Pentecost

The altar and front of the chapel festooned with red, the color of Pentecost

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4)

Fifty days after Easter, the disciples, the mother of Jesus, and other of "his brethren" had gathered in the upper room, waiting for the promised gift of the spirit.  Jerusalem was full of pilgrims who had come for the Jewish feast of Shavuot (Festival of Weeks or the Feast of the Ingathering).  The power of the Holy Ghost descended upon them, and the Church, in great measure, and they experienced the gift of tongues, that allowed them to preach Jesus crucified and resurrected in all the languages of the people who had come to the feast.

Ever since, many, of not most, Christian churches mark the Sunday that falls on the fiftieth day after Easter as Pentecost Sunday.  Many decorate their altars, churches, and often their vestments in red, reminiscent of the "flames of fire."  Readings come from Joel, from John 20 (where Jesus appears to the ten of the Eleven and "breathes the Holy Ghost on them), and of course from Acts 2, while sermons often treat the gifts of the spirit and themes such as unity in diversity.

The St. John chapel at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

In the LDS Church, that does not have a strong liturgical tradition, at least as far as the calendar and most public worship goes, Pentecost is not usually marked (though when I was a bishop, we always had sacrament meeting talks on subjects such as the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the gifts of the spirit, and the fruits of the spirit on that Sunday, and we tried to sing hymns such as "Thy Spirit Lord Has Filled Our Souls").  So today I was anxious to go down to one of the English-speaking congregations that I sometimes visit in the Old City to enjoy a Pentecost service (not necessarily a Pentecostal service, though I sometimes find those interesting, too).

Many of our students wanted to go, so I took a large group to the English-speaking congregation of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer while another group of students went with the Ludlows to the evangelical Anglican congregation at Christ Church.

Children joining Gloria Strickert at the end of the service

My friend Fred Stickert is the pastor of the English-speaking congregation, and I enjoyed the service and his sermon, as did the students.  I particularly enjoyed the good Lutheran hymns that fit the day, such as Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling," "Spirit of Gentleness," and "Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart."  Several of us participated with verses of Acts 2:1-21, and when the congregation was invited to join in the Prayers of the People, I rose and prayed for my mother and others facing serious illness,  ending with the traditional, and comforting, "Lord, in thy mercy...hear our prayer."

The students who joined me this morning for the Pentecost service at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

As much as I enjoyed worshiping with fellow Christians today, my strongest experiences this Pentecost have been as I reflect on the Gift of the Holy Ghost that I strive to enjoy each day and as I recognize the gifts of the spirit in my own life and faith community.  It is a wonderful thing to have God and his spirit in our lives.

Tombs of the Maccabees

There is always something new to see in the Holy Land.  Because we have been to standard fare of Old and New Testament sites multiple times (now going on the third time for each with students and then add a couple of more visits for many of them with visiting family and friends), some weeks we are using are faculty field trip prep time to go to new sites.

Today, for instance, we went to Modi`in, halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv near the Ayalon Valley.  This was the home of the famous Hasmonean Family and Dynasty, best known for Judas Maccabeus and his revolt against the Seleucid Greeks who were dominating Israel at the time. 

Josephus and apocryphal sources tell us that a great funerary monument could be seen from Jaffa on the coast but does not give a clear idea of what the tombs of the family in, around, or under this monument looked like. No remains of that massive that conical or pyramidal-shaped monument have been found, but not far from the modern Israeli town of Modi`in some interesting early graves have been found, which, rightly or wrongly, are now called the Tombs of the Maccabees.

With Kent Jackson and Jared Ludlow

Carved from solid rock, these cyst graves were covered on top by massive stone lids, quite different than the later first century tombs (like the one presumed to be used by Jesus) that were entered from the side and had rolling stones that sealed them.  Whether these were the actual tombs of the Hasmoneans or not, they were clearly aristocratic burials because they would have been very expensive to carve and fit out.

Some distance from this collection of tombs is an Ottoman-era tomb that was believed to have been built over the original site of the grave of Matityahu (Mattathias), a priest from Modi`in who initiated the Maccabean Revolt when we slew a Seleucid official and a collaborating local Jew who was participating in Greek sacrifice and idol worship.  Palestinian Arabs and later occupying Mamluks and Ottomans were known for taking earlier Jewish holy sites and making Muslim shrines out of them, and "local Arabs referred to the site as Hirbat el Yehud or by other names indicating a Jewish connection."

