DAY 7 - "You Want 6 Nativity Sets?"

"Oh Little Town of Bethlehem"
      "In the Garden"
            "He is Risen" 
                 "Arise O Jerusalem"

A morning view from our hotel window

Is it possible that I really woke up this morning in Jerusalem?

1st stop - The Garden Tomb of Jesus

And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

~John 19:17-19 There has been some discrepancy over where Jesus Christ's tomb was and where he arose from the dead.  We had a Swedish Christian Guide for this site that had some helpful insight into this question.

Look closely at the rock formation - looks like that of a skull - right?

He showed us a better photo from the side we could not get to.

Although the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the traditional location many scholars believe Jesus was crucified, others think it was possibly a hillside adjacent to the Garden Tomb and for good reason.

Golgotha is on the top of a hill right outside the city walls and the small natural caves give it an appearance of a man’s skull. As early as 1842 Otto Thenius, a German Theologian, proposed the idea that the outcropping of rock known today as "Skull Hill" could possibly be significant in the identification of the site of the crucifixion

Walking along the path to the Tomb was a beautiful experience.  My cousins and I also had the chance to sing a Protestant hymn together - "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" after we had visited the tomb.  What a beautiful experience!

Beautiful old Olive Tree and gardens that surround the Tomb of Jesus

We will see this inside the tomb - carved on the wall

Excavations in the area of the Garden Tomb have revealed evidence that it was, indeed, an ancient garden—not of flowers, but of fruits. A wine press discovered in 1924 can be seen at the site today, along with three cisterns, one of which has a capacity of 200,000 gallons of water.

An ancient wine press

Latter-day Saints have an additional insight into the sacredness of the Garden Tomb. President Harold B. Lee was the first prophet of God holding the keys and powers of the presidency of the holy priesthood to visit Jerusalem since Peter walked the city’s streets nearly nineteen centuries earlier. Detailing the feelings and impressions he had during his visit to the Holy Land, President Lee gave special emphasis to the significance of the site. “Something seemed to impress us as we stood there,” he said, “that this was the holiest place of all, and we fancied we could have witnessed the dramatic scene that took place there.” (Ensign, Apr. 1972, p. 6.)

Maybe I'll have a chance to sing at the Garden of Gethsemane

Here is a photo from an article all about the Garden Tomb.  VERY interesting!

Check it out - - -

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1983/04/the-garden-tomb?lang=eng


My favorite Easter song -
Christ the Lord is Risen Today

1.  Christ the Lord is ris'n today,
   Alleluia!
   Sons of men and angels say,
   Alleluia!
   Raise your joys and triumphs high,
   Alleluia!
   Sing, ye heav'ns, and earth reply,
   Alleluia!
2. Love's redeeming work is done,
   Alleluia!
   Fought the fight, the vict'ry won,                        
   Alleluia!
   Jesus' agony is o'er,
   

   

   We get to go in the tomb!

   Alleluia!
   Darkness veils the earth no more,
   Alleluia!
3.  Lives again our glorious King,
   Alleluia!
   Where, O death, is now thy sting?
   Alleluia!
   Once he died our souls to save,
   Alleluia!
   Where thy victory, O grave?
   Alleluia!
   Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

          

Cousin Lloyd and Joanne enter first

What a privilege to even be here!

Byzantine crosses adorn the interior of the tomb, and two of the most elaborate of these, having been painted on the wall, have faded since the tomb’s discovery. Others—both painted and carved—remain, as does a large embossed plaster cross in the larger cistern.

"He is not here, but He has risen!

Our guide points out an inscription in the rock of a cross

The biblical tomb had belonged to Joseph of Arimathaea. In the years to come, evidence was uncovered that the Garden Tomb was, indeed, a Jewish tomb of the first century which had never been completed. It also conformed to the biblical description because it was located in the midst of a garden and near the proposed place of execution.  I feel confident that this was indeed the place where Jesus was buried and on the 3rd day, rose from the dead.  What a wonderful feeling to be here during the beautiful time of Easter!

