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'Burial Slab' of Jesus Christ Uncovered First Time in Centuries
CBN News 10-28-2016
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A stone slab believed to have once held the body of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion is being unveiled for the first time in centuries at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
For the first time in 200 years, experts began renovating the tomb supposed to have held the body of Christ. They also removed the marble that encased the slab since at least 1555, according to National Geographic.
"We were surprised by the amount of fill material beneath it," Fredrik Hiebert, archaeologist-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, said.
"It will be a long scientific analysis, but we will finally be able to see the original rock surface on which, according to tradition, the body of Christ was laid," he said.
The church is considered to be one of the most revered sites in Christianity. It also includes the location believed by many to be where the crucifixion took place.
Tensions have been high between several Christian denominations, including Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, delaying repairs. The Israeli government was forced temporarily to shut down the church over fear of possible collapse.
The different sects eventually agreed to a nine-month renovation to fix the crumbling chapel built over the revered site.
The renovation will be featured in a National Geographic Channel "Explorer" episode in November.
"We are at the critical moment for rehabilitating the Edicule" (which encloses the tomb), Antonia Moropoulou, with the the National Technical University of Athens, told National Geographic.
"The techniques we're using to document this unique monument will enable the world to study our findings as if they themselves were in the tomb of Christ," he said.
“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” Exodus 3:2 (The Israel Bible™)
Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshipers take part in the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the burial site of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem’s Old City during the Easter holiday. April 30, 2016. (Hadas Parush)
Thousands of Christians flocked to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located in the Old City of Jerusalem, to participate in an ancient fire ceremony which takes place at what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus.
The ceremony dates back at least 1,200 years. Christian Orthodox tradition holds that the mysterious flame spontaneously appears from the tomb annually on Holy Saturday; the details of the flame’s generation are kept secret.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is, according to Christian belief, the location of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, was packed full of celebrants during the ceremony. Eastern Orthodox clerics entered the Edicule, a small chamber marking the tomb of Jesus, and emerged with candles lit from the “holy fire”, which was then distributed to the thousands of worshippers.
Holy fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, April 30, 2016. (Hadas Parush)
The flame even made its way to Russia, home to a large population of Orthodox Christians, JNi Media reported. A special aircraft carried the fire from Jerusalem to Moscow in time for Sunday’s Easter celebrations (Eastern Orthodoxy follows an older calendar than other branches of Christianity and celebrates Easter on a later date). From Moscow, the holy fire will travel through Russia to reach worshippers around the country.
Security around the church was tight, with about 3,500 Israeli police deployed for the event. While the Old City was relatively calm over the holiday of Passover, which ended Saturday night, the wave of terror which swept over Israel this fall and winter has not yet died down completely, as evidenced by the suicide bombing of a Jerusalem bus earlier in April.
A visit to Jerusalem can take you to a place of spiritual ascent. (Wikimedia Commons )
The city of Jerusalem is the highlight of any pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It is not just a city that has some 4,000 years of history, making it one of the oldest cities on earth, but it is mentioned 806 times in the Bible with names as beautiful as "City of God," "Joyful City" and "Desired One."
Jerusalem in Hebrew is Yerushalayim and is often translated as "City of Peace."
It is situated on the southern Judean plateau which at its highest point is 2,500 feet above sea level. Only 37 miles west of Jerusalem is the Mediterranean Sea, and 22 miles to its east is the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea. This explains why in John 5:1 Jesus "went up to Jerusalem," and in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the poor man that fell among thieves was going "down from Jerusalem" (Luke 10:30).
This idea of ascending to Jerusalem does not merely refer to geography though; Jerusalem was the site of the temple of God, therefore a place of spiritual ascent. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?" asks the psalmist, "or who shall stand in his holy place?" (Ps. 24:3).
Psalms of Ascent
In fact, 15 of the biblical Psalms (120-134) bear the label "song of ascent." They've also been called "songs of steps" and "pilgrim songs." Many scholars believe that these psalms were sung by worshippers walking up the road to Jerusalem at the time of the three great pilgrimage festivals: Passover, Tabernacles and Pentecost. The notion of "ascending" to Jerusalem persists today. For example, Jews who immigrate to Israel are said to be making "aliyah," or "ascent."
