During our Footsteps of Jesus Pilgrimage Day Two and Day Three, we needed a primer about the groups who were active during the 1st century.

The 1^st century world of Jesus was filled with a diversity of people and groups:

1. Romans, who ultimately ruled the land and demanded taxes.
2. Herodians, who served as local “Puppet Kings” for the Romans, and extracted massive taxes to build fortress palaces.  Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple Mount and Jewish Temple.
3. Jewish Zealots, who fought against the Romans and their taxes. Seen as “Nationalists” or “Terrorists” depending on who is telling the story.
4. Sadducees, who had power over Temple life, but didn’t believe in the resurrection and didn’t know scripture well.
5. Pharisees, who had power over synagogues and people’s lives as they enforced strict adherence to Biblical law and their “oral interpretations” of the law.
6. Chief Priests, who helped oversee the Temple and the sacrificial system.
7. Sanhedrin, the 70 men who formed the religious and legal ruling council headed by the “High Priest.”
8. Essenes, who disagreed with the Chief Priests, moved to the desert settlement of Qumran to live an ascetic life of ritual purity. They spent time copying Biblical and other sacred texts. It was this community that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. John the Baptist may have come from this group before he started baptizing people in the Jordan River.

With Pastor Bob’s help, we learned about these people groups.   This allowed us to wade into the city of Jerusalem and Judean Wilderness areas with a greater appreciation for the life and times of Jesus.

Close up of the 1st Century Temple Mount, expanded and built by Herod the Great, in the Jerusalem model at the Israel Museum:

Day Two on the Footsteps of Jesus Experience: We began exploring Jesus’ World by visiting Herod’s massive Temple Mount, hiking down through the Kidron Valley and climbing the Mount of Olives. We then returned within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem for a delicious lunch and a visit to the Jerusalem Museum. After dinner we ventured out for an evening visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and now are heading to bed, happily tired. Tomorrow we continue exploring Jesus’ World with a trip to the Dead Sea… #footsteps (Bob Rognlien Facebook Post)

Temple Mount

Two of the striking things you’ll currently see on the Temple mount is the Dome of the Rock and the El-Aqsa Mosque, both important sites to the Muslim faith.  Here is a view from the Southwest corner of the Temple Mount.  The gold covered Dome of the Rock is on the left, and El-Aqsa is the lead covered Dome on the right.  When I visited the Temple Mount in the 1990’s we were still able to go inside the Dome and the Mosque, but both have been closed to non-Muslims for security concerns.

When Israel captured Jerusalem in the 6-day war of 1967, they wisely stopped at the Temple Mount. If they had entered that sacred area it could have led to war with all Muslim countries.

Controversially, there are radical right-wing Jewish groups who want to reestablish the Jewish Temple and the sacrificial system. They have all the religious furniture as described in the Bible for the Temple (including the golden oil lamp below) ready to go.  It is a provocative move to place this within view of the Temple Mount where only Muslim monuments currently exist.

As we made our way from the Old City of Jerusalem, we walked down into the Kidron Valley, and up to the Mount of Olives.

The view from the Mount of Olives looking toward the Old City:

Historical Lesson

Later, at the Jerusalem Museum (Tower of David), Pastor Bob gave us a great overview of the history of the land of Israel/Palestine and different people groups who have lived and ruled here. As you can see in the picture below, Israel/Palestine has always served as an important land bridge between the Southern Empire of Egypt, the Northern area of the Hittites/Ottoman Empires (Turkey), and the Easter Fertile Crescent Empires of the Assyrians and Babylonians:

Herod the Great, engaged in massive building projects in Jerusalem, connected his palace and towers to the Temple Mount. Herod expanded the Temple Mount to the size of 25 football fields (5 wide, 5 long), and built the Antonia Fortress on the Northwest corner of the Temple Mount. This allowed the Jews to worship at the Temple, and the Romans to continually oversee the area. You can see in the model below that Herod’s palace and towers are in the foreground, the Temple Mount in the distance on the right, and the Antonia Fortress in the distance on the left.

