A Garden, a Tomb and a Mission

A View of Jerusalem from Mt. Scopus

Most places in Israel I find easy to write about: The Road to Switzerland, The Galilee, The Dead Sea and so on. For some reason, I'm discovering that it is tougher to write about Jerusalem. I find myself wondering why and saying to myself "just sit down and pick an area"; and I can do that! But Jerusalem is so complex that I want to do more. I can and will continue to take you to places in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel, but it is very difficult to capture such a city in words.

In my last blog, I left you at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the end of the Via Dolorosa and, very possibly, the area of the crucifixion and the burial of Jesus (just thirty feet or so below it). Before we look at a few more places within and without the Old City, I want to take you to the place that I like to visualize as the burial place of our Lord, the Garden of the Tomb.

    

What is know as Skull Hill sits just outside the
Damascus Gate

In 1842 a German theologian named Otto Thenius suggested that an outcropping of rock, just outside the Damascus Gate and near what is today a bus station, resembled a skull and might possibly be "Skull Hill" or Golgotha.  That theory was unexplored for some time until British General Charles Gordon began to publicize similar ideas in 1883. In 1867 an ancient Jewish tomb had been unearthed near to "Skull Hill" and many began to believe that this might be the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. The structure fit the description of the tomb of a wealthy Jew quite well and followed the details given in the 
Gospels: having a low doorway and a trough for a rolling stone that would have sealed the grave. Nearby, a large cistern and wine press from the Second Temple Period were later found, giving even greater credence to the idea that this was the garden and the tomb of a wealthy man. 

The Garden Tomb fits the description of a rich man's tomb of
the Second Temple Period.

Waiting for the Easter Service to Begin

Easter Sunday worshippers wait to
enter the Garden of the Tomb

Today the area is known as The Garden Tomb and has been maintained by the British since the property was purchased by The Garden Tomb Society in 1894.  It is a lovely area, beautifully maintained and open to all who want to tour or worship in the gardens.  On Easter Sunday it is the site of four large celebrations in three different languages attended by thousands of people from all over the world. Attending one of the services is an energizing and enriching experience.

Sharing the Easter Message in the Garden

Whether this is the actual site of the burial of Jesus we do not know at this point. However it is where I prefer to sit and visualize the amazing power (dunamus in the Greek, the word from which we get the word dynamite) of God being manifest as the tomb was opened and Jesus arose.  I can imagine Mary as she ran toward the tomb and saw that the stone was no longer in it's place but rolled away.  Is this where Peter and "the disciple that Jesus loved" looked inside and saw, not a body, but the neatly folded grave clothes and an empty shelf where the body should have been?  Were there angels standing there when Mary finally got the courage to look inside? And was Jesus standing in the trees nearby as she turned to go, looking at first like a gardener to her tear-filled eyes. What joy she must have felt as she realized the truth. This is where I like to think of all of this happening.

As Christians, our faith pivots on one event, the resurrection. Is this where it all began?  From that point, history records that for forty days Jesus appeared to groups of people both large and small before His ascension to heaven. His message to them was of the Kingdom of God. This is the event that changed the world and comes with substantial proof. In a time when most religion is based on the stories of men or even "whatever you want" we have a faith rooted in history and it has been given to us with a mission: to spread the message of the Kingdom of God! Our Christian message is filled with hope both for this life and the one to come (I Corinthians 15 19-21) and we must share it.

The Garden is a lovely spot for
rest and contemplation.

The Scriptures say that one day the nations will gather in battle against Jerusalem and overcome it for a time.  As I look at current events in the Middle East, though we can not really know the day, I wonder if time is getting very short. Following this time of turmoil and defeat, our risen Lord Jesus will return to stand on the Mt. of Olives. The mountain will split down the middle as our Savior returns to rule and reign (Zechariah 14:1-9).  Until then He has given us a job to do!

Visitors wait to enter the tomb.