Sunday, October 21st

Lion's Gate

Today we finally went into the "Old City", that is, within the current walls.  The main goal for today was to follow the Way (or Stations) of the Cross more or less in the actual places, culminating with Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  (That would be the Crusader church built over the site where Jesus was nailed to the Cross, hung from the Cross, and then buried in a "new tomb".)  Back to that later, but we hit a few stops before starting the Way of the Cross. 



First, we went to the birthplace of Mary the Mother of Jesus, which also had St. Ann's Church (St. Ann being Mary's mother, and of course Jesus' grandmother).

Interior of St Ann's

Very near that, was Bethesda (apparently pronouced beth-say'-da).  These were two pools fed irregularly by gushing springs.  Suddenly the water would surge and the custom at the time was that the first person into the pool after the spring surged would be cured of whatever his ailment was.  The two pools were surrounded by "porches" where people would sit by and wait to jump in (or be thrown in by their friends/family).  There sat a crippled man one day, and Jesus asked him why he was not going in to the pool.  The man said he wanted to, but had no one to help him into the pool.  So, Jesus told him he was healed, and get up, take his bed, and go home.  As this happened on a Sabbath, and Jesus (1) performed a miracle on the Sabbath, and (2) had the temerity to tell the man to do work by carrying his mat, Jesus did not make many friends in the power circles of the Jewish authorities.  This (perhaps) sort of cascaded the events leading to the leaders wanting Him out of the way (of their authority).

Along the way, we nearly watched an accident, as a large vehicle was squeezing past our group, not seeing the car brazenly exiting a narrow path between the buildings...a narrow path with STEPS, I might point out!

For the Way of the Cross, there was an opportunity for each of us to participate in carrying a "cross" for part of the path.  Well, the "cross" was two 2x6's, about 5-6 feet tall and 4 feet wide.  Easily manageable by an able bodied person and frankly not suitable to hang a person upon.  But, the shtick was that we had to carry it three people at a time.  For the math savvy out there...it is rather easy to fit a circle to any three points (as they are almost never collinear) and therefore nearly impossible to fit a straight line to those same three points (our three shoulders) for the same reason!  All the while, a "photographer" (who, by the way, provided the cross) ran along snapping scores of pictures to sell for $3 each later.  And tourists jumped in front of us constantly taking snap shots of the "show", and cars honked and crowded us trying to get by, and the store vendors were hawking all sorts of things along the way.  So, it was a struggle to stay focused on the purpose without the distractions all around us.

Place Where Jesus was Tried

Sanctuaries of Flagellation and Condemnation

The endeavor began at the Antonia Fortress, where Jesus would have been tried by Pontius Pilate. Just outside were a courtyard and the Sanctuaries of Flagellation (where Jesus was beaten) and Condemnation (where He was condemned and sentenced).






















The Way of the Cross ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  In the time of St. Helena (Constantine's Mother), a church was built at the tomb, but leaving the spot of the nailing to the cross and Crucifixion outside.  But, during the Crusades, of course everything had to be newer and bigger, so a huge stone structure was erected over everything, enclosing the whole area.  I'm frankly amazed at how much tremendous building the Crusaders were able to achieve in a few hundred years.

Inside, a shrine was erected for the place where Jesus was nailed to the cross.  It was stirring, but at the same time, rather strange to be in a "box" with stone walls on three sides, commemorating an event that happened outside.  The claustrophobic shrine, while beautiful and stirring beyond the reality of the reason it was there, just did not feel right, for the place where a public execution began.

 

On the other side of a wall, was the site believed to be where the Cross was erected, and the Crucifixion completed.  The rock of the hill was "exposed" (though under glass).  Beneath a shrine, through the floor, a small hole allowed access for worshippers to reach an arm in, and touch the stone upon which Jesus' Cross stood.  The hole was slightly smaller than the diameter of my forearm, and the rock a full foot below the opening.  Of course, lines were the standard, so a quick touch, a brief thought, and a short prayer of maybe 10 words and you would have overstayed your time! 

 

Both Shrines of the Nailing (right) and Cruxification (left)

After we all went through, we had a chapel reserved for Sunday Mass, within the Holy Sepulcher church.  It was curious sitting in Mass, looking at the place where He died, and behind us the place where He was buried.  But, I think for me, it is an experience that needs time to be full, as there wasn't time to really let it sink in. 

