Meditation on the Mount of Olives

“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them” (John 8:1-2 NIV).

This Sunday I’m preaching from John 8 where Jesus made his second “I AM” saying. John begins the chapter by clearly describing the setting. He said that Jesus spent the night on the Mount of Olives and then arose at dawn to “appear” again in the temple courts to teach.

I love the language John uses. Jesus comes down from the Mount of Olives, which is East of the Temple Mount. He moves as the sun comes up. And as the light of day strikes the Eastern Gate, Jesus enters the Temple courts and “appears” just as the sun does.

According to John 7, Jesus had traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Also called Sukkot (Hebrew for “booths”), this is the feast reminding the Jews of how they lived in temporary shelters in the wilderness for 40 years when God brought them out of Egypt into the Promised Land. It is also a festival marked by the lighting of four candelabras in the women’s court of the temple to commemorate the way God led them through the wilderness with a pillar of fire at night and to remind them of the how his shekinah glory shown forth from the first Tabernacle.

It was in this setting, that Jesus declared, “I AM the Light of the world” (John 8:12). The light of the sun that rose above the Mount of Olives and appeared over the Eastern Gate to drive away the shadows on the Temple Mount was beautiful in its glory. The four candelabras (standing over 70 feet tall according to the Mishnah) could be seen from anywhere in Jerusalem as they were kept lit for the seven day festival of Sukkot. But all this light only pointed to the one true Light of Jesus.

It was in this place of wonderful light that Jesus made clear that he is the only true light in the world. He made the sun and moon and stars. He alone is the source of all light. And he alone is the only One that can deliver us from the darkness in this world today.

I’ve stood on the Mount of Olives in the early morning, reading the gospels and watching the sun rise on Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives stands about 200 feet above the Temple Mount and you can see the whole city of Jerusalem clearly from there. It is wondrous. And it was a place that Jesus loved.

Meditating on the Mount of Olives has caused a longing in my heart to see the One who not only loved this place, but loved us enough to come, offering himself to be our Light in the darkness.

Here’s a short video I recorded on my iPhone while there…