The hill that might be Golgotha: Note the two "eyes" of the skull overlooking the Garden Tomb. The "mouth" once visible is now covered by a city street. |
Earlier, I listed all the stuff I saw and experienced on my
ten-day trip to Israel (see Israel--a ten-day adventure). Now, I’d like to
focus on my favorite experiences in the Holy Land. These are the things I would most like to see
again, and would most highly recommend to anyone traveling there. It was hard to limit myself to just ten, but
over the next two posts, I’d like to list my ten favorite things, in no
particular order.
The Garden Tomb: Hands-down, this was the
most meaningful place for me. The
traditional site for Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection is inside the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is an
ancient church that is an impressive site in its own right. There is a shrine over the place where the cross
was thought to be planted and another over the grotto where the resurrection is
thought to have occurred. The church has
existed for over 1500 years. Kings have
been consecrated here. To this day,
pilgrims come from thousands of miles away to pray at the Anointing Stone,
which they believe to be the very rock slab that Jesus’ body was laid upon as
it was prepared for burial. The problem
is…I don’t believe it. The Church is a
site of profound veneration, but I doubt seriously that this was where my
salvation took place. I will not take
the time to explain here, but you can examine the arguments online easily.
"Calvary" at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Note the person kneeling beneath the table in the foreground. He is praying over a hole some believe is the place where Christ's cross was planted. |
The Garden
Tomb was discovered in the mid-1800s.
Observers noted a small hill just outside the city gates (Scripture says
Christ was crucified outside the gates) that appeared to be shaped like a
skull. Excavations revealed an olive
press that dated to the first century AD, and a nearby tomb cut into the
limestone. Today, the Garden Tomb is
administered by a British ministry. Our
guide at the Garden Tomb was Graham, a retired pastor from Liverpool (Yes, he
went to school with two of the Beatles, though he didn’t say which two). As he said, “This may or may not be the exact
place where Christ was crucified, buried and raised. The important thing is that it did happen.” Sitting in that quiet place, I could picture
my Lord dying for me. Walking into the
small tomb, I saw the groove where the stone would have been rolled into
place. I saw the chamber where the body
would have lain. If it didn’t happen
here, it happened in a place much like this.
The Garden Tomb |
The groove where the stone would have been set, sealing the tomb. Someone was buried here in the First Century. It may have been Jesus. |
Christ Church: It’s not so much the
place as the person I met here that makes this one of my favorite
locations. Christ Church is the oldest Protestant
church in the Middle East. Our tour leader,
Tim, had arranged for us to meet there with a Messianic Christian, Linda
Cohen. Linda was actually born and
raised in New Jersey, in a conservative Jewish family. When her mother died on Rosh Hashanah, she
began to question her faith in God. She had
a friend who was a strong Christian, who invited her to church one Christmas
Eve when she was seventeen. Her first
experience of Christian worship was very moving; these people seemed to really
know and trust God, rather than simply repeating ancient rituals. She began attending a Bible study with her
friend during college. Eventually, she
prayed, “Jesus, if you’re real, please show me.” Jesus took away the profound pain she felt
over the loss of her mother and other loved ones. Linda now works for an organization called The
Church’s Ministry to Jews (CMJ). She has
lived in Jerusalem since 1999, and considers it her home. There are now 15-20,000 Messianic Jews in
Israel, and although the overall number of Christians in the Holy Land is declining,
CMJ is seeing significant growth and openness among Jews in recent years.
Hezekiah’s Tunnel: When the fierce
Assyrian army threatened to besiege Judah some 700 years before Christ,
righteous King Hezekiah knew that if the Jews were to survive a long siege,
they would need a water source. So he
ordered a tunnel to be dug funneling the waters of the Gihon Spring beneath the
walls of Jerusalem and into the city. We
walked Hezekiah’s tunnel. It is nearly
600 yards long, filled with water that is shin-deep (it came up to my thigh at
one point). It took us 23 minutes to
walk the entire distance. The tunnel is
narrow—my shoulders nearly touched on both sides—and short—I had to stoop for
over half the walk. It’s also pitch
dark; we had to carry flashlights. It’s
not a place for claustrophobics. But it was a fun, unique experience that I heartily
recommend.
Inside Hezekiah's tunnel. Note how narrow it is, and the depth of the water. |
The Valley of Hinnom: It’s ironic for
this site to make the list. The Valley
of Hinnom was the site of child sacrifice to the false god Molech during the
Old Testament era. They also called it
Topheth, place of the drums, because the worshippers beat drums to drown out
the screams of infants being cast into the fire.
As we stood overlooking that valley, I thought about Solomon, once so
wise and close to God, watching as his own infant sons were killed there,
sacrificed to the beliefs of his pagan wives.
It made me think about how easily we can allow sin to take us places we
never thought we’d go, cause us to make decisions which would have been
unimaginable before. I pictured young
King Josiah smashing idols and purifying the Valley hundreds of years
later. And then I pictured Jesus
standing over the valley, talking about the fate that awaits those who reject
God’s grace. By then, the Jews had transformed
Hinnom into a dumping ground for garbage and the bodies of the unclaimed dead. There, the fires never went out. The stench must have been unimaginable. In the Aramaic that Jesus spoke, the place
was called Gehenna, and Jesus used it as a metaphor for Hell. Today, Gehenna looks like any other valley. But Christ’s words about it remind us that
everyone will spend eternity somewhere. That knowledge should motivate us to share His love with people who haven't experienced it yet.
Gehenna today |
Mount of Olives: Jerusalem sits on a
hill overlooking two valleys-The Valley of Hinnom and the Kidron Valley. Across Kidron stands the Mount of
Olives. This is where Jesus taught His
Olivet Discourse, about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Day of
Judgment (Matthew 24-25). On the
backside of the Mount is the ancient city of Bethany, where Jesus stayed at the
home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha during the week of His crucifixion. Somewhere on the Mount of Olives was a garden
of olive trees called Gethsemane (“Olive Press”). And Jesus was standing with His disciples on
the Mount when He ascended into Heaven.
We walked up the Mount and saw how very steep it is. Jesus was in good shape to make that trip every
day during Holy Week. We saw His view of
the city of Jerusalem as He made that walk.
We saw a Jewish cemetery there, where visitors have placed rocks on the
vaults (rocks are more permanent than flowers; a sign that someone has
visited). And we remembered that Christ
is coming back, the same way He left us from that Mountain. On that day, graves won’t hold His people.
The view Jesus would have had walking to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. |
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