Many Christian tours recite the Psalms of Ascent as their buses climb the road to Jerusalem. What a fitting way to prepare one's heart for the special experience of visiting the city that God chose for Himself (Ps. 132:13-14). The Psalms of Ascent end with verse 3 of Psalm 134, which is the pilgrim's prayer that they would be blessed by God while in Zion.
Jerusalem in the Bible
Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible as early as Genesis 14:18, where it is referred to as Shalem, the city ruled by Melchizedek. Later it is called Jebus, which was captured from the Jebusites by King David and made the capital of Israel. David also bought a certain threshing floor there from its owner and kept it as the site of the future temple. That site is also referred to as Mt. Moriah in 2 Chronicles 3:1, which indicates that King Solomon built the temple on the same mountain where Abraham had earlier bound Isaac.
Zion was another name given to the hill where the Jebusite fortress stood, and was later applied to the Temple Mount, or Mt. Moriah, just to the north of the fortress. Zionhas also come to be used as a synonym for the city of Jerusalem as a whole.
Sites to See
In biblical times, Jerusalem covered territory similar to what is known today as the Old City, a 35 square-mile walled area divided into four sections carried over from Ottoman rule: The Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian quarters. The Old City has been surrounded by walls for its defense since ancient times, but the walls that are visible today date back to the 16th century. The Old City was the entire city of Jerusalem until the mid-19th century when building began outside of the city walls.
While an exhaustive list of important sites in Jerusalem is not possible for this article, everyone must see the Western Wall, the only remnant of the Temple walls; the Temple Mount on which is built the Muslim Dome of the Rock; the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the likely site where Jesus was crucified and buried; the Garden Tomb, a rock-cut tomb in a skull-shaped hill considered an alternative site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial; and the Mt. of Olives.
The Capital of Israel
As you can imagine, Jerusalem today is a very diverse and fascinating modern city inhabited by over 800,000 people. It is a sprawling city with beautiful vistas from hill-top housing developments. In addition to being Israel's spiritual, political and administrative capital, Jerusalem is also a leader in education and health care, and its religious, historical and cultural attractions make it the country's premier tourist destination.
It was some 3,000 years ago that King David captured Jerusalem and made it the capital of Israel. Since then, the city has been destroyed, besieged, attacked and rebuilt many times. But it always remained in the hearts of the Jewish people who longed to one day return and re-establish sovereignty there.
The Zionist movement, while a modern political movement, is in many ways a continuation of this ancient attachment of the Jewish people to Jerusalem. The current refusal of the nations to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is an attempt to rob the Jewish people of their spiritual and scriptural heart.
This is why the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem recognizes Jerusalem as the eternal and undivided capital of the State of Israel.
Note: This is the second in a series of articles introducing Israel and various biblical sites of interest to the Christian reader. Click here for the first, "8 Reasons Why Every Christian Should Visit Israel."
Susan Michael is the U.S. Director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and leads tours to Israel icejusa.org/tours.
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The 78-year-old narrowly missed flash floods at the West Bank's biblical Qumran caves. In the cobbled alleyways of Jerusalem's walled Old City, his panama hat, sunglasses and brace of bodyguards did little to keep away selfie-snapping locals and tourists. (Reuters)
Actor Morgan Freeman Heads to Jerusalem Seeking Answers About God
He may have depicted God in Hollywood films, but Morgan Freeman came to Jerusalem with questions about religion still unsettled.
"I'm primarily interested in why, what is the why of it," the Academy Award-winning actor told Reuters on Wednesday during a break in shooting "The Story of God", a National Geographic and Highlight Films documentary exploring faith and theology.
"I haven't found any answers yet. We're still in production," he said at the 4th-century Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a traditional site of Jesus's tomb where many pilgrims seemed as impassioned by the star's surprise presence.
Freeman, who played God in "Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty" and is also famed for his plangent film narrations, is both star and executive producer of the documentary, slated for release in April. Locations include Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, Guatemala, Turkey and India.
The 78-year-old narrowly missed flash floods at the West Bank's biblical Qumran caves. In the cobbled alleyways of Jerusalem's walled Old City, his panama hat, sunglasses and brace of bodyguards did little to keep away selfie-snapping locals and tourists.
