Walking with Christ ~John

The Suffering Servant - it is difficult for me to fathom the Love of God and the Love of Christ. The challenge comes not in the historical sense, I know the stories, Christ is God in flesh and for this reason it should be simple to understand the Love of God through Christ, it's the reason Jesus came to teach. My challenge comes when Jesus stands trial before Pilate. Earlier we had visited Ecce Homo, Behold the Man, the site where the trial took place. Pilate even says, "I find no fault in Him." Yet it is the people who cry for His crucifixion. Jesus stands in silence - accepting responsibility. The combination of these two traits is what is so challenging for me personally. I can usually not stay silent for long periods in general - nevermind when people are hurling false accusations my way! And accepting responsibility is something I think most of us struggle with - there is always a scapegoat or a reasoning we can take that will shift the blame. Yet Christ embodies humility and strength to the fullest in these moments and as a result bears His cross towards Golgatha.

On this day we walk with Him. The stations of the cross are along the Via Delorosa, a path that wanders through all of the quarters of the Old City - Jewish, Muslim, Armenian and Christian. One might refer to this path as an urban river or living river, with all of the masses crowded together. The river is calmer in the early morning though and we began at 6, walking in silence. As we passed through Herod's Gate on the north side of the city, we heard the cock crow and got chills as the memory of Peter's denial and the cock crowing was fresh in our minds. While the shops were closed and the streets were much less kinetic, the path was still alive. As we bore the cross from one station to the next we had to avoid cars, school children, street sweepers and, of course, lots of cats.
Yet amongst the life and the distractions of the city streets it was not hard to imagine Christ walking along the road. Receiving jeers, taunts, projectiles and more, Jesus carried His cross towards His death. His supporters were not to be found as they too might have joined Him by association. There is a moment though where Jesus sees His mother Mary and a disciple is with her. In this moment, Jesus does one of the most human things I can think of and in all practicality tells His friend, "You have to take care of my mother now." There is no dramatic moment or final goodbyes, just practical compassion. "Take care."
The road ends at the Church of the resurrection, an enormous church that covers both Calvary Rock, on which Jesus was crucified, and the tomb in which He was buried. The line for the tomb is always full of people behind police barricades even at 6 in the morning, so instead we waited for our chance to reach down and feel the hole in which the cross rested to crucify Christ, for without death there cannot be new life. Powerful.
Fr Andrew led us down deeper into the quarry from ancient times that is just behind and below Golgatha. In this deep dark place we pondered the idea of "living rock." Christ is the rock of the church and is alive within us and between us. To share that space with men that I have come to call brothers was extremely special and holy. Certainly, the Spirit dwelt among us.
After visiting a tomb near Jesus' just to see what it would have been like - a hole in the rock - it was still early in the day but many of us were tired so we returned to St George's for some naps.

That afternoon we took advantage of the new light rail train. We rode the train, which is very efficient, clean and quick, to the Israeli Museum. The museum is home to the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls themselves look like old paper, not surprisingly, but the building that protects them is pretty magnificent. This fountain is the roof of the building, unfortunately camera's were not allowed inside.

The roof of the Museum holding the Dead Sea Scrolls

JJ next to the sculpture

One of the main attractions along with the scrolls is an enormous model of ancient Jerusalem. There is a free audio tour and it was really interesting to see what the old Temple might have looked like and to learn about the process of how people would enter the temple mount to make their sacrifices. The museum itself has quite a good cross-section of art, archaeology, old outfits for different races and roles, sculpture and history. Van Gogh, Monet, Warhol, and so many in between, with a focus on Jewish artists, combine to make quite an exhibition.

I'm just messing with you on this one!

After our long trek and some delicious dinner I had a wonderful relaxing evening with Fr Eric and my father as we enjoyed an apple flavored water pipe! Something I definitely never expected to share with my pops! It was a great finish to another phenomenal day.