ASCENCION OF JESUS AND REFERENCES

THE ASCENSION OF JESUS

According to Luke, the last words of Jesus before He ascended to heaven:
And he said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
And ye are witnesses of these things.

Picture 88: Ascension of Jesus Christ in Oriental Orthodox Church in India



And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and carried up into heaven. [Luke 24: 46-51]










Picture 89: Ascension of Christ by Garofalo, 1520

Picture 90: Icon of Ascencion of Jesus by Andrej Rublev, 1408, Tretyakov Gallery Moscow


According to Mark: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believed and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believed not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out

devils; they shall speak with new tongues;…





So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. [Mark 16: 15-19]

Picture 91: Ascension Rock, inside the Chapel of Ascension said to bear the imprint of Jesus right foot, in Jerusalem-Mt. Olives Ascension Rock.














XII. REFERENCES


1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
2. http://jeestunautre.wordpress.com/200...
3. http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/tips_12...
4. http://wapedia.mobi/jewish_populati...
5. http://www.ancientsandals.com/picture...
6. http://www.bibleplaces.com/images/holy...
7. http://www.bible-history.com/
8. http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=...
9. http://fotosearch.com/
10. http://www.infotour.co.il...israel/ Tourist Yellow Page
11. http://www.rainbowcastle.org/maundyth...
12. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/isr...
13. http://www.y=jesus.com/why_jesus4.php
14. Sami Awwad.Tanah Suci Dalam Gambar Berwarna. Golden Printing Press-Jerusalem, 1998.
15. Sylvia Mann. This is Israel. Palphot Ltd, Jerusalem, 1999.

EASTER SUNDAY, HOLY WEEK IN PROTESTANT CHURCHES

EASTER SUNDAY

Easter [Greek: Paskha, Hebrew: Pesakh] is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion.
Easter Sunday or Easter Day [Resurrection Sunday or Resurrection Day] two days after Good Friday and three days after Maundy Thursday.

Picture 85: Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday

The New Testament teaches that the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith. The resurrection established Jesus as the powerful Son of God and is cited as proof that God will judge the world in righteousness.
Christ is risen! Jesus Christ died for our sins; than on the third day later, He rose from the dead. Jesus Christ is victorious over sin, and death, and hell. He took the penalty for our sins when He died on the cross, and for three days it looked like death had won. But then, on Sunday which we now celebrate as Easter Sunday, the women came to the tomb where He had been buried—and He was resurrected. An angle met them there and said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?

Picture 86: The resurrection of Jesus...behold, two men stood by them in shining garments,...they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

HE IS NOT HERE; BUT IS RISEN” [Luke 24: 4-6]

1Death cold not hold Jesus; grave no power over Him.
And even as God raised Jesus from dead, so too we can have newness of life in Jesus Christ. Now we too can rise in newness of life with Jesus Christ our victorious Lord living in our lives. Let us worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; for He is truly risen from the dead

X. HOLY WEEK IN PROTESTANT CHURCHES

Anglicans/Episcopalians, along with Protestant in the Catholic tradition, such as Lutherans and Calvinists, observe Holy Week much as the Roman Catholic Church does.

Of Protestant fellowships, perhaps the Holy Week services [Passion Week] of the Moravian Church are the most extensive, as the Congregation follows the life of Christ through His final week in daily services dedicated to readings from a harmony of the Gospel stories, responding to the actions in hymns, prayers and litanies, beginning on the eve of Palm Sunday and culminating in the “Easter Morning” or Easter Sunrise services.

Picture 87: The resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Morning or Easter Sunrise.

Some Protestant churches make much of the feet washing ceremony on Maundy Thursday, for others it may be the only time in the year when Holy Communion is celebrated, other churches celebrate versions of the Jewish Passover at this time. Other Protestants conduct more informal celebrations of Holy Week, usually including sermons about the last week of Christ’s life, and possibly some special services on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and or Easter Sunday.

HOLY THURSDAY, GOOD FRIDAY AND HOLY SATURDAY AND EASTER VIGIL

HOLY THURSDAY, GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY SATURDAY

AND EASTER VIGIL

HOLY THURSDAY




The Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus with the Twelve Apostles, the institution of the Eucharist, the institution of the priesthood, and the commandment of brotherly love that Jesus gave after washing the feet of his disciples.
All the bells of the church, including altar bells, may be rung during the Gloria in Excelcis Deo of the Mass. The bells and the organ then fall silent until the Gloria at the Easter Vigil [Mat 26: 17-25; Mark 14: 12-21; Luke 22: 7-14; John 13: 21-30]

Picture 80: Jesus in the Hall of Last Supper with bread and glass of wine





The Roman Missal recommends that, if considered pastoral appropriate, the priest should, immediately after the homily, celebrate the rite of washing the feet of an unspecific number of men, customarily twelve, recalling the number of the Apostles . [John 13: 4-14].

