Editors' Note: Maurine and I recently returned from spending two weeks on Lehi's Trail, traveling from Jerusalem to the Arabian Sea. We took 42 other intrepid travelers with us and relished every moment of the journey together. We will be going to Jerusalem again in the spring. We would love to have you join us. Click here for more information.
When you can only spend two days in Jerusalem, what sites do you plan to visit? One place is for certain: The Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. The following are about twenty of my favorite pictures I took there just two weeks ago. The text is taken from the scriptures, Elder Bruce R. McConkie's last testimony in General Conference, a vision of Elder Orson F. Whitney of the Twelve, hymns, and our own writings. Please click on each picture to enlarge and enjoy it more fully.
Jesus and his disciples had finished the Passover meal that night in the upper room—an upper room was in the ‘upper part' of the city of Jerusalem—an area for the wealthy. They sang together with the last cup, perhaps in a circle, as if offering a prayer. Then with whispered conversation they came out of the gate of the city, down the steep hill, and through this, the Kidron Valley, 1 surely passing by Absalom's Tomb (the cone shaped monument left center in the picture).
“And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane, which was a garden; and the disciples began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy, and to complain in their hearts, wondering if this be the Messiah .” 2
Elder Bruce R. McConkie gave his testimony: “I feel, and the Spirit seems to accord, that the most important doctrine I can declare, and the most powerful testimony I can bear, is of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or ever will occur from Creation's dawn through all the ages of a never-ending eternity.”
“It is the supreme act of goodness and grace that only a god could perform. Through it, all of the terms and conditions of the Father's eternal plan of salvation became operative. Through it are brought to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Through it, all men are saved from death, hell, the devil, and endless torment.”
“Two thousand years ago, outside Jerusalem's walls, there was a pleasant garden spot, Gethsemane by name, where Jesus and his intimate friends were wont to retire for pondering and prayer. There Jesus taught his disciples the doctrines of the kingdom, and all of them communed with Him who is the Father of us all, in whose ministry they were engaged, and on whose errand they served.”
“This sacred spot, like Eden where Adam dwelt, like Sinai from whence Jehovah gave his laws, like Calvary where the Son of God gave his life a ransom for many, this holy ground is where the Sinless Son of the Everlasting Father took upon himself the sins of all men on condition of repentance.”
“We do not know, we cannot tell, no mortal mind can conceive the full import of what Christ did in Gethsemane. We know he sweat great gouts of blood from every pore as he drained the dregs of that bitter cup his Father had given him. We know he suffered, both body and spirit, more than it is possible for man to suffer, except it be unto death.”
“We know that in some way, incomprehensible to us, his suffering satisfied the demands of justice, ransomed penitent souls from the pains and penalties of sin, and made mercy available to those who believe in his holy name. We know that he lay prostrate upon the ground as the pains and agonies of an infinite burden caused him to tremble and would that he might not drink the bitter cup.”
“We know that an angel came from the courts of glory to strengthen him in his ordeal, and we suppose it was mighty Michael, who foremost fell that mortal man might be. As near as we can judge, these infinite agonies—this suffering beyond compare—continued for some three or four hours. After this—his body then wrenched and drained of strength—he confronted Judas and the other incarnate devils, some from the very Sanhedrin itself; and he was led away with a rope around his neck, as a common criminal…” 3
Click here to go to Part 2 of The Garden of Gethsemane—An Intimate Visit