Holy Sepulcher with Girders

After Mass, we got into line to see the tomb.  Only one group crowded around us rudely, and they were almost all women, and probably three times the size of our group.  So, patience and forgiveness seemed to be required of us immediately.  But, within an hour, all of us made it through the line, which frankly was huge!  The line behind us was perhaps 2-3 hours or more.  Anyway, the building around the tomb sat under a dome of the larger structure.  During an earthquake, the dome collapsed, and destroyed the structure below it.  It lay in ruins for many years, as no one had much money to rebuild it, until finally the Greek Orthodox Church stepped up with money to do so.  Well, they had some money, but not much.  So while they did rebuild it, they did not do a very good job.  So, the structure that is there is not stable, and now has large girders around it to keep it from falling.  When I looked closely at the stones in the door archway, I could see the form and shapes were wrong.  They managed an arch, but not with the stone shapes that provide stability.  Anyway, that's hardly the important part.

Front of the Holy Sepulcher

Recalling the burial practices, there was a new tomb, where no one had yet been laid.  The entrance had a round stone, which could be rolled back to open and close the tomb to place the body and later remove the bones, or place another body.  There would have been an ante room, where family might gather to mourn, but the inner (or back) chamber, would have a stone slab on which to lay the body.  Jesus' body was laid there, and the stone rolled to close it.  The women who went to His tomb on Easter morning, would have intended to cover His body with things to help the breakdown of His flesh, so in a few months, His bones might be picked up and put somewhere.  Uh, Surprise!!

We first went into the ante room, and then there was space for about four people in the back chamber.  We went in with our friends Mike and Mary Anne, and prayed quickly with them at the place where Jesus was laid.  It was great to be able to experience this anyway, but with good friends made it even more memorable.  We must have been quick, because we did not get shooed out by the Eastern Orthodox "guard" who was barking at people that they were taking too long.

Finally, it was time for lunch.  For probably the first time in almost a week, we had SODA!!  Then there was a choice between a falafel or a shwarma, two sandwiches one with no meat and the other with chicken (both with too much lettuce) and shoved into a pita style bread.  Oh boy!!  As you can see, Theresa was excited (and frankly hungry since it was like 6 or 7 hours since breakfast)!  When we finished the sandwich, we looked around for the rest of the meal!  By dinner we were quite ready to eat.

Streets inside the Old City

Western Wall

After lunch, we went to the West Wall (what we have heard called the Wailing Wall before, but that is offensive to the Jewish population here, as they pray there, not wail), which oddly enough, is on the East side of Jerusalem.  Actually, it was the Western Wall of the Mount on which Herod built the 2nd temple between 37 and 4 B.C.  So, it would have been a rather new building when Jesus went there.  But, the Romans came through and destroyed everything and a few other groups thereafter, and it was left in ruins for centuries.  Then, about the last millennium, when Omar came through with his Muslim followers, he built the Al Aqsa Mosque, and later the Dome of the Rock was built.  It is forbidden for the Jews to enter the most sacred part of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, which is where the Ark of the Covenant would have been kept.  In fact, it is even forbidden for them to walk unknowingly on the ground that USED to hold the Holy of Holies.  Since the temple once stood there, but "where" isn't exactly known, it is therefore forbidden for any devout Jew to go anywhere on the Temple Mount.  Thus, the closest to the temple they can safely go is the Western Wall of the Mount on which the 2nd temple used to stand.  Got it?  OK.  :-)

Base of Temple Mount (actually still part of Western Wall)

So, we went to the Western Wall.  We had to go through security, but it wasn't too bad--even easier than an airport, but still had a metal detector.  The wall is separated for men and women, the women getting only about 25% of the length.  So, it is crowded on their side, but rather roomy on the men's side.  One practice is to write prayers, and stick the paper between the cracks in the rocks.  Well, eventually, they either fall out or end up on the ground, where they apparently get swept up and burned in sort of an offertory fashion. 

We then went (back out and) around to the south side of the Temple Mount.  The original steps were still there, which led to a lower part of the mount, which would then lead onto the mount, and ultimately to the temple itself.  It is believed that Jesus would sit on those steps and teach, and frankly many other Rabbis too!  The shade provided in the late afternoon in the summer made it cool and pleasant.  The warmth of the sun in the winter mornings also made it nice.  So, we stood, walked, or sat on the steps which were there when Jesus was.

That was it for the day, except going back to the hotel to pack and get ready to check out the next morning, our last in Israel.