Mount of Olives

 

Location

 

The Mount of Olives is located just opposite the Temple Mount on the east side of Old City Jerusalem.

 

Historical Background

 

1. The Mount of Olives has played a significant role in the Bible.

 

2. It is from where Christ ascended back to heaven.

 

3. It is where Christ, along with all believers, will return to at Christ’s second coming.

 

Places of Interest

 

1. Kidron Valley (Valley of Jehoshaphat)

 

2. Garden of Gethsemane

 

3. Mary’s Tomb (mother of Jesus)

 

4. Church of Mary Magdalene

 

5. Church of Dominus Flevit (where Christ wept over Jerusalem)

 

6. Triumphal Entry Path

 

7. Bethphage (beginning place of the Triumphal Entry on the backside of the Mount of Olives)

 

8. Tomb of Lazarus (backside of the Mount of Olives)

 

9. 3,000-year-old cemetery with 150,000 Gravesites

 

10. Chapel of the Ascension (where Christ ascended to heaven and will return to at His second coming)

 

11. Pater Noster Church (where Christ taught the Lord’s Prayer)

 

12. Absalom’s Monument

 

13. Tomb of the Prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi)

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Mount of Olives in the Bible

 

1. When King David’s son, Absalom, tried to take over the kingship, David ascended the Mount of Olives as he fled Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 15:30: But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.

 

2. It’s where Jesus regularly stayed when He ministered in Jerusalem.
Luke 21:37: And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet.

 

3. It’s the believed place where Christ taught His disciples to pray after visiting Mary and Martha’s home in Bethany (Pater Noster Church).
Luke 11:1: One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

 

4. On the backside of the Mount of Olives (at Bethany), Christ raised Lazarus from the dead. 
John 11:32–36: Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"

 

5. Jesus descended the Mount of Olives during His Triumphal Entry (Triumphal Entry Path).
Luke 19:35–38: And they brought it [colt of a donkey] to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

 

6. Christ wept over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives (Church of Dominus Flevit).
Luke 19:41–44: And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.

 

7. The Garden of Gethsemane, located at the base of the Mount of Olives, is where the suffering of Christ began.

 

• Christ’s sweat became like drops of blood. 

Luke 22:39–44: And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

 

• Peter cut off the ear of the High Priest’s guard.

 

• Christ was arrested, and the disciples fled.

 

8. Christ’s return and the destruction of Jerusalem were foretold from the Mount of Olives.
Matthew 24:3: As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"

 

9. On the top of the Mount of Olives is where Christ ascended back to heaven (Chapel of the Ascension).
Acts 1:9–11: And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

 

10. On top of the Mount of Olives is where Christ will return at the end of the Tribulation Period.
Matthew 24:29–31: Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

Zechariah 14:4: On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.

 

11. At the base of the Mount of Olives lies the Kidron Valley (Valley of Jehoshaphat) where Christ will judge unbelievers at the end of the Tribulation Period.
Joel 3:2: I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land.

 

Revelation 14:19–20: So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia [200 miles, or 300 kilometers].

 

Faith Lesson from the Mount of Olives

 

1. Christ’s return on the Mount of Olives is where everything culminates and flips. Righteousness becomes dominant and evil bows its knees.

 

2. We will return with Christ in power and great glory. What hope believers have in Christ.

 

3. We will reign with Christ for 1,000 years from Jerusalem during Christ’s Millennial Reign.

 

4. Because of our hope as believers, are we motivated to serve Christ and live for Him?

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