Israel – Day Four

Today was our first day in Jerusalem. There is so much to see here that we know we won’t get it all in. I’ve already learned so much that I can’t catalog it all in my brain just yet. I thought I was pretty familiar with the city and the country without having been here. But I now realize how little I knew.Our guide wisely started us off at the Jerusalem Museum of Antiquities where they have an outdoor 50:1 scale model of the city as it was in 66AD, before the Jewish revolt which led to the destruction of the Temple and the city. We were able to get a layout of it’s geography and buildings and all of the archeological and sites of interest were located for us. I could have spent hours studying it, but there are so many places to go.After lunch, we visited the place that is identified as the Upper Room. It isn’t the same room where Jesus met with his disciples for the Last Supper, but there is evidence that it occupies the same space.What I mean by that is the building we were in was built during the crusades, so it was a very old building. But they had good reason for identifying this as the place. It’s location is right where the room would have been, and there is strong indication that there was an early Christian church commemorating the place, before it was destroyed by invading Muslims prior to the Crusades. The early Christians commemorated special locations by building a house of worship where these places existed (they did this over Peter’s residence in Capernaum). This spot was special to them because it was not only the site of the Last Supper, it was also the place they met a number of times after Jesus’ death and resurrection. It was the meeting place of the group that became the first church, and it would have been logical for them to renovate it into a church after the city was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.While there, we read the Last Supper account in Luke's Gospel and talked about the significance of everything that happened in that space.We then finished the day at "The Place of The Skull" and "The Garden Tomb".No one knows for sure where Jesus was crucified.  There are now three theories and all have good arguments. This place,to me, so far at least, has the strongest evidence.I don’t have room in this blog to enumerate the arguments for any of the theories, and I don’t think it really matters. We don’t know for sure because of the destruction of the city by both the Romans and later the Muslims, and Jews and Christians alike were expelled from the area. No one was around to keep track of the exact location of these events. Maybe we’re not supposed to know.But being here…a place that is both likely and offers the atmosphere that lends itself to both the crucifixion and the resurrection, was incredibly meaningful. I can’t even describe the feeling we allhad when we entered the hewn out grave, exactly as it was described in the New Testament, and gazed upon the empty burial crypt. We believe the Gospel account for good reason, and I became convinced of the truth of Jesus’ resurrection long ago. But today, I was indeed “touched” by it’s reality.Jesus was not in the tomb. It was empty. And there is no reasonable explanation for that beyond his own claim to being the God-man who has power over death.I’m really glad he is and does, because I'm the one who deserves death. But God is merciful and Jesus is gracious. His sacrifice on the cross for my forgiveness and his resurrection from the dead is all that was necessary for me to receive new life and salvation.Because the tomb is empty, my life is not. I really hope the same is true for you!