all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the Temple together … they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:42-47

RVL pointed out that God has chosen the main Jewish festivals as landmark events for His people, and especially Jesus. Jesus was killed on Passover (Israel’s redemption from slavery), buried on the Festival of Unleavened Bread (people prayed for bread from Heaven), and raised on the Festival of the First Fruits (dedicate first of the harvest). Jesus was (likely) born on Festival of Tabernacles (remember the 40 years in Israel where people lived in tents).

It is said that Jesus will probably return again on the Festival of Trumpets (celebrate the creation of Adam and Eve and the new year). In this case, He will judge the world on the Day of Atonement (judgment day). It is amazing to think that God’s sovereignty can set up time in this way so far in advance.

We then looked at the Sadducees, our last of the Jewish groups during the time of Jesus. When the Israelites came back from the Babylonian captivity, Tzadok of Aaron’s lineage was chosen as high priest. For the next 500 years, Tzadok’s line were high priests of Israel (plural Tzadokim). An English transliteration of this word is “Sadducee”, so we call this group the Sadducees.

By the time of Jesus, the Romans owned the Sadducees. Every year the high priest position was up for bribes, and seven Tzadok families controlled the high priesthood during Roman period in Israel (63 BC to 67 AD). They were known as mafia families and made their money by corrupt Temple merchant practices.

Jesus’s first action when entering Jerusalem was to turn over the tables of these corrupt merchants. He also would have (likely) lightly hit their faces with his tzitzit (called “cords” in Luke) as was the typical rabbinic practice to say that God will no longer protect you on account of your corruption.

Jesus threatened their corrupt economy, so the Sadducees had to get rid of Him. They (illegally) arrested Him and had a fake tribunal on a trumped up charge of Jesus being a zealot. We saw what was (likely) the high priest Anus’s house – where Jesus was arrested and brought to – and the house was extremely lavish for that era.

We saw the (likely) spot where Peter denied Jesus and Jesus and Peter’s eyes met. Peter was scared that identifying with Jesus would get him killed so he denied that he knew Jesus. The Sadducees were scared that Jesus would destroy their wealth, so they were trying to kill Jesus.

Jesus said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven” – Matthew 19:24. The kingdom of heaven is doing God’s mission here on earth, and because the Sadducees were consumed with living a “good life” they didn’t have time, nor did they care to, join that mission.

This moment really hit home for everyone. We live in the same Hellenistic world that attracted the Sadducees. We chase money, pleasure, power, and fame. How much of our lives are we living for what our “eyes” want (like Adam and Eve did) rather than what our ears hear (God’s word)?

We talked during this trip about fulfilling God’s mission of bringing Shalom to the Chaos of this world. But bringing Shalom to an evil world will have a cost to anyone who wants to join God’s mission. This is why Jesus asked people to count the cost of discipleship. Are we willing to join God’s mission in spite of resistance from evil?

We concluded out trip by having a communion together to answer the previous question. When Jesus told the disciples (Luke 22:20), “This is a covenant poured out in my blood,” they probably would have looked at him astonished. This was the same language a man would use to ask his potential wife to marry him.

Jesus was inviting his disciples – and every future generation of His followers – into a marriage covenantal relationship with him. This is the same marriage covenant that God invited the people of Israel to join on Mt. Sinai. Are we willing to follow God at any cost? Many in the audience answered “yes” to this question by publicly making a renewed commitment to God and drinking a shared cup of wine.

In the evening, we went out for our first dinner together at a restaurant since we have been in Israel at an Arab restaurant. We got to share our “Top 10” lists with each other, which were hilarious. Then we went back to the hotel to share our highlights of the trip. Being with RVL and this group for 14 days has been life changing. I believe that many of us will never be the same.