This Is the Traditional Site Where ______ Happened

Periodically, different people visit the Jerusalem Center on their travels around the Holy Land. Our first taste of this was Paul Piper, a member of the Seventy. We had the chance to eat dinner and then listen and ask him questions for an hour or so. He had some great comments about the work in Asia and gave us some really good advice to follow in our lives. I'm always amazed concerning the spiritual depth that some people have and their ability to express that to bless others. 

Intently listening to Paul Piper.

Excursion number eight (or something like that...) — A group of us made the journey from the Center, around the East side of the Old City, past the South end of the Temple Mount, on around to supposed Room of the Last Supper. Walking up the stairs and stepping into the dim room, I was expecting to see a small room resembling something like the well-known paintings. Instead, upon entering I saw a large room with pillars, stain-glass windows and bare floors. It's difficult to imagine what the real event looked like and whether or not it really occurred at that particular place. One thing I'm coming to realize is that although the real locations of certain sites are not completely agreed on, one can rely on the accounts found in the Bible and know that those are true.

View from within the Room of the Last Supper

Tomb of the Virgin Mary

A small group of us (Tyson, Becca, Dan, Christy, and me) found time one afternoon to change some money at Aladdin's (all of you Disney lovers--- it's pronounced all-uh-deans) and set off to somewhere where I have been looking forward to going since I got here—the Garden Tomb.

It's beautifully kept by an organization which makes it one of the more visited places by Christians around the world. As I gazed upon where Golgotha perhaps once stood, I couldn't help think of the jeering crowd that stood and watched as the Savior hung in agony. The site resides at the spot where two ancient roads intersected and such was a place of high traffic. It's fairly fitting that now a bus station has taken it's place, but preserving the memory.

The crosses are said to have been not at the top of the hill, but on the lower part

The hill of Golgotha

The place of the skull

 As we rounded the corner I caught a glimpse of the tomb up ahead and down the hill. As we approached, we noticed that we had walked up right as there was a break between tour groups. So we took advantage of the opportunity and stooped in through the doorway and into the dark musty tomb. As we took a moment to imagine Christ's body lying in rest, the angels statement came to mind, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." (Luke 24:6) The empty tomb remains as a testimony of that reality. What a lesson for our lives: although some things seem missing in our lives, it is all for a greater design and plan. Interesting how the absence of something can also teach us powerful principles.   

"... a sepulcher that was hewn in stone, wherein never a man before was laid."  (Luke 23:53)

PS. — Our company will embark on our journey to Turkey tomorrow and will return in circa 8 days. Until then, blog posts and emails will be left to the mercy of junk mail and advertisement hacks etc... But, in visiting Ephesus, Troy, and a variety of other cities visited by Paul on his missionary journeys, I'm confident there will be an abundance of juicy things to iterate upon my return to the Holy Land. Until then.