#12 … Thursday – May 8th [The Resurrection and the Start of the
Church]
Today was
our last day here in Jerusalem. Did I
tell you that this is a hilly place? And
everything is limestone rock --- that you walk on, sit on, climb, etc.
Here are
three things that what we did before heading back to Tel Aviv for our midnight
flight home ….
First - The Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb is located north of
the Damascus Gate, was suggested in the 19th century as an
alternative site of Calvary and Jesus’s tomb. In Jerusalem for a visit in 1883, General
Charles Gordon spied a prominent rocky crag which looked to him like it could
be the "place of the skull" mentioned in the Bible as where Jesus was
crucified.
Around the
corner Gordon identified an ancient tomb and putting the two together he
located the hill of crucifixion and the nearby burial place.
The slope has eroded badly in the
last hundred years, but some maintain they can still see the eye sockets and
the nose bridge. Regardless, it must be noted that while the Bible
locates the crucifixion at the "place of the skull," it never says
that it was on a hill, nor that this place bore the resemblance of a
skull. It also could be asked if this hill which resembles a skull looked
the same 2000 years ago.
This is the place believed by many to
be the resting place of Jesus. Some archaeologists question the
authenticity of this tomb because typological features suggest that it is a
tomb originally hewn in the time of the Old Testament and not a "new
tomb" as specifically stated in Scripture.
While the
setting is very suggestive of what the garden would have looked like in the
time of Jesus, excavations would seem to indicate that the tomb is too ancient
to have been the one built by Joseph of Arimathea.
Second – The Mount of Olives. Also known as Olivet, Mount Olivet,
and Har HaZeitim.
The Mount of Olives is the2900-foot hill facing the old
city of Jerusalem, on the eastern side of Kidron valley. The two-mile
long ridge has three summits each of which has a tower built on it. Its name came from the olive trees that once
grew on its hillside from ancient times.
According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will appear here and bring
the dead back to life. Therefore, the hillside became the most holiest
cemetery, and the hillside is covered by thousands of grave stones.
Old Testament: The hill is first referred in the Bible when King David
flees the city (2 Samuel 15: 30, see references). King Solomon erected altars on the hill dedicated to false
alien gods. They were later destroyed by King Josiah who "filled it with
bones" to prevent future worships. Prophet Zechariah talks about the
day of Judgment, with Mount of Olives its epicenter of God's fiery fight
against the enemies of Jerusalem.
New Testament: Mount of Olives is associated with acts in the life of
Jesus. Several churches mark these places: Pater Noster church, the place
where according to tradition Jesus taught his disciples the Lords prayer; the
tear-shaped church of Dominus Flevit ("the Lord wept") where Jesus wept over the future
destruction of the city; Gethsemane (Gat Shemanim) where Jesus was betrayed and arrested.
Middle Ages: Until the 12th C AD the Jews used to come and pray from the top of
mount of olives, since it has a great view of the temple Mount. During Sukkoth
(Tabernacles - a Jewish religious festival) they conducted parades on the
hillside.
Third – The
Southern Steps of the Temple Mount.
The main
public access to the Temple was from the Southern Steps. People entered and exited through a double
and triple gate, together called the Huldah Gate. These gates had to handle enormous crowds
during the feast days; estimates as high as 150,000 at a time. As Jewish pilgrims would approach the temple,
they would begin to chant the Psalms of Ascent [Psalms
120 – 134]. They communicated the
idea of moving up to God and your soul moving closer to God.
In this area
there are a number of ritual baths from the time of Christ, and it is believed
that this is where the founding of the early church took place (Acts 2).
Looking forward to being home in our
own church – Grace Community on Sunday, May 11th!!
No comments:
Post a Comment