March 29 - We have been seeing small groups of pious pilgrims all along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, the route that Jesus supposedly took on his way to Calvary. There is a church or sign at each of the stations. It starts out at the Antonia Fortress next to the Lion's Gate, where Jesus was probably tried and convicted, and then proceeds in a westerly direction to the Church of the Holy Sepulcre. However, all four Gospels record that he was crucified near the "place of the skull," and John's Gospel tells us it was outside the city walls. The Aramaic word Golgotha was translated into Latin as Calvary, which is related to the English word Calavera, or skull.
We are staying in Jerusalem next to the Damascus Gate. About three blocks away is a bus station which backs up to a low, steep cliff. In ancient times this had been a rock quarry, a place where the Jews took malefactors for stoning. There is a formation in the cliff with two hollow eyes and a white rock nose that looks for all the world like a human skull.
There are several indicators that this may, indeed, be the actual site of Calvary.
1. It is outside the city walls. The traditional site, the Church of the
Holy Sepulcre, is in the middle of the walled city. It was probably
outside the walls in the first century, but there is considerable doubt
as to the exact circuit of the northern wall.
2. It is "near the city," as John's Gospel requires.
3. The fact that it had been a rock quarry and a place of execution
lends weight to this site.
4. The Romans crucified their malefactors next to roads to serve
as an example. In ancient times, this place was adjacent to the
main road leading north out of Jerusalem.
Tomorrow is our last day in Jerusalem. In the morning, Denita and I will walk to Calvary and there remember the resurrection, the most momentous event in all human history. (We sang 391 together under the cliff: "See him led outside the city, bruised and bearing all our sin; cruel was the death he suffered, heaven's joy for us to win.")
John 19:17 "And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin......."
This is the hillside which, when it is darker, looks like a human skull
John 19:39 "And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand."
John 20:1 "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)"
The so-called Garden Tomb, located about a block away from the Skull Cliff, fits the specific evidence recorded in the 16th chapter of Mark. "When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed."
1. It is near the "Place of the Skull," as John's Gospel requires.
2. It is a tomb hewn of rock, in accordance with Luke 23:53
3. You enter the tomb from the left side.
4. The left chamber is easily large enough to hold three women.
5. The angel was on the right side, as was the place for the
burial and linen wrapping. This fits with the arrangement
in the Garden Tomb.
6. There is a groove in the floor to the right of the opening
where the round stone door was rolled to open
This is the exterior of the Garden Tomb
This picture, taken from the left chamber, shows the right side where the angel stood.
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