SHS: Matthew 6, 7

Matthew 6: 5 ¶ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Praying at the Western Wall--a large outdoor synagogue.




Men and women sections during the festival of Succot.

Praying at the Stone of Unction where the body of Jesus was  laid after being taken dwon from the cross.

Praying in the Armenian Gallery of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Matthew 6: 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Pater Noster (Our Father) Church on the south end of the Mt of Olives. It is built over a grotto where tradition has it Jesus taught his disciples how to pray.

The Lord's Prayer is displayed in 140 different languages throughout the church, porticoes and yard.

My three languages

English

Arabic

Indonesian

Two other Indonesian languages.

Latin, Arabic, Armenian and Hebrew.

When Marie and i visited Jerusalem as part three of our honeymoom in 1997 she bought this poster for me to hang in my office. It now hangs in our basement family room.

Matthew 6: 28 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Red anemones on the Mt. of Olives. Anemones are one of the top candidates for what the actual lilies of the field may have been.

Anemones bloom all of the land in February and March after the winter rains.

Wild Nazareth Iris. They only bloom in the hills of the Galilee in the vicinity of Nazareth. I read about these unique flowers during my stay in Nazareth and went out hunting for them one day. I was happy to find some blooming.

Purple wild flowers among the olives. Photo taken half way between Turan and Nazareth on a wonderful Sabbath walk.

I was so impressed with all of the wild flowers I saw during my spring in the Galilee that I bought this poster as a guide and as a souvenir.

Here is a link to an informative article of what wild flowers might be the "lilies of the field."
https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/1584/

Matthew 7:  7 ¶ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Entry doors to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Nice large knocker on the door. Since the competing Christian sects that share control of the church have not always had the most cordial of relations within the church, the keys to the building have long been held by Muslim men who come and open up the church every morning. 

Matthew 7: 13 ¶ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

The old city of Jerusalem has seven gates into the city.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffa_Gate#/media/File:OldCityMap.PNG

Goldern Gate or Gate of Mercy which is the eastern entrance leading up to the Temple Mount.

The golden gate today. It was sealed first by Saladin after he conquered Jerusalem and then later by Suleiman the Magnificent when he restored the walls of the city. Jewish tradition has it that the Messiah will come to the temple through this gate. To impede that entry tradition has it that Muslim conquerers thought sealing the gate would impede the coming of the Messiah.

From the Kiron Valley.

The inside of gate from the Temple Mount/Nobel  Sanctuary (Haram al-Sharif)

Golden Gate and then the top part of Lion's Gate further north (right) along the wall.

Strait road up to Lion's Gate, also known as St. Stepjhen's gate.

Lion's adorn the gate.

 Straight road leading into Jerusalem as seen from atop Lion's Gate.

Herod's Gate, Gate of the Flower, is the first of three gates on the northern wall. It enters into the Muslim Quarter.

Large Damascus Gate (heading north out of the city towards Damascus).

Israeli solider watching from the top of the gate (1989).

The lower gate is a gate from the Roman period. Evidence of how much parts of the city have been built up over time due to build up from destruction, crumble and garbage.

Roman Gate.

The third gate on the north side is the New gate which was added in 1889 to provide easier access into the Christian Quarter.

The lone gate on the west side is Jaffa Gate which leads westward to the port of Jaffa. It is also called in Arabic Hebron (Khalil) Gate because the road south to Hebron also starts at this gate.This entrance is L-shaped to made it harder for invading armies to enter.

Part of the wall at Jaffa Gate was knocked down in 1898 so Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany could enter the city by horse or carriage.

Zion's Gate on the south side leads from Mt. Zion into the Armenian Quarter. It's many pock marks are from the 1948 battle to control the city. Jordan held on to the city until 1967.

Garbage truck coming out of the appropriately named Dung Gate.

Jewish Quarter and the southeast corner of Jerusalem. Cars can be seen lined up to exit the quarter via Dung Gate-just to the right of the purple bus. Buses lined up on the outside of he wall are where tourists enter to visit the Western Wall.

 Matthew 7: 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Fruits of the Holy Land

Pomegranates and grapes from synagogue ruins at Capernaum.

Pomegranates have long been considered a symbol of fertility--lots of seeds.

Fresh pressed pomegranate juice near Jaffa gate in Jerusalem.

Fig

baby grapes

Fresh squeezed citrus drinks in Jericho. Citrus merchant Daud (David) had 17 children (and only one wife)!

Olive harvest in Liberty Bell Park in Jerusalem.

Arab families who used to live in this area come back each year to harvest the olives in what is now a public park. Harvesters pick the olives, shake and hit olives from the tree, or rake the olives which fall on tarps to then be gathered up.

 

  Olive harvest at the BYU Jerusalem Center.