It is Friday and the Orthodox Jews have ceased working for the Sabbath, which ends tomorrow at the same time. They put their lights on timers and cook their food for tomorrow ahead of time, keeping them on special hot plates, so they can be sure to adhere to all of their rules for the Sabbath. They won't even push the elevator buttons, therefore there is a special elevator that stops on every floor on the Sabbath. Don't get on that one, it takes a while.
Today was an amazing day as we went to Golgotha and the Garden Tomb.
Golgotha was found in the early 1800s and the piece of land next to it was purchased by a Christian family, wishing to preserve something around the site.
Here is what is looks like today:
See the black eye in the middle? 100 years ago, you could still see the other one clearly but the bridge of the nose fell off and they built a bus station at the base, covering its "mouth". WHy would they ever do that at such a historic site? Well, remember that the majority of the Jewish people don't recognize who Jesus was, therefore, were not looking for the spot of His crucifixion when they returned to the land. And you know all of those pictures we see of the three crosses on top of the hill? Jesus was actually crucified on the road in front of the skull, at street level, which would be about where I am standing. Not on top of its head. Lots of interesting things learned today. Below is a picture of the place in the 1800s when they found the site. Can you see the two eyes in this picture? A little left of centre? This place was a quarry in Jesus' day and right behind my back was the wall of the city.
The garden tomb was very close to Golgotha. They do not know for sure if this was the tomb that Jesus was laid in but the facts are very convincing. They bought the land because it was next to Golgotha, not knowing that there was a tomb on site. They were digging for water when they found it. They thought that they had just bought an ancient vineyard, as they had previously uncovered a wine press and related instruments. After finding the tomb, they also found a huge cistern where they can still get their water.
When they uncovered that tomb, the following facts made them very seriously consider that this may be the site.
1. It was a rich man's tomb. The man owned a vineyard and had the tomb hewn out of the existing bedrock.
2. The Byzantines marked it with crosses and used the tomb themselves.
3. The tomb has a large indented stone ledge along the bottom of the front of it, where a large stone (approx. 4000 pounds) rolled back and forth to cover the entrance.
4. The tomb was not sealed as the body was only temporarily placed there until it decayed into bones, and then the bones were moved. There is a little window to the right of the door that let the smell out and quickened the decomposition.
5. The Bible says that the apostles had to look into the right to see where Jesus had been laying. Unlike other tombs, a body preparation area is the first place you enter when you go through the tomb door. To the right are the three stone platforms that were made to hold bodies. They would have been able to see Jesus' body from the doorway if they stooped, looked in and to the right.
6. It is very close to Golgotha - like a stone's throw away.
Pretty convincing right? And, nicely enough, no one has built a church over this site....
This is inside looking to the right.
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