We drove by the BYU Jerusalem Center again this morning

The charming village of Ein Karem, situated on the western slopes of Jerusalem, is a popular destination for both pilgrims and locals alike.  The site is known as far back as the time of the prophet Jeremiah, who exhorted the children of the tribe of Benjamin to “set up a signal-fire in Beit ha-Kerem” as foreign invaders were approaching Jerusalem (Jeremiah 6:1). 

The two main sites in Ein Karem are linked to the understanding that Zechariah and Elizabeth had two houses. 

Their usual residence was in the valley. But a cooler summer house, high on a hillside, allowed them to escape the heat and humidity.
The summer house is believed to be where the pregnant Elizabeth “remained in seclusion for five months” (Luke 1:24) and where Mary visited her.

A Franciscan Catholic church, St. John ba-Harim ("St. John in the Mountains" in Hebrew).

The song of thanksgiving that Zechariah said when John was born, the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79) in 24 languages.

Inside the church is a cave which is traditionally identified as the birthplace of John.  The cave used to be a part of John’s home and belonged to his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Inside the cave is a painting of the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan river.  John performs an important  ritual :  announcing that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah

“But the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John…


And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous–to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  LUKE 1:13-17

The inscription above the entrance reads in Latin a part of  Zacharias blessing  (from Luke - "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people"). The cave is thus named as the Grotto of Benedictus, meaning the song (or canticle) of Zecharias.

The church and monastery was built over the ruins of ancient layers - Herodian, Roman, Byzantine and Crusaders.

The higher statues are of Mary, Elizabeth and Zacharias

The daughter of Herodias, wife of Herod Antipas, holding the charger (plate) to receive  his head and show it to her mother.

16th c. painting of the be-heading of John - just an awful event from the Bible

We took a little stroll to the next two important sites in Ein Karem.

Our view along the way across the valley.

Ein Karem means spring of the vineyard. It is also known as Mary’s Spring, because, according to tradition, Mary stopped here to drink while visiting her cousin, Elizabeth.

The spring was the nucleus of the Canaanite city in the Bronze period, and its waters were used as the main source of water for thousands of years since then.

A mosque, whose tower rises above the structure of the spring,  was built over Mary's spring in the 2nd half of the 19th C.    The structure has three domes above a prayer hall. 

A short walk from the spring leads to the Franciscan Church of the Visitation, commemorating Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.  The site is also attributed to John the Baptist's parental summer house.

See the layers on the hillside of ancient terracing.

We saw beautiful flowers, trees, and scenery as we walked up the hill.

People from all over the world come here to these Holy sites.

Such a beautiful view of the valley below.

The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land purchased the plot of land with the ruined Crusader complex in 1679, but only began reconstruction of the lower level of the church in 1862. Design and construction of the upper level of the structure began in 1938, and was completed by Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi in 1955, who designed many other churches in the Holy Land during the 20th century.

The famous Church of the Visitation.

In the courtyard, we were greeted by one of the Church’s most beloved hymns, Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), which she prayed when she met Elizabeth, now written in no less than 47 languages on the wall facing the church.  It celebrated the movement Elizabeth felt in her womb when Mary came to visit her.

Mary is on the left and her cousin, Elizabeth on the right.

On the church’s facade, a beautiful mosaic depicts Mary on a donkey, escorted by angels, on her way from Nazareth to the hill country of Judea, where Ein Karem is situated (Luke 1:39).

Inside the lower chapel, the walls are decorated with paintings of biblical scene.

The lower church contains a narrow medieval barrel-vaulted crypt ending with a well-head from which, according to tradition, Elizabeth and her infant drank. The well is connected to a Roman or Byzantine overflow pipe running under the medieval floor.

The rock with a cleft next to the entrance of the medieval crypt is said to mark the site where the mountain opened up to hide Elizabeth and the infant John from Herod's soldiers - this is the "Rock of Concealment".

Onward to Bethlehem - we had to go through a checkpoint, where our guide was not allowed to go.  We are now in an occupied Palestinian territory - OPT.

Immediately we saw lots of trash

View down below the city of Bethlehem

Located in the West Bank with population of 25,000.

