Remembering A Friday in Jerusalem

Posted on April 2, 2021 by vanbraman

Tonight as I am thinking of Friday and Jerusalem I am remembering a Friday five years ago in Jerusalem.

We had just spent a week on an archaeological dig and had gone into Jerusalem for the weekend.

Here is the post as it was written then.

This morning we were able to sleep in a bit and get up at 6:00. After stowing our bags in the archaeology lab and eating some breakfast it was time to take a bus into Jerusalem for the weekend.

Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem, Museum, artifacts

The bus dropped us at the Central Bus Station from where we took a cab to the Bible Lands Museum.

We enjoyed our visit to the museum as we had a very good guide that explained some of the most important exhibits. We then had some time to look through the exhibits on our own. Unfortunately we cannot take pictures in this museum.

We then headed toward our hotel. The taxi driver would not take us all the way to our hotel, but dropped us blocks away. We had a long walk but luckily only had our backpacks and overnight bags to carry.

Jacob's Pizza, Jerusalem, Jaffa Gate area, pizza, food

Just before reaching our hotel we stopped for lunch at Jacob’s Pizza. This is one of my favorite places to eat in Jerusalem. Good pizza and a good host, plus free wi-fi to get caught up on things from home.

We then checked back into the New Imperial and took a siesta before heading out for some afternoon exploring.

One of the places we stopped at was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church did not have many visitors so I was able to get a few pictures that I had been wanting to get.

Stone of Anointing, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem,

Here is the Stone of Anointing. This stone is believed by some to be the place where the body of Jesus was anointed. The stone however has only been in existences since a reconstruction of the church in the early 1800’s.

You will see many people kissing the stone or rubbing items on the stone. Most of the time you cannot even see the stone because of the number of people waiting to get close to it.

First Century Tombs, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, Joseph of Arimethea

In a chapel behind the rotunda of the church there are two rough-hewn tombs. There are some who believe that this was the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.

You can see that the tombs are a little less than six feet in length.

Lemonade, Jerusalem, mint leaves, dinner We then walked around the Old City for awhile and attempted to go to the Damascus Gate. However, the people traffic was too much and we turned around.

Before heading back to the hotel we enjoyed a nice dinner. I had a nice mug of lemonade with my dinner. You can see the fresh mint leaves in my lemonade. This makes the drink very delicious.

Pistachio Magnum Bar, Jerusalem, ice cream bar, magnum bars

We made one last stop on the way back to the hotel for a little dessert. I chose to have a nice Pistachio flavored Magnum Bar.

Delicious.

Now to get caught up on some sleep. At least I don’t have to get up at 4:15 tomorrow.

Steven

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Looking toward Sunday

Posted on April 1, 2021 by vanbraman

This week I have been thinking about this coming weekend, and how people will be thinking about an empty tomb.

So, here are some pictures and thoughts about tombs in Israel.

Tomb with rolling stone - Tomb in Israel - Ressurection - Easter SundayI took this picture back in 2012 from the window of our tour bus. We did stop to take the pictures :-). The tomb is along side a road near Mt. Carmel and Tel Megiddo. The tomb was found when they were constructing the road.

This tomb may look familiar to many of you, as it is one that is commonly used to illustrate the type of tomb Jesus was buried in.

And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.  (Matthew 27:59-60 KJV)

John also had to stoop down to look into the tomb, so this is also illustrated by the picture. Of course, this is not the tomb of Jesus, but it is from the time period. It is also far from Jerusalem :-).

For more about this tomb and the location you can visit my post A Picture for Sunday.

Rolling Stone Grave, Meggido, Matthew 28:6, YouVersionHere is a scripture photo that I made using part of the picture.

Just outside the gates of Jerusalem there is a site that is called the Garden Tomb. At this site is another example of a rock hewn tomb.

Garden Tomb - Jerusalem - Rock Hewn Tomb - Ressurection - Easter Evidence has been found that this tomb is much older than the time of Jesus, so it would not have been a new tomb at the time of his death on the cross. There are also other pieces of evidence, including probable location, that also show that this is not the tomb.

Although it is not important today that we know exactly where the tomb of Jesus was, we should make sure that we do a bit of study and not make factual statements that a place is the tomb when evidence shows that it is not.

Place of the Skull, Golgotha, Gordon's Calvary, Nose Fell OffIt was an interesting experience to visit the Garden Tomb. It was in a beautiful garden setting and very peaceful. From the garden you could also see the skull formation that some have thought is the site of Golgotha.

You can read more about the skull formation in my posts The Place of A Skull and The Place of a Skull II.

Edicule, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, Tomb of ChristA more probable location for the tomb is in or near the Edicule of the Tomb at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

First Century Tombs, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, Joseph of ArimetheaHere is a picture of me in a first century tomb that is just a few meters behind the Edicule of the Tomb.

You can read a bit more about these tombs in my post Holy Sepulcher Tombs. There are also some links in the post to some articles about the restoration of the Edicule of the Tomb.

Garden Tomb - Jerusalem - Jesus Christ Ressurection - Easter What is very important for us today is that the tomb was empty and that Jesus was resurrected.

This is also something that we should remember each Sunday, and not only on one Sunday of the year. In fact, this is something that should be remembered at all times. We serve a risen Savior.

Steven

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