Quick viewing(Text Mode)

Mount Olives Article1.Pdf

TheBY JOHN L. HARRIS F HAD A FAVORITE PLACE in during about 2,700 feet above sea level, and is today called Ras el- His earthly life, it was the Mount of (also Mesharif. The second, the central peak (variously called Iknown as Mount Olivet, from the Latin olivetum, Jebel et-Tur, “the mountain of the tower”; Jebel ez-Zait, meaning “ grove”).1 This scenic mountain ridge, “the mountain of the ”; and Jebel ez- receiving its name due to the presence of a multitude of Zaitun,M “the mountain of the olive trees”), is directly olive groves, lies just east of and stretches two across from the (also known as the Valley of miles north to south.2 It is a part of the central mountain Jehoshaphat), the city of Jerusalem, and the temple. This range that runs through the central and southern por- section is the Mount of Olives proper and is about 100 tions of Palestine. To the east of the range lay , the feet above the city of Jerusalem. The third, the southern Jordan Valley, and the Dead Sea, and to the south and section (Jebel Batn el-Hawa, “the mountain of the womb southeast lies the expansive wilderness of Judea. of the wind”), is the lowest of the three summits and is (the modern city of el-‘Azariyeh) is about two miles from usually identified as the “Mount of Offense/Corruption.” Jerusalem on the eastern slope of Mount Olivet. is to the southwest. On the mount’s lower slopes is In the Old Testament (from the Hebrew “oil press”; compare Matt. The Old Testament has three main references to the 3

nter 2004-05 26:36; :32). Mount of Olives. Second Samuel 15:30 states that , The Mount of Olives has three main summits. The Wi first, the northern section, which probably had associa- LESSON REFERENCE BI tion with the Old Testament city of Nob (Isa. 10:32) and 4 (that is, the mountain of the “lookout”). ETBS: Luke 19:1-48; 21:1-38; 22:1-71 52 The Mount of Olives is the highest of the three peaks, Mountof Olives Above: The village of Silwan, southwest of the Mount of Olives, near the of David. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BOB SCHATZ (9/38/1)

Right: Alabaster nter 2004-05 bottle found at

Israel. Such a bot- Wi tle would hold

only a small BI amount of oil, for personal use. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ KEN 53 TOUCHTON/ ROCKEFELLER MUSEUM/ JERUSALEM (55/36) 54 BI Winter 2004-05 rsue fteoecoddct fJerusalem. the and theovercrowded of city pressures of thebustle, away from thenoise, mountain, m Jesus :37-38). :11; 21:17; (compare Matt. Olives atBethany ontheMountspent His nights of nitn i”and anointing oil” a be to A Mo v Israel hadbuiltfor Ashtoreth the ones Solomonkingof Je that destroyed places thatwere thehigh “east of In co (NIV). Jerusalem” “on ahilleastof god of the andforMolech, , thegodof place forChemosh, wo 15:32 indicates thatthiswasaplace where peopleusedto Second Samuel theolive trees”) weeping ashewent. of “the ascent (literally, Olives” was goingupthe “Ascent of being forced to fleeafter arevolt ledby hisson , pathos.” profound thetemple with king to thecleansingof the asa serves of entry from“transition thetriumphal shiftinmoodfrom asharp to rejoicing marks lamentand Thisremarkable scene inLuke’s account 41-44). (vv. city Jesus wept over the Olives, from thepathonMount of Luke 19:28-38). 11:1-10; tr Jesus madeHis from BethphageandBethany), (that is, Olives From theMount of 38-44). from thedead(vv. John Lazarus raised 11:1)andmiraculouly 10:38-42; v and festivals inJerusalem. theJewish feasts thetimesof specificallyduring sions, Jesus traversed thismountainonseveral occa- doubt, Without a nected to thisweek are :1and :12. Thetwo texts notcon- “Passion Week”). ly life(thatis, Te theolive trees”) intheNew “the mountainof (literally, Olives thereferences to theMount of of The majority In NIV). (11:23, it” east of Jerusalem andstopped above themountain of the city theLord went upfrom within the when of “glory tion of This theophany appearsto beareversal Ezekiel’s descrip- the (NIV). south” moving of andhalf north mountain moving half with agreat valley, forming east to west, the olive trees”), “the mountainof (literally, Olives” the “Mount of make will anappearance on Israel, theGodof YHWH, M destruction/corruption.” ile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile godof forChemoshthevile theSidonians, ile goddessof isited the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (Luke andLazarus Mary, Martha, isited thehomeof mn NV.Ti ae“ilo orpin appears Corruption” Thisname “Hill of (NIV). mmon” upa nr noJrslm(at 111;Mark 21:1-11; into Jerusalem (Matt. iumphal entry r s aetkngetcmoti h oiueo the ust have taken inthesolitudeof comfort great uto lvsi nZcaih1:,which states that Olives 14:4, isinZechariah ount of tmn ee oeet ntels eko eu’earth- Jesus’ stament refer to events inthelastweek of

nnection with ’s , 2 Kings 2 23:13states Solomon’snnection with idolatry, slmo h ot fteHl fCorruption—the theHill of usalem onthesouthof the si o.FirstKings 11:7says Solomonbuiltahigh rship God. b n o oehtedtsal o fthepeopleof andforMolech thedetestable godof ab, Af Jesus Bethany, Olives inthetown of On theMount of te word word 8 i aso iitrn nJrslm Jesus inJerusalem, ministering r His days of 6 play: ato euae,splittingit “in two from Jerusalem, east of har hammashit, har hammisha, 5 7 Co An igi ih fJerusalem, of ming insight

e xplicit reference to the meaning “mountain of meaning “mountain meaning “mountain of meaning “mountain

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BOB SCHATZ (9/37/15) M To uto Olives elementin theirreligious to beavital ount of In t In ascension. mount after Jesus’ thedisciplesreturning to Jerusalem from the speaks of re Thefinaltextual John 18:1-11). Luke 22:39-53; 14:26-52; Mark 26:30-56; and wassubsequentlyarrested (Matt. wasbetrayed, suffered excruciating agony atGethsemane, There Jesus hadpredicted His capture andPeter’s denial, Olives. disciples sangahymn andwent to theMount of P After thefinal the events theLastSupper. following Mark 14:3). 26:6-7; head (Matt. expensive perfumeandanointed His an alabaster jarof Si A 25). andthefive theten talents(Matt. virgins of parables Jesus spoke the Onthismountain, :3-37). 25:46; 24:3- theOlivetthis sermon Discourse (compare Matt. Ze echoing thewords of Jerusalem, prophecies of ontheruin Mark 11:20-21)anddelivered His 21:18-19; (Matt. a,Jw,Crsin,andMuslims each consider the Christians, , day, soe eerto,we twseeig Jesus andHis itwasevening, when assover celebration, dditionally, while Jesus while wasstaying inthehomeof dditionally, o h ee nBtay awoman cameto himwith mon theLeper inBethany, eec oteMuto lvsi nAt :2 which Olives isin Acts 1:12, ference to the Mount of c aih1:-.Bible studentshave commonly called 14:1-5. hariah he Present Day h on fOlives alsoplayed role in animportant The Mount of Je u usdtefgte nteMuto Olives sus cursedthefigtree ontheMount of COREL PHOTO nacos Pi.28 NASB). 2:8, (Phil. on across” even death death, arrest—to be “obedient to the pointof around themountandHis finaldecisionthere before His onand ministry isJesus’ however, hallows itsground, Thatwhich forever thefaithful. lifeof shape thereligious Publishing Company,1986), 589. Bible Encyclopedia, mount oftheAscension.”SeeW.S.Lasor,“Olives, Mountof”in the “MountofOintment,”andinChristian usage,itisalsoknownbythenameof“the of signalfiresthatannouncedtheappearance ofthenewmoon.InTalmud,itiscalled fOlives. of Va take allhumankind will place intheKidron of judgment Muslim teaches tradition thatthefinal Gethsemane. Ag tr Fr a tradition, AlsoforChristian into amosquein1187. the Ascension thathadbeenturned earlier Church of wasbuiltin1834nearthe themountain, the summitof at the Ascension, Chapelof The ascension. Jesus’ spot of thesupposed marking Helena, to hismother, memorial Constantine builtabasilicaas tradition, Christian N thered heifer(compare of theburning of The ritual No upholdsthatthedove Jewish tradition that history. Olives. on theMountof of Gethsemane Left: Thegarden 2. Unfortunately,themount wasdenudedoftreesduringthetime of ,andtoday 1. InJewishusage,ithasbeencalled“themountain oflights,”sinceitwastheplace e n h hrho AllNations theStone of with ees andtheChurch of m 92 upsdyocre nti umt In the 19:2)supposedlyoccurred onthis summit. um. anciscan complex itsolive thatincludesagarden with ll ony in front of the altar currently mark thesite thealtarcurrently mark of ony infront of hrlae lce noiela from thismount. ah released plucked anolive leaf ey Fo

