As you walk you stop at 14 stations--the literal Stations of the Cross. Nine stations are directly based on scripture, five on tradition. Stations 10-14 are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is simply amazing. To make it even more confusing is the “traditional”’ path grandma and I are taking was not formalized till the 19th century. And there is still talk the route is wrong. It would be cool to know the exact path is. But it has been over 2000 years and things like tradition and faith are difficult to change. And does it really matter. I don’t think so.
Walking on the street, breathing in the smells of exotic spices, listening to the sounds of the vendors, people praying, and the call of the muezzin, one easily forgets the modern trappings around them and sees what could have been. My grandma and I walked in silence, pausing at each station, and then entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Several religious groups own property in the church: Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, and Ethiopian Orthodox. My first impression was one of total awe then confusion--where did one go? It was pretty overwhelming, in a good way. But a minister saw my deer in the headlights face and helped me. After touching Golgotha, I went to the tomb, the aedicula, entered, and lit a candle. My brain turned off and I just went through the motions walking out. I’ve put a link to a good video since I can’t really describe how it looks in there.
The last night of the tour we went to the Garden Tomb, the tomb that Protestants seem to prefer. There was no one there except our group. It was lightly snowing and very quiet. My grandma was really looking forward to being here. As we walked to the tomb I kept looking over at my 70 year old grandma and I swear she was glowing from within; she was so beautiful. You could see the magnitude of her faith; it was like a lighthouse on steroids. And then He stepped in and the radiance became overpowering.
The buildings we passed and the paving stones we walked on were not around when Jesus was alive. The real street is 30 feet down and you would need a connection in the Israel Department of Antiquities to see it. The current path of the Via Dolorosa wasn’t firmly decided till the 19th century and may be wrong. The Garden Tomb is too old to be from the days of Jesus. Did any of this matter? If you are an archaeologist, sure. But to those of faith it doesn’t matter. We were there to experience what millions of other pilgrims had--to follow the way Jesus went to his death willingly for the belief that we all must help those who need our help. It wasn’t an exercise in logic; it was to strengthen our faith; to empower us so we could fight the good fight, to care for the poor, the week, those who are in need; and that giving one's life for another, expecting nothing in return, is not only the way, but the thing a follower of Jesus does. And in the end the tomb was empty. "He is not here". Isn't that answer enough?
