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| Sycamore tree location from story of Zacheus. |
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’ Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’ Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’ Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
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| Mount of Temptation. |
Today was a day all about second chances. When we visited Jericho the other day we were supposed to see the location of the sycamore tree that Zaccheus climbed to see Jesus as well as the mount of temptation of the Lord, but as things turned out that day we ended up way behind schedule and didn't get there. We were very disappointed because evidently Jericho is also the place to go if you want to ride a camel.
Deacon Tom looking so elegant riding along on the camel.
Well, our amazing tour leaders were able to work them into the schedule for today. Just as Lazarus and Zaccheus were given second chances, so were we. Evidently Jericho is also the lowest place on Earth and the oldest city in the world. There is a natural spring flowing there that was provided to us thanks to the prophet Elisha. This provided a great place for a group picture and some camel kisses also.
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| Paula gets camel kisses. |
We celebrated Mass at the church at the home site of Mary, Martha and Lazarus before heading on to check into the hotel in Jerusalem for the last leg of our trip. It was very sad to see the wall, which is called the "Ugly Wall", between the Jewish and Pakistan sides of Jerusalem. Hopefully someday soon, just like the Berlin Wall, this one may be torn down by our willingness to continually go out of a limb for Jesus.
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| Jerusalem cut in half by the "Ugly Wall". |