Day 1 in Jerusalem - The Garden Tomb

Our first outing in Jerusalem was an Arab bus ride straight to the Garden Tomb.  My niece Joni has no idea how blessed she is to visit these places on a regular basis at five years old, and many people NEVER get to see them.  Her mom says she's tired of hearing that...

The garden tomb was much bigger than I expected, stone paths lined with beautiful trees and flowers.

Many beautiful birds sing in the trees, adding to the musical tranquility here.  I wrote a note to myself, "The birds feel the Spirit here I think," as so many beautiful bird songs can be heard here.  (We are in different clothes on this post because we came back on the morning of day 2 for another visit.) 

My sister Amy and Mom, looking at the Garden Tomb door.  This was unusual to find the Garden Tomb so free of tourists, but Amy knows the best times to come.  They've been here many times.    

Outside the Garden Tomb.  Notice the channel I'm standing in, which would be large enough to hold a large round stone to be rolled over the tomb door.  By the way, the original tomb door was shorter.  In John 20 "Mary stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre..."

 This round stone would be like the one they used to cover Christ's tomb.  

Inside the tomb, the sign on the door says, "He is not here, for he is risen." This is my mom Joan, my niece Joni, and me.

The man in the middle from Northern Ireland read his New Testament account of the resurrection. His rich voice echoed inside the tomb to the few of us who were inside. He read with sincerity and feeling, and would stop and say, "I love this part..." His wife and I had tears running down our cheeks. It was a beautiful moment.

Christ's body was believed to be in the right chamber of the tomb, behind this fence.

Here's a picture through the fence.  So if I were to draw a floor plan, the tomb has two chambers, the one on the left is the "weeping chamber" where they prepared the body and mourned.  The one on the right is where they placed the body.  You can see the second chamber is divided into three sections, the ones on both ends believed to be where bodies would be laid. 

Amy said some expert pointed out the remains of a shelf on the left side and said Christ's body would have been laid on a stone shelf or bed that used to be there.  The Bible does talk about the two angels sitting, one at the head and one at the feet of where the body used to be.

The skull face in the side of this mountain made a man in the late 1800's start to believe this may be the location close to Christ's crucifixion and resurrection (Golgatha means skull). Later they excavated nearby and found a tomb, a cistern, and a wine press. After centuries of Christians believing Christ's crucifixion and resurrection happening at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, now some Christians believe this garden tomb is the real resurrection location. 

See the bus station below the hill?  That's where the tour guide said Christ would have been crucified if this is indeed the place of His resurrection.  (An interesting side note: there is an Arab bus station on one side and an Isreali bus station on the other side of the Garden Tomb.  This is the Israeli one.)

The skull face in the hillside from a different angle.  The mouth is covered by the bushes and wall at the bottom of the hill.  The tour guide showed us a photo taken 100 years ago that shows the mouth clearly.

The wine press that gives evidence there was a vineyard or garden nearby.

The cistern they discovered that holds 200,000 gallons of water.  This also gives evidence of a garden nearby.

Photo inside the cistern

Many tour groups visit the Garden Tomb, especially at Easter and Christmas.  A tour guide is teaching the tourists interesting facts and theories about this site. My favorite thing I heard from one of the guides is that we don't know for sure if this is the exact place of Christ's burial and resurrection, but we don't worship the place, we worship the person.  What makes this the most magnificent place in all of Israel isn't what we see inside the tomb, it's what we do not see, because He is risen!  

The garden around the tomb has many tucked away groups of benches for tour groups to gather and sing, listen to tour guides, and ponder what this place means. 

Amy said Joni needed to come here regularly when they first moved here and she was traumatized from leaving the states and all her friends, family, home, and everything familiar.  It was like going to the temple, and gave her and them strength each time they came.  On the times they came when it was closed Joni was devastated.  Joni has held her toddler brother Jackson's hand through many peaceful walks through these garden paths and have received peace, comfort, strength, and centering here.

I can imagine how Joni felt.  I have only been in Jerusalem two days, have visited twice, and feel the pull to go back for more. It is my favorite place in Jerusalem so far for sure.  It feels like a little haven oasis in the middle of a very loud and bustling busy city around it.



Evidences that This may be the Place Christ was Resurrected

1. It was a new tomb which had never been used before. That's what the Bible said about Christ's tomb.
2. It was a family tomb, owned by a wealthy family. Joseph of Arimathaea was a wealthy man. 
3. It was near a garden.  The first evidence that this was a garden is the wine press
4. The second evidence is the large cistern.  Having a sistern in his own garden is another evidence of a wealthy man owning this garden and tomb.
5. The hill next to the tomb has a skull face in it.  Golgotha means skull. The Bible said the tomb was near the place of the crucifixion.
6. The Garden Tomb is outside the city walls, which is where the Bible said he was crucified.
7. Crucifixions took place next to main roads back then.  This was/is next to a main road.  The tour guide said if this was indeed Christ's tomb, the place of crucifixion would have been where the bus station is just outside the Garden.
8. The stone channel in front of the door is the right size for a round stone to roll in front of it.
9. The Garden Tomb was "in the hill" as John said.
10. If I remember right, the arrangment of the weeping chamber on the left and the body chamber on the right was evidence of the tomb being from the time period of Christ (but don't quote me on that one).
11. Comparing the two sites different Christians think is the place of Christ's resurrection, President Harold B. Lee (a prophet of our church) wrote in his Easter message in 1972.  He said, "We followed the way...supposedly to the place of crucifixion and the place of the holy sepulchre...according to tradition, we felt was the wrong place. We felt none of the spiritual significance that we had felt at other places..."   Then he said about the Garden Tomb, "Something seemed to impress us as we stood there that this was the holiest place of all..."  That's good enough for me! 
12. I felt the Spirit here, and I kept coming back for more. I came here four times in our two-week visit, the last two times by myself.  This is my favorite site in the Holy Land. 
13. The strength this place has given Amy's family, being like a temple for them here.