The excitement offered some reprieve from religious strife surging in the city this month amid Palestinian unrest over stepped-up Israeli visits to the al-Aqsa mosque compound, a site also revered by Jews as a vestige of their ancient temples.
Freeman declined to comment on the conflict - a departure, perhaps, from a video he made with other Hollywood figures supporting the July nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, and which Israel has condemned as insufficiently stringent.
"I don't have a message for anybody. No, we're just here doing a documentary," he said.
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Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Jesus' crucifixion site
Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem - site of Jesus (Yeshua) crucifixion
I took this video on Nov. 7, 2013 in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - in the Old City of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. This site seems to be the most historical place where Jesus was crucified.
Videos filmed and shared by Steve Martin - to give appreciation to and love for those we support, through Love For His People, Inc.
IT'S OFFICIAL: 2013 SETS NEW ALL-TIME HIGH FOR TOURISM TO ISRAEL
New York - January 16, 2014: 3.54 million visitors from around the world arrived in Israel in 2013, a new all-time high in travel to Israel, says Haim Gutin, Israel Commissioner for Tourism, North and South America.
The U.S. is the number one source of tourism to Israel (20% of tourists to Israel come from North America), followed by Russia, France, Germany and the U.K.
"It is an unheard of phenomenon that any country's largest and highest-spending source of tourism comes from 6,000+ miles away," observed Gutin, "which underscores the importance of the work we do in North America."
The month of December 2013 also set a new record high, with the arrival of 24% more tourists (visitors who stayed more than one night) than in 2012. Cruise travel to Israel also increased in 2013 with the arrival of a record 257,000 cruise visitors.
The Israel Ministry of Tourism estimates that 53% of all incoming travelers identify as "Christian" and 28% as "Jewish." The Ministry also estimates that the sites most visited by tourists to Israel are Jerusalem's Western Wall (68%) and Jewish Quarter (64%), the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (57%), the Via Dolorosa (55%) and the Mount of Olives (53%).
For more information about tourism to Israel, visit www.goisrael.com.
ISRAEL GOVERNMENT TOURIST OFFICES ◦ NORTH AMERICA New York ◦ 212-499-5650 Canada ◦ Director: Ami Allon ◦ 416-964-3784 Los Angeles ◦ Director: Eliezer Hod ◦ 323-658-7463 Atlanta ◦ Director: Eyal Carlin ◦ 404-541-2770 Chicago ◦ Director: Omer Eshel ◦ 312-803-7080
Geoffrey Weill Associates Informational material is disseminated on behalf of the Israel Ministry of Tourism. Additional information available at the Department of Justice
Beneath Robinson's arch on the western wall of the Temple Mt. complex (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890)
The Chatham Library archives contains 110 photos of the Holy Land, but we have focused on the photos of Jerusalem. We present today the third part of our series.
We express our admiration and gratitude to the archivists at Chatham University for digitizing these hand-colored slides dating back to about 1890. The picture of Robinson's Arch published above is the base of a massive arch built by King Herod. Archaeologists believe it was the anchor for a large bridge or staircase from the top of the Temple Mount.
Map of Jerusalem(Chatham University Archives, circa 1895). Note the "Railroad
Station" on the bottom left (in the photo below). The Jerusalem Train Station was completed in 1892.
The Chatham collection also contains a map of Jerusalem.
Note that few buildings were to be found outside of the Old City walls.
The Jerusalem Railroad station was completed in 1892, and can be located at the bottom left of the map. The map, therefore, was printed after 1892.
The reference to the train station can also date the following picture's caption. The photograph was taken near the location of the Mt Zion Hotel of today, itself the refurbished St. John's Eye Hospital established in 1882.
"Jerusalem -Road to the Station." The road starts at the Jaffa Gate and passes over the Hinom Valley
and Sultan's Pool (Chatham University Archives, circa 1895)
The Mosque of Omar (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890). The second mosque on the Temple Mount,
the al-Aqsa Mosque, is holier to Muslims than the Mosque of Omar, but 19th and early 20th century photographers focused much more on "the Dome of the Rock" Mosque of Omar
Inside the Dome of the Rock,Mosque of Omar (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890). The photo
appears to be a colorization of a photo byMaison Bonfils. According to Jewish tradition, the rock is the
foundation stone of the Jewish Temples. See more here.
