This summer marks our 30th year as pastors at King of Kings Community in Jerusalem. My wife, Ann, and I still pinch ourselves because we get to do this! From time to time, I’ve toured Israel with “newbies,” and often they’re pastors. It’s fascinating to get a fresh...
When you enter its gates, you are not ushered into a sacred shrine. There are no candles, no incense. Instead, you enter a mini paradise of majestic trees, luxuriant plants and beautiful flowers. If you glance to your left and below a small crag, you see a tomb carved by hand into large, smooth rock. There is no adornment to mark the spot and no fanfare to herald it.
This is the Garden Tomb—which was missed by Helena, mother of Roman Emperor Constantine, when she visited the Holy Land in the fourth century and selected “holy sites” that she believed marked the spots of significant biblical events.
Helena is traditionally given credit for finding the remains of the cross, and, consequently, her son ordered the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre beside these relics. Nearly a million pilgrims visit this massive church today and wait in long lines to enter the tomb that most Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic Christians believe is the actual tomb from which Jesus rose. However, archaeologists have not been able to declare with certainty that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre hovers over the original tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea.
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.