Picture 81: Jesus was washing the feet of His disciples









GOOD FRIDAY




Roman Catholic Christian treat Good Friday as a fast day, which is defined as only having one full meal or two small ones. A Catholic Good Friday in the Roman Rite Afternoon services involves a series of reading and meditations, as well as the [sung] reading of the Passion account from the Gospel of John which is often read dramatically, with the priest, one or more readers, and the congregation all taking part.

Picture 82: The Passion of Jesus on the Cross

In the traditional Latin Liturgy, the Passion is read by the priest facing the altar, with three deacons chanting in the sanctuary facing the people. The liturgy consists of three parts in the Roman Rite: The Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion.


HOLY SATURDAY


A day of silence and prayer which commemorates the dead Christ in the tomb. No Mass is celebrated. In some Anglican, Churches, including the Episcopal Church in United States, there is provision from a simple liturgy of the word with readings commemorating the burial of Christ.
The tabernacle is left empty and open.
The celebration of Easter may begin after sundown on what is therefore liturgically Easter Sunday, though still Saturday in the civil calendar.

Picture 83: Holy Saturday to commemorate the dead of Jesus in the Tomb





EASTER VIGIL

The Liturgy begins after sundown on Holy Saturday as the crowed gathers inside the church. In the darkness, a new fire is kindled and blessed by the Priest. This new fire symbolizes the light of salvation and hope that God brought into the world through Christ Resurrection, dispelling the darkness of sin and death.

Picture 84: Eastern Vigil after the sundown on the Holy Saturday

In Roman Catholic tradition, the Easter Vigil consists of four parts:
· The Service of Light
· The liturgy of the Word
· The Liturgy of Baptism. The sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation for new members of the Church and the Renewal of Baptismal Promises by the entire congregation.
· Holy Eucharist.

HOLY WEEK: IN LATIN CATHOLIC ROME

IX. THE HOLY WEEK IN LATIN CATHOLIC ROME

1. Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday [Mat 21: 1-11; Mark 11: 1-10; Luke 19: 19: 28-38; John 12: 12-19]
Holy Week begins with Sunday of the Passion of our Lord Jesus. To commemorate the entrance of the Messiah into Jerusalem, to accomplish his paschal mystery, it is customary to have before Mass a blessing of palm leaves [or other branches, for example olive branches].

Picture 75: Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday of the Holy Week Celebration for the entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem.

Picture 76: The Mass took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. [John 12: 13]

The blessing ceremony, preferably held outside the church includes the reading of a Gospel account of how Jesus rode into Jerusalem humbly on a donkey, reminiscent of a David Victory procession, and how people placed palms on the ground in front of him.

Picture 77: And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. [John 12: 14-15]

This is followed by a procession or Solemn entrance into the church, with the participants holding the blessed branches in their hands. The Mass itself includes a reading of the Passion: “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. [Matthew 21: 9].

2. Holy Monday to Wednesday: Holy Monday [or Fig Monday], Gospel tells
anointing at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper. “There came unto him a
woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his
head, as he sat at meat.” [Mat 26: 7; Mark 14: 3; John 12: 3]. Holy

Picture 78: It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair. [John 11: 2]

Picture 79: Jesus cleaned the Temple and casting out the money changers by Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1800's

Holy Wednesday [sometimes called Spy Wednesday].
“And Jesus went into the Temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and seats of them that sold doves. And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves [Mat 21: 12-13; Mark 11: 15-19: Luke 19: 45-48: John 2: 13-19].

MUSLIM'S SANCTUARIES IN JERUSALEM

THE MUSLIM'S or ISLAM'S SANCTUARIES IN JERUSALEM

1. Dome of the Rock

On the Temple Mount stands the Dome of the Rock, an especially striking mosque with its golden dome. The mosque is also known as the Mosque of Omar, named after the Caliph Omar, in whose name the Muslim conquered Palestine.

Picture 70: Photo shot, Sahala-taylor [Me] and my spouse Mrs B.Tampubolon stood at front of Dome of the Rock.

The mosque was erected in 691, and during the Crusader period, was used as a church. The Dome is built around the Sacred Rock upon which Abraham was about to sacrifice his son .

Picture 71: Photo shot, Conny and her friend at front of Dome of the Rock.

As this same spot was considered to be the scene of Mohammed’s miraculous night journey to heaven, and the holiest shrine of Islam after Mecca and Medina.

Picture 72: Photo shot, Me, my spouse and our daughter Conny at the yard of Dome of the Rock.

2. The El-Aqsa Mosque.

Other landmarks on the Temple Mount are silver-domed El-Aqsa, built in 710 on the traditional site of Solomon’s Palace and the Palace of the Kings of Judah, and the tiny Dome of Chain, said to have been used as a treasury. Its seven-arched portico gives on to a dignified prayer hall, with a mihrab, or Muslim praying niche, on its south wall set, as is the custom, towards Mecca. Between El-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock is a round fountain—el Kas, or the Cup—where Muslims wash their feet and hands before worship.

