I have not been to Jerusalem, but I do hope to visit there some day. However, in a recent Bible class the teacher showed a photo he took from the top of the Mount of Olives with the Kidron Valley between it and the Temple Mound. He was showing this to explain how Jesus wept over Jerusalem just before his Triumphal Entry. He went on to explain that route Jesus would have to take would lead him down into the Kidron Valley and then up to Jerusalem.

Looking at that photo I was impressed on how deep and narrow the Kidron Valley is. This made me pull out my phone and make a quick internet search. (I know I shouldn’t have done it during Bible Class.) The search told me that Kidron means dark or dusky. I’m guessing it got that moniker because it is narrow and running north to south it must not get a lot of direct sunlight. The entry also mentioned that there are several ancient tombs in the valley, and many date back to the First Century and before.

This made me realize what wonderful metaphor all of this made. Jesus had just wept looking down on Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. He then descended down into the dark valley of death, to rise up into the light and enter the Temple. And by entering it the Glory of God had returned to the Temple. With this, Jesus acted out his entire mission. He was doing symbolically what he was about to do in reality.

This also brought to my mind the 23^rd Psalm. “Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou are with me.” Maybe David was giving another Messianic prophecy.

#Jesus, #Kidron Valley, #23^rd Psalm