Pontius Pilate

After Jesus’ arrest in the garden of Gethsemine, the religious leaders who were looking to kill Jesus took him to Herod’s Palace where he was interrogated by Pontius Pilate. Normally at his headquarters in Caesarea Maritima, Pilate was in town for the Passover. At the Israel Museum we saw a limestone slab with Pilate’s name on it. Here we have direct evidence of the man who sentenced Jesus to be crucified.  A man who is remembered when Christian confess their faith using the words of the Apostles Creed: “(Jesus) suffered under Pontius Pilate.”  The inscription on the stone slab is the only object that has been found that bears his name. It was found reused in the staircase in the Roman theater in Caesarea, but was probably originally part of a temple for Tiberius.  In the inscription you can see the Latin names for “Tiberius” in the first line and “Pilate” in the second line:

Later in the day, we met up with our dear friend Lauren Brashears at the Lutheran Guest House. It was so good for our family to have a familiar face from home and someone who really knows our girls!

Day Three on the Footsteps of Jesus Experience: we headed into the desert where we continued exploring Jesus’ World by visiting Qumran (Essenes), Masada, (Herod, Zealots, Romans), and floating on the Dead Sea (fun)! A marathon in the Old City delayed our arrival for dinner, but this amazing group just rolled with it….awesome day! #footsteps (Bob Rognlien Facebook Post)

Qumran

The Essenes lived and worked in settlement called Qumran, far to the south of Jerusalem. We were surprised that anyone could survive out in this desert heat! When we visited it was close to 100 degrees. But the Essenes were able to bring water from the hills and store it in cisterns. When it did rain, they tried to collect every drop.  Here is a picture of Joy and Hope in front of one of the caves were the Dead Sea scrolls were found.  (Not pictured is the popsicle break we took shortly after — Did I mention it was HOT?!)

Thankfully, the Essenes worked worked diligently as scribes, preserving the Biblical books of the Old Testament on animal skins called vellum.  They hid these ancient scrolls in the hill caves around the community.

The dry desert environment preserved the scrolls, many of which are on display in the “Shrine of the Book” at the Israel Museum.  Here are Joy and Nicole outside the Shrine, which is built to look like the lid of one of the clay jars in which the scrolls were found.

Masada

When the Jewish revolt against the Romans started in AD 66, the Zealots had to seek ways to fight against the Romans in ways that would be effective. They were able to capture Herod’s desert fortress at Masada.

Masada has several unique features. It has natural cliffs on all sides, was reinforced with stone walls for protection and had food and water stores that could last for years. Herod had not only built himself a fortress for defense, but a lavish three level palace, a swimming pool, and other Roman baths.

Harmony, inside the Roman baths.

Bob pointing out the features of the three level palace on the cliffs of Masada (below).  Did we mention it was hot?! Notice everyone seeking the shade.

Here is a picture of Paula, Harmony and Pastor Bob in Herod’s Lower Palace at Masada.  The Roman frescos can still be seen on the walls behind them.

In AD 70, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were destroyed by the Romans. Masada was the only remaining Zealot camp, but Rome never left a job unfinished. The Roman legions set up stone walled camps in which to wage war against the Zealots. The ruins of those camps can be seen to today behind Lauren and Harmony:

To ultimately conquer Masada, the Romans had Jewish slaves build a siege ramp on one side of Masada – a massive undertaking.  The remains of the siege ramp can be seen on the bottom left and the Roman camp on the top right in the picture below.  Surprisingly, the Romans built a stone wall that entirely encircled Masada, preventing Zealots from sneaking out and getting supplies.

It took a battering ram to break through Masada’s defensives.   As the story goes, when the Romans broke through on April 16, AD 73, they found the remaining Zealots had committed suicide. They didn’t want to become Roman slaves.

Not only is Masada an unbelievable desert fortress, but you can see gorgeous views of the Dead Sea and the Judean Wilderness from Masada as seen below.  The lines in the picture are the cable car wires.  People can ride up and back in comfort, or take a daunting “snake path.”

The view is great, but nothing can compare to the fun of floating in the super salty Dead Sea! (see Post about the Dead Sea). After a long, hot day of learning about the extreme sects who sought shelter in the extreme desert, we couldn’t wait to get to the Dead Sea!