Free Time (Monday, June 21st)

So it's now Monday evening here and I think I have finally gotten caught up! My laundry is washed, my homework is done, I've posted all the blogs I've written so far... Yesterday (Sunday) was a freeday for us (there was no class so we could go and do whatever we wanted) and a group of us decided to go check out the services at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, just a short walk from the school. It is a very interesting church in a lot of ways. It was built by St. Helena, Constantine's mother, to mark/preserve the place where Christ was crucified and where he was buried. Unlike some of the churches and monuments here, archeologist believe that this at least has credibility for being the place where this event took place. One is that it is outside of were the wall of Jerusalem was at that time, and we know from scripture and other literary sources that Jesus was crucified out side the city walls. Also, sometime after 70 ad the Romans built a temple to Venus there and on the site where it is said that Jesus was crucified they put a statue of Jupiter. Church tradition said that that was the place and archeologist say that it makes sense that the first Christians would have passed down from generation to generation the information until the time when Helena came to seek out the spot and build a church there because until that point in history Christianity had been illegal. The tomb that they claim Christ rose from is also on that site in another part of the church (and yes it is empty). While there is know way to know for sure if this was the tomb they put him in, the fact that there are other first century tombs on the site makes it plausible. (This way of burying people only lasted for about 100 years.) So it is a site with incredible, and humbling significance.


The other interesting fact about this church is that it is claimed by at least 7 different church groups who all claim that they are rightfully the ones who should have control over the site. (Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Catholics, and more that I can't remember.) They all keep a presence at the sight and are constantly fighting over who's hallway this is, or who has the rights to that. To illustrate how bad the fighting is, find the ladder in the picture to the left. That ladder has been leaning against that wall for somewhere around 200 years because no one can agree as to who has the authority to move it!! I wish I were kidding! In fact there is a ceremony each morning and evening to open and close the gate to the courtyard. The keys used to unlock the gate are kept by a Muslim family in the neighborhood and have been passed down from generation to generation for decades, maybe centuries (I can't remember) because the fighting is so intense that if any one faction were to hold the key the results would be disastrous! It is very sad to see God's people so divided over a site that should unite us.



Other than that I have done some shopping and freelance exploration of the city (always with friends, no worries). I have done laundry and caught up on sleep and am ready for the new week to start. Tomorrow morning we are leaving on a field trip that will take us out of Jerusalem until Thursday evening. I hear that there probably isn't any internet where we are going so you'll just have to wait until I get back to hear about it. Hope you are all doing well!
P.S. the picture on the right I took in Bethlehem. Read the sign carefully! it made me laugh :)