Picture 73: Photo shot, Me and my spouse at the yard of El-Aqsa Mosque

Picture 74: Photo shot of El-Aqsa viewed from the front yard near the Wall of the Old City.

TRAVELING: THE JEW'S SANCTUARY IN JERUSALEM

TRAVELING: THE JEW'S SANCTUARY IN JERUSALEM.

1. Western Wall

Picture 65 : Photo shot of Sahalataylor [Me] at the Western Wall.

A section of the 2000-year-old retaining wall of Herod’s Temple, is the symbol of Jewry’s unwavering faith and devotion. In the old city, the holiest site in Jewish history—the sole remnant of the Temple Mount destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Since 70 CE it has been the focus of Jewish pilgrimage, substituting for the temple pilgrimages of happier days, for even after Rome’s harsh edicts of banishment, Jews were allowed to pray there on the ninth of Av—anniversary of the Temple’s destruction.
Only during the 19 years of Jordanian occupation , from 1948 to 1967, were Jews forbidden to approach the hollowed site.
Huge Herodian ashlars from the original construction make up twelve courses of stones, each nearly one and a half meter in height.

Picture 66: Photo shot of my spouse Mrs B. Tampubolon and friends at the Western Wall

Its spiritual content is felt by the profusion of tear-stained petitions tucked into the crannies between the blocks by countless legends of the Western that hovers over the Western Wall by the multitudes of Jews who, bringing their hopes and tears, their aspirations and their thanksgiving, come to pay homage at the Western Wall

Picture 67: Photo shot my daughter Conny at the Western Wall

People from all over the world write notes to God, adding their supplications to the millions already resting between the ancient stones.

Picture 68: Praying at the Western Wall

2. The Temple Mount.
This is the site of the First and Second Temples, the religious and spiritual center of the Jewish people throughout the ages.

The First Temple was built by King Solomon and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzer, King of Babylon, in 586 B.C.E. The Second Temple was erected by those who returned to Zion in 515 B.C.E. and destroyed by Titus the Roman in 70 C.E. Both Temples were destroyed on the same Hebrew date, the ninth of Av. After being conquered by the Arabs, it became a Muslim religious center. The Temple Mount was conquered by the Israel Defense Forces during the Six Day War in 1967.

3. Mount Moriah.
Called Mount Moriah or Haram el-Sharif – the Enclosure of Noble Sanctuary –it is traditionally place where “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground”, [Genesis 2: 7], and where Abraham bound Isaac for sacrifice.[Genesis 22: 9].
Here on the hill crest, was David’s altar, over which Solomon built the temple, eventually to be replaced by Herod’s magnificent structure, of which the Western Wall still stands.

4. The Tomb of King David.
Traditional Tomb of David, Chamber of the Holocaust, Hall of the Last Supper, David Palombo Museum, Church of Dormiton, Adjacent to southeast corner of the Old City.

Leading off the hall is a chamber with an enormous cenotaph, which folklore holds to be King David’s Tomb. Still highly revered, during the occupation years from 1948 to 1967, it acted as a substitute for the unapproachable Western Wall.

Picture 69: King David's Tomb

THE GARDEN TOMB OF JESUS

GARDEN TOMB

Not everyone believes that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is truly the grave of Jesus. Many non-Catholic sects hold that it is actually in the Garden Tomb, set in a quiet enclosure just outside the Damascus Gate.


The New Testament declares that ‘Now in the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden and in the Garden a new sepulchre, where in was never man yet laid.

Then took they the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with the spice, as the manner of Jews is to bury.

Picture 64: The Garden Tomb just outside of Damascus Gate.

Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand. [John 19: 40-42]


The evidence for a probable site of execution near to an exceptionally large cistern [which indicates the possibility of a Vineyard Garden] and a Herodian tomb which meets all mentioned in the New Testament makes the present garden a meaningful center for Christian meditation and devotion

[continued]

TRAVELING TO JERUSALEM, THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

TRAVELING TO JERUSALEM, THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS







[CONTINUED]






Picture 60 : Resurrection of Jesus by Noel Coypel, 1700










And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?



Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. [Luke: 24: 38-39]





































Pic. 61: Resurrection of Jesus by Kasseler Tischbein, 1778




Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee,and there shall they see me.
[Matthew 28: 10]

















Pic. 62: The Resurrection of Jesus by Jacques Reich, 1909




And Jesus came and spake unto them,saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. [Matthew 28: 18]


























Pic. 63 : Resurrection of Jesus by Easter Orthodox icon, eighteenth century







And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believed and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believed not shall be damned.

[Mark 16: 15-16]







Picture 64: The resurrection of Jesus by Carl Bloch
And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
[Matthew 28: 4]











































Picture 65: Jesus resurrection with two angels.

"And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
[Luke 24: 4]