Daily Devotion for July 4, 2006

Day 9

 

Jerusalem – Church of the Holy Sepulchre

 

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” Luke 23:42. 

 

Deep in the Old City of Jerusalem is one of the most important churches in the world for Christians.

         (click on the photo below for a LARGER view)

As we enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we turn right and climb up the steep steps to the Chapel of Calvary.  How can anyone describe the feelings this place evokes?  The rock of Golgotha (the “skull”), which was the city’s place of execution, still stands sixteen feet above floor level.  Now, however, it is no longer outside in the open.  The Crusaders enclosed it and made it a raised side chapel of the main church.  Calvary is under cover.

 

Here again in this sacred spot we are reminded of the separations among Christians.  The right side of the chapel constitutes the place where Jesus was nailed to the cross.  This altar is in the custody of the Latin rite (eleventh station of the cross).  The twelfth station of the cross just to the left is in the possession of the Greek Orthodox.

 

None of this looks like a hill of execution or like any remembered picture of the crucifixion.  Above the Latin rite altar is a modern and totally uninspired mosaic of the nailing to the cross.  Above and around the Greek altar is an excess of lamps and icons.  Under their altar is a hole through which the original rock can be touched.  Between the two altars is still another and smaller altar with a Portuguese image of Mary which marks the thirteenth station of the cross where Jesus was taken down from the cross.

 

Frankly, it can be a disappointment for someone seeing this.  Many of us would prefer that the stark reality and profound meaning of the death of Jesus be presented in a different way.  But tastes are certainly not universal!

 

We are indeed standing over the rocky out-cropping that formed the place of the crucifixion.  One can only guess how much of the rock has been chipped away by pious visitors through the centuries.

 

In fact, the Crusaders even buried the European conquerors of Jerusalem in a chapel carved out of the rock below.  It is a wonder, I suppose, that any of the rock of Golgotha is left at all.

 

Yet there can be little doubt that this is the place where Jesus of Nazareth hung in agony up on the cross.  The site was, of course, known and apparently honored by the first Christians.  All Jews, including Christian Jews, were driven out of the city after its destruction by the Roman general Titus in AD 70.  But they quickly returned.

 

Calvary was outside of the city then, not within the walls as it is today.  It was probably because of Christian veneration here that Emperor Hadrian decided to extinguish the devotion by erecting a temple of Venus on Calvary and one of Jupiter over the tomb.  That, of course, only served to mark the sites more definitely for future Christians.

 

When Helena, the mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, arrived in Jerusalem in 326, Christian sites were rescued.  Orders were given for the removal of the pagan constructions and the building of worthy shrines.  Christians have been praying here ever since.  Even after the Moslem conquest, Christians returned to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  Persians destroyed most of the building in 614.  And pilgrims came back again after this holy place was damaged by the insane Caliph El Hakim in 1009.

 

What we see today is substantially a Crusader church rebuilt in 1099 with some remaining elements from the churches of Constantine and Justinian.  Repairs are almost constantly in progress.  The sound of hammering mingles with the chants of Latins, Greeks, Armenians and Coptic Egyptians.  But when Jesus died on the cross here it was not a quite place either!

 

Except for the early morning hours, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre continues to be busy and noisy.  Groups of curious tourists crowd up and down the steep stairways following their restless and talkative guides.  They disturb anyone who longs to meditate here.

 

Although today is the Forth of July for us Americans where we celebrate our freedom, no greater freedom can be found than in Christ.  We are on holy ground.  On this little hill just outside the walls of old Jerusalem, our good Lord died to free us from sin and death. 

 

Prayer
Lord Jesus, we have climbed this hill of Calvary to remember your painful death for us.  With the thief who hung on the cross near you, we cry out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).  Perhaps here we can more clearly hear you pray just before you died, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:45).  Perhaps here, in the company of Mary and the Beloved Disciple at the foot of the cross we can better understand your love.  Maybe here we can more deeply know how precious is your blood that stained the wood of the cross, fell upon the ground and washed away our guilt. Through your wounds, O Lord, we are healed.  Amen

 

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While in the Middle East for a Biblical Study Journey with fellow Word Among Us Students, a 5-person crew is filming and taking pictures of the various sites. This vibrant photographic material will be incorporated into next year's Word Among Us classes.

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