Yesterday we were privileged to be led through the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by John Peterson. John delicately peeled off the layers of diverse liturgy to reveal a wonderful community of faith that impacts the world.
Previously I walked three blocks from St. George’s Guesthouse to the Garden Tomb. This site is a favorite of many Evangelical Christians. I joined a group for the tour and felt very comfortable as the guide shared. This is where I would picture The Passion taking place. Part of my comfort at the garden tomb is because there are not liturgical churches crowding around the site. Since Constantine’s mother Helena first came to the Holy Land and found ‘the true cross’, the historical church has recognized the site of The Church of the Resurrection or the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus.
In the late 1800’s a General Gordan was sitting outside a friends house having his devotions when he looked across and saw an old stone quarry, in which he saw the shape of a skull.
Some time later in this area an empty tomb was found and since the garden tomb has been a pleasing stop especially for us evangelicals. Great preachers, Moody and Booth preached from this hill. It is like good comfort food for the soul of the evangelical.
To add to the dialogue, at the time General Gordon was looking and saw the skull, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was thought to have been inside the city walls at the time of Jesus. This was problematic because executions were held outside the city. Then fifty years ago the ruins of the wall that Herod Antipas built increasing the city size about 12 years after the time of Christ. Therefore the site of the Holy Sepulcher was outside the city at the time if Jesus after all.
Evangelical Pentecostals like myself are wary of liturgical ways. The garments, icons, incense, and liturgy feels like empty ritual or even like idolatry to the simplistic Pentecostal. But this view can change when one is introduced to the community of faith that has kept the faith through centuries. Ignorance breeds both fear and pride.
Thankfully, John Peterson was able to introduce me to both the community of faith including Latin, Syrian, Ethiopian, Armenian, and Greek Orthodox while respecting my more simplistic tradition. Additionally, he pointed out the archeological clues that give credibility to this holy site. I was blessed to hear the Ethiopian Priest read scripture from his Bible shaped as a cross. And though I did not understand a word my soul was blessed.
Then when we walked through the front door and met the Muslim man who holds the keys to the church insuring the Christians will always be able to worship here, I was aware that this was not due to the disagreements between denominations, but because of the agreement between faiths.
We made our way up a steep set of stairs and I understood that this was in fact a mountain and this church was built around a stone quarry. The icons, candles, lamps, and incense still were foreign but not inappropriate in my mind.
We then made our way to one of the chapels that is used as a station of the cross where we remember that Jesus was imprisoned. Here the chapel was charred with the suit from the candles of Palestinian mothers, both Christian and Muslim who had prayed for the safe return of their husbands and sons in the conflict of this land. Again I understood the place to be holy because of the community of faith.
We proceeded through the church with a rich explanation of where we were at we came to the Chapel of Joseph of Arimithea. This chapel seems quite run down. It belongs to the Arameans and is used by the Syrians and in the back we went to a tomb. A rolling stone tomb. I saw the place where a body would have been laid to awaiting preparation to be entombed. This could be the place.
Then John took us out where we stood by the monumental tomb that is cared for by the Greek Orthodox church. Lyrically John described the events that are celebrated on Resurrection Sunday. As the liturgy reaches it’s climax runners come out of the tomb with a candle that brings light to the world. The people are reminded He is Risen, He is Risen. And they are charged with the term Theotokus, the God bearers. In the same way Mary bore the Son of God and birthed Him into this world, we are to be God bearers as we enter the world. John lit the bundle of 33 candles, The Resurrection Candles and prayed. “This is the community of believers in Jerusalem.”
My heart was full and I think I understood this magnificent Church of the Resurrection.
During the day my camera quit working. The memory card messed up. At first this frustrated me because I didn’t get ‘the shot’ to capture the moment. Then I realized the moment cannot be captured it is found in the rich tapestry of the community of believers as the celebrate the risen Lord.
New Hope 