In the modern Israeli period, this medieval tomb has had its dome painted blue, as is a common practice at important Jewish tombs, such as those in Safed (Sfat), and we found a modern cenotaph, inscription, prayer books, and other religious paraphernalia inside.

A menorah scratched into the wall

Jared poking around

Kent and Nancy Jackson; Jared Ludlow; Steve Harper

Not climbing on an antiquity . . . this just dates from the late middle ages!

And I cannot quite see the sea from here!

I think that these will be neat pictures to use when I teach ClCv 363 (Judaism and Early Christianity in the Classical Near East) next winter semester, because we do a big section on the Hasmoneans.

After this we went to Canada Park, formerly Latrun, where I took my family back in October (see the blog post "You say Emmaus, I say Latrun").  We were then going to see the remains of a Byzantine and Crusader church commemorating Emmaus as well as a modern Trappist monastery and winery, but we had forgotten that these are all closed during the lunch hour.  Another time, I suppose . . . but I am suddenly realizing that with only a little over two months to go, time is running out!

Jericho and the Judean Wilderness (Su12)

The day after we got back from Turkey, we were back at it, taking a part-day field trip into the West Bank, where we explored sites in and around Jericho and then at Wadi Qelt, where we commemorated Jesus' Forty Days in the Wilderness. See details and background of Monday's sites in last semester's post.

Herod's Winter Palace

After Jared had familiarized the students with the site and its remains, I read from Josephus about the death of Herod here.  Then, reflecting on how the great monuments and legacy of powerful ancient kings now lay in ruins, we sang the Kipling poem "God of Our Fathers, Know of Old," which is set in our hymnbook.

Jared Ludlow teaching the archaeology of the site

In the bath in Herod's Palace

After the set pic, some of the students decided to "make a whirlpool"

The Sycamore Tree at Jericho

This old sycamore tree was not there at the time of Jesus, but it is where we usually recall the story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19:1-10.  Usually we simply stop the bus and look at the tree through the windows because the local street vendors are unusually aggressive.  But this was my last time coming to Jericho, plus I thought that it would be more effective reading the story under the tree.

Under the sycamore tree with my students

Despite our efforts to avoid the local vendors, one soon had me dressed in a keffiyeh

 

Tel es-Sultan

The site of Old Testament Jericho is a tel of 23 levels.  It is a little hard to imagine what Bronze Age Jericho must have looked like, we still ended our formal visit with a rendition of "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho."

Elisha's Spring

Wadi Qelt

Our last stop was at Wadi Qelt on our way back to Jerusalem.  A deep seasonal river bed, a deep ravine actually, Wadi Qelt leads from the Jerusalem area down to Herod's Winter Palace north of Jericho, and then on to the Jordan River.  At a particularly barren area of the wadi in the Judean Wilderness lies the Greek Orthodox monastery of St. George.  

Near the gates leading down to St. George's, we led our students on a half kilometer hike along the rocky, hot, desert ridge, giving them an idea of what it must have been like for Jesus to be there for 40 days.  After reviewing the account of the temptations from all three Synoptic gospels, we talked about what it teaches us about Christ and ourselves and then sang "More Holiness Give Me."  We then took 10 minutes of quiet time for prayer and reflection.

Singing "More Holiness Give Me"

Turkey Day 7: Nicaea (modern Iznik) and back to Istanbul

Again we followed last semester's itinerary, but we did better with our schedule, which allowed us to see the Sultanahmet Cami (Blue Mosque) after we finished at Hagia Sophia.

The waterside of Lake Nicaea

Reviewing the christological controversies leading up to the First Council of Nicaea

Singing "I Believe in Christ" after reciting the first four articles of faith.

Rachel in front of Aya Sofya

 

Inside, noting the part reconverted back into a mosque

Istanbul Topkapi or Gate

  

A piece of reused Greek sculpture re-used in the gates

Back in Istanbul

Welcome to Europe! Crossing the Bosphorus Bridge

With Rachel in front of the Queen of all churches . . . well, a church for 1,000 years, then a mosque for 500, and a museum for some 80

The inner narthex of Hagia Sophia

My students on the second floor gallery

 

Justinian presents the Hagia Sophia church to Mother and Child while Constantine presents his city, Constantinople

Remains of the Deisis, or Judgment, with Mary and John the Baptist imploring mercy from Christ for Christians

Rachel with Susan Bell in front of the Blue Mosque

Rival Soccer flags. "Our" team is the red and gold Galatasaray.

Our last meal

With our guide, Necip Edis, and our driver, Ayhan

In conclusion, here are some video clips from the rest of the week: