Page Title

To view
"Herodion:
A Fortress
During the
Gospels,"
click here.

Photography on this page by Charleston C. K. Wang, Shirley Wang, or Arthur Wang
Copyright 2010-2012 All Rights Reserved Charleston C. K. Wang, Esq., Publisher

To read "The
Wilderness of
Abraham,
Jesus & Israel-
Palestine,"
click here.

To view "The
Garden of
Gethsemane
and Church
of All Nations,"
click here.

To view
"Pilgrimage
to Bethlehem,
Birthplace
of Jesus,"
click here.

To view
"Into the
Heat of the
Hebron
Cauldon,"
click here.

To view
"Confession
of a Gentile in
Jerusalem: The
Paradox of the 5
Shekel Blessing,"
click here.

To view Group
photos of
Cincinnati
Pilgrims in
Jerusalem click
here.

To read "A
Reflection of
Jerusalem & the
New Jerusalem
from the Ground,"
click here.

To view
"The Call
for Simon
Peter,
Fisherman,"
click here.

To view
"Caesarea
Maritima
as Known
to Saint
Paul," click
here.

To view "In
Search of the
Messianic
Secret -
Caesarea
Phillipi," click
here.

To view
"Two Very
Different
Houses"
click here.

To read "Jury
for Jericho,"
click here.

IN THE UPPER ROOM

WANGNEWS SERVICE

An Independent Source of News & Views

To view
"The
Empty
Tomb"
click
here.

To read
"Descending
to the Dead
Sea and
Ascending to
Qumran,"
click here.

To read
"The Road
to Emmaus,"
click here.

To read
"In Search
of Lazarus,"
click here.

Hagia Maria Sion Abbey of the Virgin Mary

The Passover with the Disciples
On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He
said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” ’ So the
disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were
eating, he said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’
He answered, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom
the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’ Judas, who betrayed him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi?’ He replied,
‘You have said so.’
The Institution of the Lord’s Supper
While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ Then he took
a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’ When they
had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Matthew 26:17-30

The Passover with the Disciples
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations
for you to eat the Passover?’ So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and
wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show
you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had
told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus
said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’ They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, ‘Surely, not I?’ He
said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by
whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’
The Institution of the Lord’s Supper
While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and
after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I
tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’ Mark 14:12-25.

The Preparation of the Passover
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover
meal for us that we may eat it.’ They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’ ‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered the
city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is the
guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ” He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’ So
they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
The Institution of the Lord’s Supper
When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I
suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it
among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and
when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the
same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and
his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!’ Then they began to ask one
another which one of them it could be who would do this. Luke 22:7-23.

Jesus Foretells His Betrayal
After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, ‘Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of
whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of
whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when
I have dipped it in the dish.’ So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan
entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘Do quickly what you are going to do.’ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because
Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the festival’; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the
piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. John 13:21-30.

The Upper Room
When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. Acts 1:13.

DORMITION ABBEY

THE CENACLE OF THE LAST SUPPER

The Upper or Upstairs Room where the Last Supper with Jesus is reported to have taken place (especially in the Synoptic Gospels) is also known as the
Cenacle (from the Latin cenaculum; cena meaning dinner). On this famous venue stands today a Gothic structure dating back to the Crusades. This room is
thought to be the remnant of the Basilica of Saint Mary which had five aisles. Beneath rest many older construction, including Theodosius' Holy Zion Church
which in turn stands over a Jewish synagogue or meeting room. The room today is comprised of six rib-vaulted bays. Between the second and third bays is a
Corinthian-style capital with leaves which blossom into scrolls. The capitals of the other columns are less intricate and vary in style and show varying
degrees of erosion, thus giving rise to an unsolved mystery of how this room was actually completed. Since its construction this room of sanctuary has been
used for various purposes as indicated by the presence of a mihrab.   Today, care of the site has reverted to the Franciscans and it is accessible to all in
search of the last supper of Scripture.   Above the Upper Room rises a muezzin tower in honor of Nabi Dawud. Like many other famous sites in Jerusalem,
the upper room has a competitor - the Syriac Orthodox Church monastery of Saint Mark near the Armenian Quarter, inside the Old City of Jerusalem.

This modern Mount Zion location has traditionally been associated with Mary and the adjoining structure is the Dormition Abbey or the Basilica of the
Assumption, (see photographs below).   According to local tradition, it is here that Mary was bodily taken up into Heaven. The site overlays the 4th century
Hagia Maria Sion and the 11th century Franciscan Church of the Dormition, commemorating the "falling to sleep" of the Virgin. The modern stone building,
completed in 1910 by German Benedictines, is citadel-like and circular with several niches with altars and a choir. Two spiral staircases provide access to the
crypt and the site of the assumption. Today the Abbey and its community, the Hagia Maria Sion Abbey of the Virgin Mary, is supervised by the the
Abbot-Primate of the Benedictines in Rome.

Adjoining the Abbey and the Cenacle is the Tomb of David - indeed that site is on the ground floor beneath the Cenacle at the corner of the old Byzantine
Hagia Sion. Interestingly, no claim of David's Tomb was made until the 12th century when a tomb was discovered during renovations.   Crusaders later
placed the original tomb into a stone sarcophagus which can be seen at present. To this day, the content of the sarcophagus has never been examined, even
as to the question as to whether there is anything inside - at least there is no record of such an inquiry (although the Jewish historian Josephus wrote in the
1st century that the Tomb had already been looted before the reign of Herod the Great). The authenticity of this site as being David's Tomb is also
challenged by the account of 1 Kings 2:10 that the king was buried in the City of David [not part of modern Mount Zion which is several hundred yard to the
Northeast] with his ancestors [meaning that it cannot be a single tomb]. A bigger than life sculpture of King David enthroned and playing the harp can be
seen outside the tomb - or more appropriately the cenotaph as the actual body of David has never been identified. This site is now part of the Diaspora
Yeshiva and is visited by Jewish pilgrims during Shavuot, traditionally the anniversary of David's death.

The pilgrims of the St. George's bible course visited the sites just described above during April 2010 by entering through the Zion Gate, one of the eight gates
of the Old City. The Zion Gate opens into the Armenian and Jewish Quarters.   This gate is also known as the King David Gate for the reason given above.
The present day gate was built in 1540 for the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and the city walls that are seen today also date to the time of the
Turks. The stones of the gate retain the bullet holes made during the Arab Israeli war of 1948 through which the vanguard of the Jewish Haganah passed to
reach the Temple Mount itself. At the end of the conflict, Mount Zion including the Tomb of David fell on the Israeli side of the Green Line. The visitor is
constantly reminded that Jerusalem is also a hill country fortress scarred by war and her on-going story is one that is over-laid with the history of empire
gained, lost, regained by many at the point of the sword, of cycles of liberation and oppression. Tel Jerusalem is like the proverbial
onion - one big built-up mound layered with traditions and storied with diversity. Today, the Upper Room, Cenotaph of David, Mary's Abbey
and the Minaret of Nabi Dawud together is a moving, and hopefully definitive, example of shared religious use of sublime space in today's
Jerusalem, the Holy City of God.   Charleston C. K. Wang, December 25, 2012. Peace and Goodwill to all Humanity in 2013!