In spite of the steady rain we walked through old Jerusalem and retraced the steps of Jesus. One of our first stops was Bethesda pool where Jesus healed the paralytic. There is a Byzantine era church near the site called "St. Annes Church" that has such thick inner walls and high arched ceilings that the sound resonates up into the top of the majestic space above and echos back down to you in long delay. We sat in this church and sang praises and listened as the centuries old buiding sang back to us. I doubt Amazing Grace will ever sound the same to us again.
We went to more places today than I can account for in a short blog, but I want to recount for you a few places we visited that were most meaningful. The first was the Temple Mount on top of Mount Moriah. Here in the spot where it is believed Abraham sacrificed Isaac sits the famous Islamic Dome of the Rock. This is a spectacular building that is sacred to the entire Muslim world. The dome of the building is adorned in pure gold and the side in beautiful blue and white mosaics. It is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world and is the first thing that draws your eye when you come into Jerusalem.
Walking around this area that once held the Jewish Temple and holy of holies is somewhat surreal. Here is the most contested and spiritually charged piece of real estate in all the world. Here is the one place on the planet that is exceptioanlly important to the worlds three great religions. It was not far from here that Jesus cleared the temple courtyard and chastised the sellers in the temple for defiling His father's place of worship. This was the place so meaningful and important that the religions of literally billions of people around the world compete for it's significance. Civilizations have gone to war over this space. As I walked aorund the Dome and meditated on scripture I silently gave God praise that the work of the temple has now been fulfilled in Christ. Jesus is the new and better temple. "He who knew no sin has become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God"; the temple is no longer needed. All of the generations of sacrifices and rituals performed on this spot are no longer needed. The curtain has been rent in two and we are invited in. This piece of real estate may have great cultural significance but in Christ the work here is done. That reality made my visit here that much more meaningful.
Another place we visited today that was particularly signficant was Antonios Colonade where Jesus was brought to trial before Pilate. The original stones are preserved in this archeological site to the degree that one can imagine the scene perfectly as Jesus was questioned by the Roman governor. This is a very nice private area to sit and read scripture and pray. Our group had meaningful worship here as we read the text and prayed together. From here we traveled down the via dolorosa and traced the steps of Christ path to the cross and then on into the ancient church that is built over the traditional site of his crucifixion and burial, the famous Church of the Holy Seplucre. This is a church of many conflicting emotions. On the one hand, one is inspired by the incredible diversity of people from all over the world who flock to this place. Hundreds of pilgrims crowded in to touch the place where it is believed Jesus' body was laid. On the other hand one is left with a kind of empty feeling at the exuberance of the religious artifacts and symbols that are amassed in this place. There is probably a higher concentration of incensed lamps, icons and adorned crosses in this one building than any other place on earth. It is the vortex of religious symbolism.
The best way I know how to describe the emotion most believers I know have when they visit this church is it's like expecting a steak dinner for a meal and instead being served a cup of rich chocolate soup. You wanted substance and instead you got syrup. Christianity is not about religion, it is about a relationship. And the death burial and resurrection of Jesus is the most deeply personal and meaningful event any of us can imagine. To see it reduced to religious show is disheartening to say the least.
But on the other hand one is grateful that the sight has been preserved. It is wonderful to think of the history of Christians commemorating this very spot down through the ages. So my feelings about this church run amok. I am simultaneously disgusted and inspired, grateful and frustrated all at once. It is for me the church of flumoxed emotions more than the church of the Holy Seplucre.
Our group endured the rain and yet was able to see most of the significant sites in all four quarters of Old City by 1:30 P.M. After a late lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon touring the Holocaust Museum. There are really no words to describe the experience of recounting in gruesome and horrifying detail the events that took place in that terrible dark blot in European history. Anyone who doubts the theology of total depravity need only to spend a couple of hours in this museam to be convinced of the horrors that reside in the sinful condition of the human heart. I walked away from that experience with the same emotions I felt on top of the Temple Mount- thankful that Jesus had paid the price.
Prayer from the Old City: Lord God as we think about this space on top of Mount Moriah we are reminded of the hundreds of years sacrifices were made at the temple and how you have become our ultimate sacrifice. You are the Lamb of God, the Yom Kippor who has taken away the sins of the world. We have retraced your steps but there is no way we can truly know your agony on the cross. As we see the religious intensity of these places we are reminded that you came not to start a religion but to make a way for us. You are the new and better temple, the fulfillment of the law, the one who takes all of the world's holocausts onto Himself. Amen.
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