Pilgrimage Reflection

A Journey of Faith to the Bible Land: A Parish Pilgrimage to Israel

Pictures:

Above)  Pilgrims on the Mt. of Olives with Old City Jerusalm wall in the background

Below reflection:

1) Pilgrims enjoying one of many outdoor cafes

2) Dome in Church of Holy Sepulchre

3) Wall of Old City near Damascus Gate

 

Pilgrimage -Day 7: Two Tombs

It's difficult not to have passionate feelings about Jerusalem. This is true regardless if you are a religious person who adheres to one of the three Abrahamic faiths or you are a person of no faith.

Jerusalem arouses strong feelings. It is either your heart’s desire or it is a bane, a place that has for millennia been the birthplace of strife, war, pain and endless death.

The city has been under the control of many of the major world empires in the western and eastern worlds with the exception of the United States and the old Soviet Union. It is arguable that both of these last two have wielded significant influence and power here as well. The city has also been a place that Jews, Christians and Muslims have vied for control of as well. Before these last two faiths even existed the Jews have, with the exception of a period of time under the kingships of Saul, David and Solomon and a brief period under the Maccabees, been in continual struggle over as well.

As I said Jerusalem evokes passionate feelings.

Today our pilgrims toured the Old City of Jerusalem. For all of us our romanticized ideas of the city and the holy places we have heard and dreamt about our entire life hit the wall of reality. No where was this more poignant than in the two vying sites which claim to be the place of Jesus' tomb; the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden Tomb. The first has been venerated as the site were Jesus was interred on that first Good Friday since the 4th century when Constantine's mother, Helena founded a church on the site. The second is a more recent "discovery" in the 19th century.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a massive building that contains within it's walls both the hill of Golgotha where Jesus was supposedly crucified, the slab where he was anointed for burial and his tomb. It is a dark and forbidding place that feels oppressive. The actual three locations of the above sites are ornate with elaborate religious decoration of gold, silver, jewels and hanging candles. The site is administered on an alternating basis by the Greek Orthodox, the Copts, Ethiopian Christians, the Armenians and the Roman Catholics. It's a turf war between them and there is no love lost between these Christians. Two years ago they were clubbing each other with large sticks over some dispute! You don't need to be a theologian to be aghast that this situation exists at the place where Jesus rose from the dead and saved the world from sin!

Compounding this scenario are the thongs of pilgrims from around the world who push, shove, stomp on feet, bring all sorts of items that they rub on the burial slab so that it becomes "holy" and generally behave in the most boorish ways toward one another. And then there are the candles for sale, lit by the pilgrim and then blown out to be resold moments later. The truth is that one has much more to fear from Christian tourists and religious zealots in Jerusalem than any Arab terrorist.

In a fit of pique Jesus once overturned the tables of the money changers at the Temple crying out, " My Father's house is to be a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of thieves!" I am sure Jesus feels as affronted by today's unholy mess in this church as he did about the one in the Second Temple.

The second location of the tomb is a lovely garden of trees and flowers, with a tomb hewn out of rock at its center and a limestone outcropping resembling the place of the scull that the Bible says Jesus was crucified at. It is a short distance from the city gates. Unlike the church this is a peaceful location that feels holy. The main activity taking place here are various Protestant pilgrim groups celebrating Communion services at special locations provided throughout the garden. We pilgrims had a Eucharist there as well. It was lovely.

We will never know for sure where Jesus was buried. Our faith tells us that there is no forensic evidence to be had of his death. I am not sure it matters one way or the other that we people of faith ever do know the location.

It does seem to me that what does matter is that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher represents all that has gone wrong and been wrong with this Holy city since it's inception. Conversely, it seems that the Garden Tomb in many ways represents what God desires this city of Jerusalem to be.

Peter +

 

 

 

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