After spending over a week in Israel walking where Jesus walked and seeing the place of his ministry, it was only fitting that we conclude our tour at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem.
Outside the city walls of Jerusalem is a rock formation that looks like a skull. (In the Bible it is called Golgotha - the Place of the Skull) In the late 1800's an Englishman discovered a tomb in a olive grove near this area. While many Christians believe that the site of the crucifixion is located within what is now the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we visited the area now called the Garden Tomb, located just outside the city walls.
This site is run by a group of volunteers from England. We walked through the garden to first see the rock formation that looks like a skull, with two hollow holes where you would have eye sockets in a skull. After learning a bit about the history of the location, we walked back through the garden to view an ancient Jewish tomb.
There were a number of characteristics of this tomb that match the biblical description. The rolling stone which blocked the opening was larger than normal, requiring several person to move it. The tomb had a window in it that would have allowed light into the dark recesses, allowing Peter to see the folded grave clothes without entering the tomb.
Whether this is the actual tomb of Jesus no one will ever no. However, sitting in this quiet garden and contemplating our experiences of the past week was truly a moving experience. There are several areas for groups to gather in the site and have a short service. Our group read scripture, sang a few songs and celebrated Holy Communion in the Garden. It is a truly moving experience for everyone in the group.
The Isael Museum was our next stop. This is a very large museum with multiple buildings but our main focus was to see the actual Dead Sea Scrolls which are housed in a building called "The Shrine of the Book." Here was saw some of the many fragments of the scrolls found in Qumran between 1946 and 1952. The Israel Museum also has a scale model of the City of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 ce. When you are walking narrow, winding streets, it is hard to figure out where you are. It was interesting to picture all of the places we had visited in the last few days and see how they related to the city as a whole.
Next we spent an hour at the Israel Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem. This museum opened in 2005 so I had not seen it on my previous trip to Israel. It is the largest Holocaust Musem in the world and you could spend a whole day there. The images, films and documents are expertly displayed in a stunning building located amidst a green area of trees and gardens. Very impressive. One interesting section is the library where they have recorded and cataloged the names of all victims for posterity. They are still documenting and updating their list from every possible source, in remembrance to the millions who died. My next trip back I will spend a day here.
Our next stop is in Bethlehem but I will devote a separate post to that visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment