Its Recorded History
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East of Jerusalem lay a ridge which for millennia has been known as the Mount of Olives. Also known as Olivet, its soil is ideal for the growth of olive trees, and hence it receives its name. Ironically, however, it is not for olives for which the mount is best known or most remembered. The Savior frequented Bethany, which Luke places at the Mount of Olives, and it is at the descent of the mount that the triumphal entry of the Lord into Jerusalem occurs. Matthew places the Savior at the Mount of Olives when His disciples’ questions about the destruction of Jerusalem, the Lord’s second coming, and the end of the world were answered. The Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in agony and was betrayed and arrested, is located on Olivet’s lower slopes, and from the Mount of Olives the Lord ascended. The legacy attached to our own name, like that of the Mount of Olives, will depend less upon to whom the name is given, and more upon its recorded history.
Written and voiced by David Hayes Prophater