In 2013, the United Nations recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state. Prior to becoming a part of the Palestinian National Authority, Bethlehem was under the control of the nation of Israel when that country occupied the West Bank. The first historical references to a town of Bethlehem date back to 1400 B.C.E. Located directly south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is important to three of the world's major religions,: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Bethlehem means "House of Bread."

Only 18% of Bethlehem is currently Christian.  Most are Muslims.  90% of their economy is based on tourism.

Church of the Nativity - one of my most "looked forward to" sites is the oldest church in the Christian world.  It was built by the emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It replaced the original church of Constantine the Great, built over the cave of Christ’s birthplace, and dedicated in AD 339.
Before Constantine, the first Christian emperor, the Romans had tried to wipe out the memory of the cave. They planted a grove dedicated to the pagan god Adonis, lover of Venus, and established his cult in the cave.
As St. Jerome  wrote in AD 395, “The earth’s most sacred spot was overshadowed by the grave of Adonis, and the cave where the infant Christ once wept was where the paraur of Venus was bewailed.”

 Entering the church that marks the site of Christ’s birthplace means having to stoop low. The only doorway in the fortress-like front wall is less than 4 feet high.

Persians invaded Palestine in 614 and destroyed many churches. They spared the Church of the Nativity when they saw a mosaic on an interior wall depicting the Three Wise Men in Persian dress.

The church is administered jointly by Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, and Syriac Orthodox Churches. All four traditions maintain monastic communities on the site. As a result, however, there have been repeated brawls among monk trainees over quiet respect for others' prayers, hymns and even the division of floor space for cleaning duties.

We saw a couple different worship services going on at the time we went through.

As the ornamentation, icons and lamps in the front of the church suggest, the basilica is now almost wholly a Greek Orthodox place of worship. The Armenian Orthodox own the northern transept. The Catholics have the site of the manger and the adjoining altar next to the Nativity grotto.
So while Christians in the Western world are celebrating Christ’s birthday on December 25, the church at his birthplace still has 13 days to wait for the Orthodox observance on January 7 and a further 12 days for the Armenian Christmas.

Grotto of the Nativity

I had such a wonderful feeling as I entered the cave - to be where the Christ Child was born, to feel His spirit, to know that He is my Saviour, and King.  Unbelievable feelings of inadequacy and awe filled my being!

This is where it is said that Mary and Joseph kept the baby Jesus after he was born.  It was just on the other side of the wall - not far from his actual birth.

I pause for refection in the traditional place of Christ's birth

Many like to kneel and worship this spot.

The Church of St Catherine is the parish church for Bethlehem’s Catholics. It is also often used by groups of pilgrims.

This 19th-century church adjoins the 6th-century Church of the Nativity, built over the cave where Jesus was born. It even shares a wall with the Nativity church.

And who was St Catherine of Alexandria? 

 



 

According to the traditional story, this early 4th-century martyr from Egypt was of noble birth and well educated. At the age of 18, she challenged the emperor Maxentius for persecuting Christians and worshipping false gods.

The enraged emperor ordered her to be tortured on a wheel — hence the term “Catherine wheel”. But when Catherine touched the wheel, it broke. She was then beheaded and tradition says angels carried her body to Mount Sinai, where in the 6th century a church and monastery were built in her honour.

The Bethlehem church dedicated to St Catherine was built in 1882 on the ruins of the Crusader church and monastery belonging to the Augustinians.

A narrow stairway by the nave leads down into a complex of caves and rock-cut chambers.
These contain a number of chapels, including St Joseph’s Chapel, recalling the dream in which an angel warned Joseph to take the Holy Family to Egypt; and the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, commemorating the children massacred by Herod.

Chapel of the Holy Innocents

 

 It's a MUST to get Nativity Sets only from Bethlehem, where the artisans make them out of olive wood, so the tour group stopped at the Holy Land Canavati Store.

Over four hundred years tradition, the Canavati Family shares the treasures and the tradition of the Holy Land with visitors. 

George & Rubina Canavati were wonderful to work with!

And to the tune of more than you want to know - I bought 6 Nativity Sets for my children and their families.

I so loved this day - I will never forget all that I saw and learned.  Tomorrow we get to learn about Jerusalem and all the wonderful history and amazing sites - can't wait!