The Land of Jesus: “There They Crucified Him…” (Luke 23:33)

(At the Parking Lot)

“And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left” (Luke 23:33).

“And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull…then they crucified Him” (Matthew 27:33-35).

Visitors coming to tour Jerusalem learn rather quickly that it is a modern, living city. While our biblical knowledge of Jerusalem forever seals it in the past, ancient and timeless, unchanged and undisturbed, today’s reality is quite different. The blare of car horns, hordes of tourists, electronic technology and modern architecture compete with ancient ritual, bearded men, cloaked women and sites where holy events took place. If ever there is a dichotomy of space and time, it is Jerusalem with its contrast of old and new, sacred and profane, reverent and blasphemous.

Any tourist to Jerusalem today will be amazed at the amalgamation of the past into the present. Awed by the very presence of Jerusalem, one learns quickly to meld into a polyglot society of Jews and Arabs, shop-keepers and tour guides, idolatry and commercialism. Sabbath observation by Jewish hotels is made possible by automatic elevators that are programmed to stop at every floor, relieving Jews of unlawful labor while catering to foreign visitors. Orthodox Jews and Catholic priests mingle daily in their appointed rounds that often center upon identical sites. Mixed emotions are the norm as one who has read of Bible events all his life steps into the environs of the “Holy City.” While Christians might hesitate to call it “Holy” today, we all would agree that holy events took place within and around its walls. Clearly, modern Jerusalem has no claim to special privilege before God in the Gospel Age. After the Jews rejected their Messiah, Jerusalem met its dreadful fate in 70 A.D. as Jesus predicted in Matthew 24. Spiritual Jerusalem, the church of Christ, now encompasses both Jew and Gentile alike (Romans 1:16; Ephesians 2:11-22; Galatians 3:26-29). The prophecy of Jesus regarding the time when Jerusalem would no longer be the specified place of worship has been fulfilled (John 4:21-24; Matthew 28:18-20). In fact, there is no sound church in Jerusalem at this time, a sad commentary on the continued rejection of the Gospel of Christ. One must be content to remember the church in Jerusalem as revealed in the book of Acts, vibrant and alive, filled with the Holy Spirit, multiplying disciples even in times of persecution. Other than that, one’s interest is directed to archaeology as site after site is venerated by many as places where sacred events took place. Yet, even where scholars are fairly certain of exact locations, ancient belief wrestles with modern reality. The mass of humanity that is crowded into such limited space is pragmatic in many ways, adapting ceremony to necessities of life. Chanting priests swing smoking incense in ornate places of worship while just a few yards away, vendors hawk their countless wares of olive wood and plastic to tourists who seem to have an insatiable appetite for mementoes of their pilgrimage.

The Place of the Skull Few places in Jerusalem mirror the contrast between commercialism and religion as the supposed places where Jesus was crucified. There are primarily two places that lay claim to being the true place of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection: The Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden Tomb.In the first instance, The Church of the Holy Sepulcher contains the most traditional site of the death of Jesus. Revered since the fourth century as the location of the cross and tomb of the Lord, a tremendous cathedral completely envelops and disguises whatever features might once have identified the place as authentic. Hewn away beyond recognition, small pieces of rock revealed through small rectangles of plexiglass are said to be the actual place of Golgotha. “The Skull” is not to be seen. One is left with no sense of history, with no sense of connection to the actual event as one stands in the huge building, indistinguishable from many other large buildings in other parts of the world. A smaller building within the large building lays claim to being the place of entombment, yet it might as well be a crypt in any mausoleum to the naked eye so far as its interest to the dreadful events of the Gospel story. One finds it difficult to think of Jesus in pain and agony on the cross, or of the victorious resurrection, while being jostled by other tourists, pushed out of the way by rude priests and having one’s thoughts interrupted by the harsh sounds of hammers and saws as current building projects supercede those of the past. What might truly have been the site of Jesus’ death has been forever disfigured and overlaid by human tradition. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is much of a disappointment to any who seek an identity within its walls to actual events. They might have occurred there, or near there, but one looks in vain anything faintly resembling the scriptural account.On the other hand, the Garden Tomb is relatively unscathed. Tended by volunteers, a garden surrounds and follows a secluded path which leads to a place where one looks upon a cliff of rock resembling, as the scriptures teach, a human skull. Could this be Golgotha? A sense of wonder is aroused as we remember the scriptures above which speaks of Jesus being led to “a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull.” But even as we stand so impressed with the possibility that we are, indeed, near the place where Jesus was crucified, modern Jerusalem interrupts: just feet away from “the skull” is a parking lot full of tourist busses and taxis! “There they crucified him…..” at a parking lot! A friendly tour guide acknowledges the contrast between the holy and profane, but assures us that either here or back at the cathedral, somewhere in the vicinity, Jesus did, indeed, die for the sins of the world. It is not important that we stand in the exact location. Jesus was crucified near where we stood or not far from us. Not even a parking lot can change that fact.

But the best is yet to come. Leaving “the place of the skull,” we walk by a cistern hewn into a cavern deep beneath our feet which would have been able to store water from which a gardener could have watered a vineyard or olive grove. It is an ancient cistern and would have dated back to biblical times. Passing the cistern, we are led to a tomb hewn from solid rock. Yes, the trench is still there in which the stone would have been rolled away and we are permitted to enter the tomb, still in the condition one would imagine from the Bible account. The tomb is resting on bedrock, the very level which was occupied by New Testament characters. Here, not at the cathedral, but here, a sense of wonder and identification with Bible events begins to form. One can imagine this as being, if not in fact the tomb in which Jesus was lain, one very similar in design and location. Crowds cease their chatter. People stand silently in very deep thought. There are no rude priests to swing their censors of smoking incense. No cathedral conceals the view. The tomb is there for all to see. Visions of Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” coming to the tomb early on the first day of the week to anoint the body of Jesus come to mind. But He is not there. The empty tomb is explained by an angel standing near by. He is risen! One can see Peter come rushing up to and entering the tomb, amazed to find only the linen garments left behind.

Is the Garden Tomb the actual place of entombment and resurrection? It could be! But it doesn’t have to be. Near Jerusalem, outside the city gates, Jesus was crucified. Joseph of Arimathea laid His body in his own new tomb somewhere in the vicinity of Golgotha and on the third day, Jesus burst the bonds of death and dealt the fatal blow to Satan. It is enough to know that we are near where the events took place.

Yes, there is a parking lot near a place remarkably like the place described in the Bible as “the place of the skull.” Busses and taxis come and go regularly as though unconcerned by the momentous events that brought eternal life to man. But it really doesn’t matter. Jerusalem isn’t holy any more, and parking lots cannot diminish from the holy events that took place nearby. Besides, Jesus isn’t buried in that tomb, even if it was the actual tomb occupied by our Lord. He is risen!