Mark's Blog

Jerusalem is like no other city that I have ever visited! Not the beauty, not the variety, not the landscape, not even the history—all of the usual things that people talk about when evaluating Vienna or Prague or St. Petersburg or Bangkok, or Beijing—no, perhaps it is the spiritual confrontation and the emotional upheaval on every corner that sets Jerusalem apart.

At the Wailing Wall, people wail! I was prepared for the praying and the rocking and the reading of Torah, but I was not prepared for the wailing! These are not the first Jews who have wept over Jerusalem.

The Tomb of David is one of the most artificial of sacred sites, a site that really no one believes to be anything but a fabricated holy site, and yet there were not just tourists, but worshippers there! No one is fooled, but still some fill a need to believe and worship!

At first we were all a bit disappointed with the Via Dolorosa—the Way of the Cross—supposedly tracing Jesus’ steps from the Place of Judgment in front of Pilate to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. First we were told that any real steps that Jesus might have taken would be about 65 feet below the level of the street upon which we were walking. That’s not so bad.  Then as we walked, we realized that virtually every step was lined with shops of all kinds—not just tourist shops, but all kinds of shops.

Instead of carrying a cross like a few pilgrims were doing or stopping soberly to read the crucifixion story step by step, most people on the Via Dolorosa everyday were trying to make a buck—that is, a shekel! Perhaps it was time to drive the money changers out of the temple!!  BUT . . .

. . . then it occurred to us that even on the very day of crucifixion, this street probably was not so different. The way was lined with shopkeepers who possibly noticed the soldiers marching down the street, followed by some poor guy going to be crucified.  And then they went back to their customers. After all, it was the third person today they were going to crucify!

That the monotony of the mercantile just went right on at the very hour that Jesus walked to the cross just messes with your emotions a little, doesn’t it!

The church of the Holy Sepulcher completely covers the traditional Mount Calvary, Golgotha, and the tomb of Jesus! Nice to visit, but it didn’t move me really because if there is anything true about the place, it is totally covered up by the attempt of Christians to protect it, to give it significance, to magnify—maybe even to proclaim.

I wonder what we are slowly hiding because of our needs to protect, to make significant, to magnify?

Our last stop—at three o’clock on Friday afternoon–in Jerusalem was the Garden Tomb, first suggested as the real site of Jesus’ burial just a little over one hundred years ago. A British organization has created a quiet, beautiful garden to surround this first century tomb. Whether or not this particular site has any greater claim to veracity than the more traditional site, the garden and the garden tomb are much more emotionally satisfying. A wonderfully Christian British lady who had taken her three-week holiday to work at the site gave us not only a wonderful tour but her testimony of faith. To find heartfelt faith, full of joy that “He is not here; he is risen” was a special gift.

And so it is with so many “holy” sites in Israel. Most of them have some rationale for their designation; few of them are anything but slightly educated guesses; but all of them are someone’s attempt to remember the work of God! You don’t have to believe in them or worship in them to be thankful that someone wants to remember and glorify God.

“It’s complicated!” Every Israeli, every Palestinian, every Arab, every Christian we talked with in Israel and Jordan, every one of them at some time in the conversation said the same thing, “It’s complicated!” Whether we were talking about the politics of the region, about faith, or about life in general, their answer was the same, “It’s complicated.”

For the political conflicts, for the social struggles, for the religious division, they are all right! We have been able to find nothing but complication.

Thank God for the simple, uncomplicated truth: He is risen!  Those who believe this truth do not need to wail.