We were in Jerusalem. It had
been a long day. Late in the afternoon our group was visiting the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre. Considered one of the holiest of all Christian
sites in the Holy Land, the church is in the Old City.
It isn’t all that attractive on the outside or in. The walls are stained with the soot of thousands of candles burned in the building since its construction in 326 of the Common Era. The church is built over a geographical formation that resembles a skull. Tradition says the church is built on the place where Jesus was crucified. It is also believed that the area of the church includes the garden tomb where the body of Jesus would have been placed.
Our guide walked us up to a well-lit altar. Beneath the altar there was an outcrop of rock, and in the rock there was an opening large enough and deep enough to hold the vertical of a Roman cross. The guide explained that this was likely the place where the vertical beam of the cross on which Christ was crucified was placed.
I was tired. I was warm. I shrugged. I sat down there and changed the film in my camera. I thought to myself, “Yeah, right. Probably just another hole in a piece of rock that someone says was the place of the crucifixion. Another nice story to tell tourists…”
After changing the film I took some pictures and then headed outside. Got on the bus. We returned to our hotel. After supper I attended a lecture given by one of the foremost archeologists in the world. He referred to the hole in the rock beneath the altar in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and said, “We believe that was in fact the place where the cross of Christ rested…was made secure…the vertical beam was wedged into that hole…during the crucifixion.”
I sagged. I wanted to go back. I had been there, in the place where Jesus had bled and died because of his love for all creation, and I had shrugged! I had been on holy ground, and I had been more concerned about changing the film in my camera.
When John 19:23 tells us the soldiers who had crucified Jesus were arguing over which one of them would get his articles of clothing, I have always found it hard to believe that they could have done something so mundane, so ordinary, in the presence of a moment so intensely holy. Whether Jesus was the Son of God or “just” one more dying political prisoner, how do men argue over articles of clothing when a man is fighting for each breath just above them?
I’ve been thinking of that moment in Jerusalem this week. I’ve been thinking about the way I shrugged off the holy and kept doing the ordinary stuff of life.
Jesus speaks truth to us whether or not we understand. Jesus loves us whether or not we respond. Jesus dies for a world that would rather argue over clothing or change film than come to grips with this fierce, determined, unyielding, death – shattering grace.
“Living God, forgive us for changing film at the foot of the cross. Forgive us for being so preoccupied with our stuff, our agenda, that we miss the holy work you do among us in Jesus. Thank you for being a Savior who loves those who notice and those whose eyes are closed to the miracle. Amen.”
Welcome to the adventure!
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark
It isn’t all that attractive on the outside or in. The walls are stained with the soot of thousands of candles burned in the building since its construction in 326 of the Common Era. The church is built over a geographical formation that resembles a skull. Tradition says the church is built on the place where Jesus was crucified. It is also believed that the area of the church includes the garden tomb where the body of Jesus would have been placed.
Our guide walked us up to a well-lit altar. Beneath the altar there was an outcrop of rock, and in the rock there was an opening large enough and deep enough to hold the vertical of a Roman cross. The guide explained that this was likely the place where the vertical beam of the cross on which Christ was crucified was placed.
I was tired. I was warm. I shrugged. I sat down there and changed the film in my camera. I thought to myself, “Yeah, right. Probably just another hole in a piece of rock that someone says was the place of the crucifixion. Another nice story to tell tourists…”
After changing the film I took some pictures and then headed outside. Got on the bus. We returned to our hotel. After supper I attended a lecture given by one of the foremost archeologists in the world. He referred to the hole in the rock beneath the altar in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and said, “We believe that was in fact the place where the cross of Christ rested…was made secure…the vertical beam was wedged into that hole…during the crucifixion.”
I sagged. I wanted to go back. I had been there, in the place where Jesus had bled and died because of his love for all creation, and I had shrugged! I had been on holy ground, and I had been more concerned about changing the film in my camera.
When John 19:23 tells us the soldiers who had crucified Jesus were arguing over which one of them would get his articles of clothing, I have always found it hard to believe that they could have done something so mundane, so ordinary, in the presence of a moment so intensely holy. Whether Jesus was the Son of God or “just” one more dying political prisoner, how do men argue over articles of clothing when a man is fighting for each breath just above them?
I’ve been thinking of that moment in Jerusalem this week. I’ve been thinking about the way I shrugged off the holy and kept doing the ordinary stuff of life.
Jesus speaks truth to us whether or not we understand. Jesus loves us whether or not we respond. Jesus dies for a world that would rather argue over clothing or change film than come to grips with this fierce, determined, unyielding, death – shattering grace.
“Living God, forgive us for changing film at the foot of the cross. Forgive us for being so preoccupied with our stuff, our agenda, that we miss the holy work you do among us in Jesus. Thank you for being a Savior who loves those who notice and those whose eyes are closed to the miracle. Amen.”
Welcome to the adventure!
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment