9 Days: Protestant Holy Week and Easter in Jerusalem, Sunrise at the Garden Tomb

Your pilgrimage begins as you land at Ben Gurion Airport, where our team gives you a warm welcome. We drive up to Jerusalem, the city at the heart of Holy Week, and you settle into your hotel. This evening we gather for dinner and a quiet time of prayer, preparing our hearts for the days ahead.

"I rejoiced with those who said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord."

Psalm 122:1

This morning we go up to the Mount of Olives for the great view over the old city. We walk the Palm Sunday road down through Bethphage, the way the Lord rode into Jerusalem to the shouts of the crowd. We pause at Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept over the city, and end in the Garden of Gethsemane among its ancient olive trees.

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

Matthew 21:9

We travel the short road to Bethlehem and enter the Basilica of the Nativity, kneeling at the silver star that marks the birthplace of Jesus. We visit Shepherds' Field, where the angels announced the good news. In the afternoon we drive to Ein Karem, the birthplace of John the Baptist and the place where Mary sang the Magnificat.

"She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger."

Luke 2:7

Today we go to Mount Zion and the Upper Room, where Jesus shared the Last Supper and washed the feet of his disciples. We visit the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu, built over the house of Caiaphas, where the Lord was held through the night. We pray at the Western Wall and stop at the Pool of Bethesda, with its beautiful Church of Saint Anne.

"A new command I give you, love one another."

John 13:34

This morning we visit Bethany, the town of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, whom the Lord raised from the dead, and pray at the Tomb of Lazarus. In the afternoon we return to the Mount of Olives for a quiet time of prayer, with the whole city spread out below us, as the final days of the week draw near.

"I am the resurrection and the life."

John 11:25

The day is kept gentle and prayerful. In the evening we gather for a Communion service in remembrance of the Last Supper, then walk to the Garden of Gethsemane for the Maundy Thursday vigil, keeping watch in prayer where Jesus prayed on the night he was betrayed.

"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me."

Matthew 26:39

On Good Friday we walk the Via Dolorosa, the fourteen stations of the Way of the Cross, from the place of judgment through the narrow streets of the old city. We come to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which holds both Calvary and the empty tomb. In the afternoon we gather at the Garden Tomb for a quiet Good Friday reflection.

"Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull."

John 19:17

We drive down to the Jordan River at Qasr al-Yahud, where Jesus was baptized, and you may renew your own baptismal promises in the water. We pass through Jericho, the oldest city on earth, and see the Mount of Temptation. We end at the shore of the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, for a time of rest before the great morning to come.

"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water."

Matthew 3:16

Before dawn we gather at the Garden Tomb for the Easter sunrise service, standing before the empty tomb as the light comes up over Jerusalem. Together we celebrate the Resurrection with songs of joy and Holy Communion. Later we share a farewell meal, carrying home the wonder of having stood where he rose, before your evening transfer to the airport.

"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."

Matthew 28:6