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The Mount of Olives in YEHOVAH God’s Plan 13

of Holies of the Temple, the condemned man had a clear, unobstructed view of the ONLY entrance
to the Temple on its EASTERN side. Therefore, the Messiah died on the Mount of Olives facing the
Temple and “in the presence of YEHOVAH.”

There is no doubt that Yeshua was led, like the Red Heifer (Israel’s holiest sin sacrifice),
from the Temple through the Eastern gate, across the Kidron bridge and up the ascent of the Mount
of Olives to the summit. Writes Peter Michas –

This was the only path from the Temple to the summit that afforded ritual purity necessary
for an acceptable sacrifice. And, just as the Red Heifer’s face was turned toward the en-
trance of the Temple as it was sacrificed, so too Yeshua died -- the ultimate holy sacrifice --
His face turned toward the Temple! (The Rod of an Almond Tree in God’s Master Plan,p.
92).

There is other evidence from the New Testament to show that the death of the Messiah oc-
curred on the Mount of Olives. It is recorded that at the exact moment of the Messiah’s death the
huge veil of the Temple was torn in two from TOP to bottom. Matthew writes that this event was
witnessed by the Roman centurion (and others) -- who were so convicted by it that they exclaimed
that the Messiah was the “Son of God [YEHOVAH].” Since this veil was attached to the front of the
Temple, the only place the witnesses could see it from was the Mount of Olives -- the only place in
Jerusalem that afforded the crucial vantage point required to see this event.

The Garden Site

The New Testament identifies
the place of crucifixion as a garden -- see
John 19:

Now in the place where He was
crucified there was a garden, and
in the garden a new tomb in
which no one had yet been laid
(Verse 41).

So there they laid Jesus, because
of the Jew’s Preparation Day, for
the tomb was nearby (Verse 42).
Pater Noster Church (on the Mount of Olives) which sits on
The Greek word translated “gar- the burial tomb of the Messiah
den” in verse 41 does not refer to a gar-
den in our Western sense. Rather, it
describes a “tree orchard.” During the time of Yeshua the Messiah -- and up to the destruction of the
Temple in 70 A.D. -- olive tree orchards covered a large area of the Mount of Olives. This included
the place called Gethsemane, where an olive press was located. Therefore, as we have seen, the
Mount of Olives fits the actual New Testament description of the place where the Messiah was both
put to death and buried.

The Berean Voice March-April 2003