Biblical Moment 9: Visiting Calvary in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City…
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
Bit of a strange day being where Jesus was born, where he died, and where he rose from the dead. My emotions were all over the place from the moment I woke up with anticipation to the moment I fell asleep with joy and comfort. Yet there were deep moments of sadness being at Golgatha in between His Birth in Bethlehem and His Resurrection downstairs and not too far away in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher contains the last five Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa within the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem.
When you first enter this magnificent huge Church (really a Church of Churches) there is this large mural depicting Christ being taken down from the Cross and carried to the large slab of rock that is sitting right in front of the mural.
Both the mural and the large slab of rock are strategically placed between the Cross at Calvary where Jesus died which is up a steep flight of stairs to the right and the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea where Jesus was laid to rest and was resurrected.
One thing I learned and is shown in the pictures below is that the tomb of Adam laid directly beneath the Calvary Cross. I was told that as Jesus was dying on the Cross a drop of His Blood fell down through the cracks in the rock and fell upon the skull of Adam thereby reconciling sin all the way back to the beginning of humankind.
I am still trying to find the biblical reference so if you are enlightened please enlighten me.
1 Peter 2:24-25: “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.”
Romans 3:23: “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.”
I guess we call it Good Friday because all hopefully turns out well come Sunday after the Saturday Sabbath… there is light radiating above the Holy Sepulcher, the Empty Tomb… but at Calvary all looks bleak looking inwardly and looking outwardly to this world we live in.
Tomorrow and the next day will be a new day!
The entirety of Jesus’ Passion, the Via Dolorosa, the walk to Calvary where he was crucified and died on the Cross on Good Friday is covered in a later Biblical Moment.
CLICK HERE for the Biblical Moment—The Passion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday.
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