etre vnso h on fOlives helped r centuries events ontheMount of ewe h oeo theRock andtheMount between theDomeof 9 ed. GeoffreyW.Bromiley, vol.3(GrandRapids:WilliamB.Eerdmans Jerusalem. Old Cityof overlooking the Mount ofOlives cemetery onthe Above: Jewish 4th centuryA.D. press from the structed olive Right: Arecon- International Standard i

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ JAMES MCLEMORE (13/30/17) n hi ftedprmn frlgo,EastTexas Texas. Marshall, religion, Baptist University, of thedepartment and chair of J ohn L. Harris is dean of the School of Christian Studies Christian theSchool of isdeanof Harris ohn L. the NewTestament (Nashville: AbingdonPress,1996),284;David L.Tiede, wasa“hamletbetweenJerusalemandBethany.” (Grand Rapids:WilliamB.EerdmansPublishingCompany,1978),711,statesthat Marshall, appeared. ItwaslocatedonthesoutheastslopeofMountOlives.”I.Howard Testament. “Olives, Mountof,”ISBE,589. Christian Tradition,” Myers (GrandRapids:WilliamB.EerdmansPublishingCompany,1987),779-780. ed.” Today,itiscalled“AzariyehorLazaiyeh,‘theplaceofLazarus.’” that someinterpretthename“Bethany”as“houseofpoor”orafflict- Age: ACommentaryonSt.Luke’sGospel entire southeasternslopeoftheMountOlives.FrederickW.Danker, note 1,statesthatthename“Bethany”notonlyappliedtovillagebutalso New Testament Jr., "Olives,Mountof"in it containsonlyafractionofthetreepopulationancienttimes.SeeWarrenJ.Heard, 9. LaSor,ISBE,591. 8. CompareRobertC.Tannehill, 7. Danker,311,notesthat”thevillageofBethphage(“houseunripefigs”)hasdis- 6. Thisistheonlyoccurrenceofname“MountOlives” 5. SeeJohnBriggsCurtis,“AnInvestigationoftheMountOlivesinJudaeo- 4. See“Olives,Mountof”in 3. NorvalGeldenhuys, The GospelofLuke,NewInternationalGreekTestamentCommentary (Grand Rapids:WilliamB.EerdmansPublishingCompany,1979),482, (Minneapolis: AugsburgPublishingHouse,1988), 331. Hebrew UnionCollegeAnnual Anchor BibleDictionary, The GospelofLuke,NewInternationalCommentaryonthe The EerdmansDictionaryoftheBible, Luke, AbingdonNewTestamentCommentaries (Philadelphia: FortressPress,1988),311,states vol. 5(NewYork:Doubleday,1992),13. 28 (1957):140-42.CompareLaSor, Luke, AugsburgCommentaryon (har hazzetim) Jesus andtheNew rev. ed.AllenC. in theOld 55 BI Winter 2004-05

Top View