(Love For His People Editor's Note: I was inside the rock in 1989, when we were allowed. It is believed to be the rock on Mount Moriah where Abraham was to offer up his son Issac. Steve Martin)
Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890)
(Love For His People Editor's Note: Notice the ladder on the 2nd floor above. It is still there! (as of Nov. 10, 2013 when we were last in Jerusalem.) It has now been there for 400 years we are told when we visit here.)
Amidst the ancient Jewish graves are the tombs of "Absalom (from left to right),Zacharias
and James," in the Kidron Valley (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890)
Maha Yakoub of Nazareth, Israel Love For His People, Inc. also has annual tours of Israel. Check our website link below for our 2014 trip. Come join us!
before the eyes of the
pilgrims. The blue flame is seen to move
in different places in the Church.
Where and when does the miracle
occur?
The ceremony, which awes the souls of Christians, takes place in the Church of the
Resurrection in Jerusalem. The date
for Pascha is determined anew for every year. It must be a first Sunday
after the spring equinox and Jewish Passover.
Therefore, most of the time it
differs from the date of Catholic and Protestant Easter, which is determined
using different criteria. The Holy Fire is the most renowned miracle in the
world of Eastern Orthodoxy.
It has taken place at the same time, in the same
manner, in the same place every single year for centuries.
No other miracle
is known to occur so regularly and so steadily over time.
No other miracle is
known to occur so regularly and so steadily over time.
It happens in the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the holiest place on earth, where Christ
was crucified, entombed, and where He finally rose from the dead.
Ceremony of Holy Light
In order to be as close to the Sepulchre as possible, pilgrims camp next to
it. The Sepulchre is located in the small chapel called Holy Ciborium, which is
inside the Church of the Resurrection. Typically they wait from the afternoon of
Holy Friday in anticipation of the miracle on Holy Saturday. Beginning at around
11:00 in the morning the Christian Arabs chant traditional hymns in a loud
voice. These chants date back to the Turkish occupation of Jerusalem in the 13th
century, a period in which the Christians were not allowed to chant anywhere but
in the churches. "We are the Christians, we have been Christians for centuries,
and we shall be forever and ever. Amen!" - they chant at the top of their voices
accompanied by the sound of drums. The drummers sit on the shoulders of others
who dance vigorously around the Holy Ciborium. But at 1:00 pm the chants fade
out, and then there is a silence. A tense silence, charged from the anticipation
of the great demonstration of God's power for all to witness.
Shortly thereafter, a delegation from the local authorities elbows its way
through the crowd. At the time of the Turkish occupation of Palestine they were
Muslim Turks; today they are Israelis.
Their function is to represent the Romans
at the time of Jesus. The Gospels speak of the Romans that went to seal the tomb
of Jesus, so that his disciples would not steal his body and claim he had risen.
In the same way the Israeli authorities on this Holy Saturday come and seal the
tomb with wax. Before they seal the door, they follow a custom to enter the
tomb, and to check for any hidden source of fire, which would make a fraud of
the miracle.
How the miracle occurs
"I enter the tomb
and kneel in holy fear in front of the place where Christ lay after His death
and where He rose again from the dead... (narrates Orthodox Patriarch Diodor -
ed.) I find my way through the darkness towards the inner chamber in which I
fall on my knees. Here I say certain prayers that have been handed down to us
through the centuries and, having said them, I wait. Sometimes I may wait a few
minutes, but normally the miracle happens immediately after I have said the
prayers. From the core of the very stone on which Jesus lay an indefinable light
pours forth. It usually has a blue tint, but the colour may change and take many
different hues. It cannot be described in human terms. The light rises out of
the stone as mist may rise out of a lake — it almost looks as if the stone is
covered by a moist cloud, but it is light.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- front door pillars in Old City, Jerusalem
For the comple article (due to length not posted here in its entirety), click this link. It is worth the time reading. http://www.holyfire.org/eng/index.htm
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