“The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob” (Psalm 87:2 NIV).
“Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep'” (John 10:7).
What a wonderful time we had in Israel this past summer! Robin and I learned so much in the land of the Bible. I took thousands of photos, but my eye was often drawn to the gates of old city Jerusalem.
Most of the walls and gates surrounding Jerusalem that we see today were rebuilt by the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman, in 1535 AD. The walls that stood during the time of Jesus were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. During the following centuries Jerusalem’s walls were destroyed and rebuilt several times by both Muslims and Crusaders.
The exception is the gate near the temple mount, called the Eastern Gate or Golden Gate. It was rebuilt in 520 AD by the emperor, Justinian the Great, as part of his restoration program for Jerusalem, making it the oldest of the gates. Archaeological evidence of an earlier gate dating back to the 1st century has been discovered at the base of the Eastern Gate, suggesting that Justinian built it on top of the ruins of the gate that Jesus would have known. The Eastern gate was sealed in 1541 AD by Suleiman after his completion of the present walls surrounding Jerusalem. It remains sealed to this day.
Every gate has a unique appearance and allows entrance to a different part of the old city. In fact, each gate is so distinct in size and detail that we immediately knew where we were after only touring the city for a few days. Every gate has its own name and character. I love looking at my photos of them!
There’s the wide open Jaffa Gate that leads into the Christian Quarter of the old city and points towards the West and the road to the seaside city of Jaffa. It’s the gate that Robin and I entered almost every day in Jerusalem. It feels the most modern and accessible. Then there’s the great Damascus Gate to the North that used to connect to the road to Damascus, Syria. It opens to the old city’s Muslim Quarter and marketplace. It is always the most crowded, especially on Fridays and Saturdays as both tourists and locals take time to search for bargains at the many shops just inside its massive gates. This gate was just a short walk from the Garden Tomb and our hotel, the St. George Landmark.
One of my favorite gates is the Lions Gate, so named probably because of the four lions carved into its face. This gate faces East and is the gate leading to the Via Dolorosa and the Stations of the Cross that we followed on several devotional walks as we contemplated Christ’s carrying the cross to Calvary.
I have photos of all the gates because I’ve entered each one and admired their unique appearance. I wish I had space here to share them all. Perhaps I’ll discuss the gates of Jerusalem in upcoming blogs as I have time.
Having seen these gates and experienced their distinctive beauty, I’m not surprised to read that the psalmist spoke of the Lord’s love for them. I’m also more deeply aware of the historicity and validity of Christ’s claim to be the one and only, unique gate for the sheep.
The resurrected Lord Jesus is both the Good Shepherd and the Gate. He is our only access to eternal life and a relationship with the Father. He alone has opened the gate for us.
Thank you for your inspirational website .I’m very much pleased and interested with your theological training to a group of pastors and church leaders. We have 100 students who would wish to learn the course of theology .We welcome you to our non denominational organized group of pastors operating in Kenya East Africa with more than 100 discipleship students due to the fact that most pastors are not theologically trained and they support themselves in their own planted church ministries in the rural village we intend to conduct a tuition free Bible or discipleship classes one day of each week 9 am-4pm for a whole year and every year April, August ,November we conduct a revival conference which attracts more than 300-500 pastors, church leaders and mature Christians for a revival and anointing conference to send them to gather souls, save and win them to Christ .Our prayer request is to find men and women of God with gifts and talents in support of theological training needs here in Kenya East Africa .
Yours faithfully
Rev. Stephen Sarara
Kenya East Africa
Thank you for your comment, Rev. Stephen. Our website was built with students like yours in mind. I have spent much time in Uganda working with Pastor George Mbonye in teaching and training church planters who have little to no theological training. The reason we post our sermons with transcripts is in hopes that it will help other pastors rightly divide the Word of God. May the Lord bless your work in Kenya.