Mount of Olives

The Chapel of the Ascension, on top of the Mount of Olives, is an altogether plain structure, as you can see. A rather welcome change after some of the ostentatious sites we've visited. Jesus, though God, was a fairly humble fellow. So this mount is where he left the disciples to return to his Father, and where, if we understand the prophet Zechariah correctly, he will return: Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. (Zech 14:3,4)

Originally, this structure intentionally had no dome -- in order to signify the ascension. When the area was conquered by Saladin, he spared the site and converted it to a mosque. So as not to endorse Christian theology, he closed the top: kind of hard for Jesus to ascend to heaven if he keeps hitting his head on the dome.

The shot of the temple mount is from the Mount of Olives, showing the geography that Jesus traversed in his final hours.

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Jerusalem in the Last Days

Isaiah 24 is a remarkable, chilling chapter, culminating in this promise:

²¹ In that day the Lord will punish
the powers in the heavens above
and the kings on the earth below.
²² They will be herded together
like prisoners bound in a dungeon;
they will be shut up in prison
and be punished after many days.
²³ The moon will be abashed, the sun ashamed;
for the Lord Almighty will reign
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before its elders, gloriously.

Jerusalem Now City of Peace!

Um, I guess we're not quite there yet. But this is the hope (and promise) of the prophet Isaiah in my reading from chapter 2 this morning (in the brand new NIV 2010 version, if you're wondering):

 ¹ This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
 ² In the last days
   the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established
   as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
   and all nations will stream to it.
 ³ Many peoples will come and say,
   “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
   to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
   so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
   the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
⁴ He will judge between the nations
   and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
   and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
   nor will they train for war anymore.
 ⁵ Come, descendants of Jacob,
   let us walk in the light of the LORD.