Crossing from Jerusalem to Jericho via the Ascent of Adummim, the ancient road that connected the two cities, one can almost imagine what a spectacle Herod’s Jericho Palace would have been to those coming over the last hill and looking down onto a beautiful stone structure and gardens designed and built by Herod the Great and still in use at the time of Jesus’ journey to Jericho recorded in Luke 18:35-42 (Jesus’ healing of blind Bartemeus) and Luke 19:1-10 (Zacheus)
At the time of Jesus, it is unlikely that Jericho was a city. More likely, it was a Roman Estate, a customs and immigration point. This would explain the presence of both Zacheus (a Jew collecting taxes for the Romans from those wishing to go to Jerusalem from points east) and blind Bartemeus who would have been in Jericho hoping to shake loose some Shekels from the traders and political elite passing through on their way in or out of Jerusalem.
All that is left today of Herod’s Jericho palace is ruins, but with a little imagination, one can picture the great palace, gardens and pools, a lush oasis in the middle of the Judean desert.
