Holy Land gives a glimpse of Jesus, Via Dolorosa

bTom Anggara, Contributor, Jerusalem

The first impression we got when we arrived in the Holy Land was that it was a peaceful place.

There were no conflicts such as the ones we often saw on the television back in Indonesia. Some local people that we talked to said that the Israelis and Palestinians would actually like to live in peace in the land.

We entered Israel through Jordan, passing a military check point on the border. Usually, the border officers only check our travel documents. During the visit in late February, one officer demanded an old woman, who was a member of our tour group, to open her luggage, considering it too heavy.

As the tour leader, I helped the woman open her luggage. After finding nothing suspicious, the officer let us continue our trip.

The first town we visited was Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the land, which was built around a large spring that waters the surrounding lands and turns the area a fertile oasis in the midst of the desert.

During Biblical times, Jericho was associated with the prophet Elisha who purified the town's water by throwing salt into it. It was then named the Spring of Elisha. Later, the New Testament said John The Baptist was active in the region and made Jericho one of the most important Christian centers in the Holy Land, according to our tour guide Yoram Attias.

We continued the trip to Tiberias, located in the northern part of Israel. It is a small city with most of the population working as farmers and fishermen. The fertile land of the city accounts for 75 percent of Israeli agricultural production with products ranging from grapes, orange, and bananas to vegetables, olives, dates and fish.

We stayed for two nights at the Royal Plaza Hotel, from which we could see the wonderful view of Lake Tiberias, which Israelis call the Sea of Galilee.

From Tiberias, we continued to Capernaum to see the Holy Site of Simon Peter, which is an old house where it is believed Simon Peter used to live and where Jesus Christ once healed Simon Peter's sick mother-in-law. Not far from it is a reconstructed synagogue from the fourth century.

We then drove to the "Mount Beatitudes", where, according to the Bible, Jesus delivered to his disciples and followers the Sermon on the Mount, which included the famous beatitudes. An octagonally shaped church now sits atop the hill.

The trip continued to a place called Yardenit by the Jordan River, where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

We saw a group of tourists from South Korea waiting in line to get baptized in the same place.

One member of our tour group wanted to be baptized like the South Koreans, but Reverend Mieske Kolanus, who accompanied us during the journey, refused.

"The Sacrament of baptism is given only once in life. A Christian can't be re-baptized for any reason whatsoever," she stressed.

According to Attias, the site is not actually where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

"Actually, according to historians, Jesus was baptized in a site now located in the territory of Jordan. The Government of Israel has built Yardenit to commemorate the event." He said.

Another stop was Jerusalem, one of the most important cities in the world for three major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

For Jews, Jerusalem is the holiest place, where the Holy Temple used to stand. Jewish people pray at the Wailing Wall, which is the remnant of the temple, for the coming of Messiah.

For Muslims, Jerusalem is the home of the Al Aqsa mosque, one of the oldest, most revered mosques, where Muslims believed the soul of Prophet Muhammad made a stop on the journey to paradise.

We arrived in Jerusalem on Friday, a short work day for both Jews and Muslims. It was interesting to see hundreds of Muslims praying at Al Aqsa, while on the other side of the wall, Jewish people were doing the same in front of the Wailing Wall.

Jerusalem is also remembered by Christians as the place where Jesus was brutalized before being crucified at Mount Golgotha.

The Israeli government has kept these historical places well- preserved and they are a major attraction for people visiting the country.

We could see the original rock in the Garden of Gethsemane where, according to the New Testament, Jesus prayed, sweating blood on the eve of his passion. Some olive trees were standing on the garden, one of which our tour guide said dated back to the time of Jesus.

Each Friday, Catholic priests of the Franciscan order, which has been assigned by the Vatican administration, to preserve and protect all Christian sites in the Holy Land, hold a procession to commemorate the passion of Christ. All pilgrims are allowed to take part in the procession

The procession starts from the Pontius Pilate Judgment Hall, where the Roman governor decided to allow the Jewish crowd to crucify Jesus, past narrow roads and alley ways to the Mount of Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified along with two criminals. The route is called "Via Dolorosa" (Latin for "the Road of Sorrow").