Note: This is the sixth chapter of a book my father, Rev. Matt W. Leach, wrote in 1955 about a miraculous trip to the Holy Land.
-Michael Leach
On the evening of our first day the three of us — Mr. Benton, Ferris and I — walked to the Mount of Olives and climbed to the top. Below us Jerusalem stretched out like a brilliantly lighted Christmas tree. It was easy to see why Christ loved this hill.
Going up the hill we took what must have been the longest road! But finally we made it. We wanted to take colored pictures of Jerusalem at night, and while we were setting up our cameras two Arab soldiers came over to us and in their broken English talked with us.
As we left they pointed out a much shorter path than the road by which we had come up, and one guard walked part of the way with us.
It might have been shorter, but that is all I can say for it. My toes kept trying to work their way out the front of my shoes!!!!! It would have made a beautiful bobsled run!
A Walking Tour Through the Old City
Saturday morning we took a walking tour through Jerusalem. There seemed to be a constant babble, a constant murmuring coming from the narrow twisted streets with their shops crowded one on top of the other. Mr. Benton remarked how easy it was to imagine all the murmuring that rose up against Christ.
Jerusalem has changed very little from the time of Christ, even though the city of today is built 29 feet above the ruins of Christ’s Jerusalem. Everything is built of stone where possible, and wood used only when necessary. Most of the stores have open fronts and the fragrance of the different foods fills the air — except in those places where animal leavings win out.
Usually the streets are crowded with the people buying and the children playing. As we walked along we saw, everywhere, street peddlers with their huge trays, piled high with rolls, balanced on top of their heads. The women, wearing veils, were tending children or bargaining for the things they needed in the stores.
Every few minutes we had to step aside to let a donkey pass. If you were thirsty there was sure to be a man with a glass or metal can filled with some liquid, ready to pour you a cup.
On one narrow street we ducked under the low stone doorway and found ourselves in a chapel built over the spot where it is believed that Mark lived.1
Here a priest told us about the excavations that had been made and showed us the inscription taken from what was believed to be the entrance to the first church of the early Christians — the upper room of Mark’s house, and where the Holy Spirit descended on the 120 gathered there praying as Jesus had instructed.
On the wall was a picture of Mary, the mother of Jesus, believed to have been painted by Luke, and of which no one has been able to take a good photograph.
Bethesda and the Temple Area
The men who excavated dug up a lot of interesting things. We visited the excavated ruins of the Pool of Bethesda. This was the same pool around which the sick, blind or lame found shelter during the day.
It was believed that at certain times, when the water was moved by supernatural forces, it had the miraculous power of healing for the first one to immerse his body in it. Here Jesus healed the paralyzed man (John 5:1–9).
Solomon’s temple was a beautiful building. The Muslim temple that now stands on the ruins of it, and built on the same foundation, proves it. It was here that Jesus taught and drove out the money changers. The temple, “The Dome of the Rock,” is an eight-sided building, built of pillars (now walled together in support of the temple) with a high dome rising from the middle.
Mosaic of blue and white beautifies the outside — as we can see from this model of the temple. Inside, the artwork is intricate and very beautiful, rich in color. In the center of the temple is a rock, held sacred by the Muslims and Christians and Jews. Over the rock the dome rises.
It was on this rock that Abraham made his sacrifices, as did the other great men of the Bible. The top of the rock is worn smooth through all the thousands of years it has been used.
How it came about and why, no one knows — but the rock is hollow. The priests dug a hole in the top of the rock to receive the blood of the sacrifices. Inside the rock another trough was dug to carry the blood to the Kedron valley.
On the edge of the temple area is the entrance to the underground stable where Solomon kept his horses.
Down to the Dead Sea
In the afternoon we traveled by car to the Dead Sea. We saw the Good Samaritan Inn, now a police checking point. Our road wound and turned, weaving in and out of the hills. We saw where the English had dug trenches during the war and then destroyed them when she discovered her chief engineer was a German.
Down and down we went, passing the sign that marked sea level. It seemed an endless maze of hills. The sun became hotter and hotter. The warm air blasting in through the open windows felt as if it wanted to suffocate us, yet it never did. Finally we left the hills and headed towards Jericho.
On our left we passed by a huge Arab refugee camp. Here, in the heat where not a tree grew, these people were slowly hewing homes — if you could call them that — from the mud and rocks.
On we drove, and in the distance we could see the green fields that border the Jordan river. Here most of the food is grown that feeds Jerusalem and the refugees.
Our guide pointed out a hill, and a monastery in about the middle of the hill perched precariously on the rock ledge, built around the cave where tradition says that Jesus fasted those 40 days in the wilderness.2
Just before reaching Jericho we come to the fountain of Elisha, which has a fascinating history.3 The men of Jericho said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it, and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have made this water wholesome; henceforth neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word which Elisha spoke. — II Kings 2:19–22
We drove through the modern city of Jericho.
We stopped at the place along the Jordan which tradition says is the spot that John baptized Christ. Because the river is so treacherous at this point it is hard to believe that this could be the exact spot. But that was 2,000 years ago.
The heat, we found, was not as bad as we had thought, even though the temperature was well over 100°.
We were going to swim in the Dead Sea, but after tasting the water and feeling it we said “no.” That was one experience we were willing to forget. Ugh!!! The blue of the Dead Sea is beautiful against the reddish hills.
Notes
St. Mark’s, the Syriac Orthodox convent, was traditionally identified with the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. My father’s description records what he was shown there in 1955. ↩
The Monastery of the Temptation, Deir Quruntul, above Jericho. My father’s reference is to the traditional site associated with Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness. ↩
II Kings 2:19–22, Revised Standard Version. My father gives the Scripture reference himself. The spring is traditionally identified as Elisha’s Spring, or Ain es-Sultan, at Jericho. ↩
