There is something eternally special about the Mount of Olives. It seems to be a sanctified port of entry, and exit, for God’s divine transitions between heaven and earth.
Also known as Mount Olivet, it is more like a hill that sits directly east of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, looking upon it in peaceful tranquility. For millennia, its hillside has been covered with olive trees, many of which are still found there today. At its base lies the Garden of Gethsemane, the site where Jesus prayed in anguish on the night before His crucifixion, while His apostles could not keep awake to support Him. Jesus knew the hour of His suffering was at hand, an hour that would fulfill the righteous requirement of atonement for the sin of humankind. It was a most crucial, yet excruciatingly difficult, hour.
Centuries before the time of Christ, Ezekiel saw a divine vision of the glorious presence of God departing from the Temple. Leaving due to the unbending idolatry of Judah and its leaders, the glory of God moved up and away from its residence in the Holy of Holies. It paused momentarily at the east gate of the Temple, then moved out, briefly stopping over the Mount of Olives to the east.
18 Then the glory of the Lord moved out from the entrance of the Temple and hovered above the cherubim. 19 And as I watched, the cherubim flew with their wheels to the east gate of the Lord’s Temple. And the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. Ezekiel 10:18-19 (NLT)
22 Then the cherubim lifted their wings and rose into the air with their wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 23 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the city and stopped above the mountain to the east. Ezekiel 11:22-23 (NLT)
As the glory of the Lord departed the temple, the reality of the spiritual chasm that existed between a holy God and His sinful people was painfully apparent. God’s great plan of redemption that had begun with the call of Abraham and continued on through Moses, King David, and the prophets, now appeared to have been a failure.
But God’s plan did not fail, and in fact, the peoples’ failure to keep the covenant did not surprise Him. As foreshadowed when Abraham was instructed by the Lord to bring Isaac to Mount Moriah as a sin sacrifice, which God did not permit to go through, this chosen location would one day be the same place where the Father would permit the sacrifice of His own beloved Son, Jesus, on the cross at Calvary. God always had this loving plan of redemption in mind for the salvation of people everywhere, throughout history, asking only that we have faith and humbly seek to repent of our sins.
In Ezekiel’s vision, the Spirit of God briefly rested over the Mount of Olives before ascending into heaven. Why might this be? Perhaps the Lord paused to reflect upon Jesus’ future hour of suffering at Gethsemane and Calvary, where such a painful, yet vital, transaction of divine love and reconciliation would one day take place.
Jesus prayed intensely at the Mount of Olives on the night before His crucifixion, but the Mount would also His place of departure from earth after His resurrection. Jesus successfully lived a life without sin, carried out a three year ministry of healing and teaching about the coming kingdom of heaven, laid down His life as a sacrifice on the cross for believers everywhere, then was raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father.
Forty days after His resurrection from the dead, after appearing to over five hundred of His disciples, Jesus met with some of His closest followers on the Mount of Olives to give them final instructions. Then, before their eyes, He ascended from there, disappearing into heaven.
9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile. Acts 1:9-12 (NLT)
The Mount of Olives is the location where the Lord’s presence twice left earth to return to heaven. Both Ezekiel and Jesus tell us that it will also be the place where He will return one day to rule and reign, this time for eternity. May the Lord help us all to be ready for His return to the Mount, coming on the clouds of heaven.
Reflection
Father God, I turn to You in faith because of Your great love for me. Thank You for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to atone for all of my confessed sins and shortcomings. Help me to be ready for Jesus’ return, working alongside your Holy Spirit to touch and impact the lives of people. Teach me to live a life of patience, forgiveness, purity, and love for all those around me, each one imperfect, like me. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Have a blessed and beautiful day in the Lord today.
Something extra today, if you have a moment:
For a peaceful meditation, here is a selection from Psalm 86, which tells of the goodness of the Lord.
3 Be gracious to me, Lord,
For I call upon You all day long.
4 Make the soul of Your servant joyful,
For to You, Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in mercy to all who call upon You.
6 Listen, Lord, to my prayer;
And give Your attention to the sound of my pleading!
7 On the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For You will answer me.
8 There is no one like You among the gods, Lord,
Nor are there any works like Yours.
9 All nations whom You have made will come and worship before You, Lord,
And they will glorify Your name.
10 For You are great, and you do wondrous deeds;
You alone are God.
11 Teach me Your way, Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.
12 I will give thanks to You, Lord my God, with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forever.
13 For Your graciousness toward me is great,
And You have saved my soul from the depths of Sheol.
15 But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
Slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth.
16 Turn to me, and be gracious to me;
Grant Your strength to Your servant,
And save the son of Your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign of good,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. Psalm 86:3-13,15-17 (NASB)
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 