Sunlight shinning down on Jesus' empty tomb at the Church
of the Holy Sepulcher
|
After breakfast,
we took a bus to the Church of the Nativity, which is built over the site
traditionally held as Jesus’ birthplace. It was amazing to see people from all
over the world that traveled so far to catch a glimpse of this sacred
space. Next we traveled to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which houses both Golgotha (crucifixion site) and the now
empty tomb Jesus once laid in. I
expected visitors would be moving through the church in quite reverence,
contemplating how the events that transpired here had so profoundly affected
their lives; this was not the case. The
church was crowed, hot, and filled with people jostling each other to reach the
narrow entrances to the historic and sacred sites. Initially, our group was consistently
bypassed and pushed aside by others due to our hesitation in joining the
fray. However, after about 20 minutes of
being stuck in the same place, most of us rolled up our sleeves, jumped in, and
pushed our way to the sites while a few decided with wasn’t worth it and waited
outside. During a discussion, later that day, one of my classmates likened our
experiences in the church, to life.
Frustrated by seeing others get ahead of us, we sometime succumb to the
pressures of the world and behave in less than honorable ways in order to keep
up with everyone else. A counter point
to this is Jesus. His refusal to deviate from his beliefs and ideals resulted
in ridicule, suffering, and eventually death.
However, his choices were eventually vindicated by both the resurrection
and the miraculous birth and continuation of a Church that, at its best, helps inspire and move the world towards wholeness.
Inscription at Golgotha; crucifixion site |
Guess American football is big in Jerusalem |
On rooftop with Nazareth in the background |
Everyone has to eat |
Bell tower at the Church of the Nativity |
Pilgrims waiting to enter site of Jesus' birth |
Scarred guard tower at wall separating the
West Bank and Israel
|
Near namesakes of so many churches |
No comments:
Post a Comment