Holy Land Pilgrimage - Day Nine, Part Two

Still in Old Jerusalem...

Church of the Flagellation: According to tradition the church enshrines the spot where Jesus Christ was flogged by Roman soldiers before his journey down the Via Dolorosa to Calvary.

The Via Dolorosa (Latin for Way of Grief or Way of Suffering) is a street, in two parts, within the Old City, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions. It is today marked by nine Stations of the Cross; there have been fourteen stations since the late 15th century, with the remaining five stations being inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The route is a place of Christian pilgrimage.

Station 1 and 2: Jesus is condemned to death and given His cross

The Church of the Flagellation and Condemnation (see picture above)

Station 3: Jesus falls for the first timeStation 4: Jesus meets His mother

Station 5: Simon carries the cross

Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

Station 7: Jesus falls a second time

Station 8: Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem

The Via Dolorosa ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church may well be the place where Jesus was crucified. However, it is not likely that this was the site of his burial and resurrection. It is, though, "tradition" that this where Christ was crucified, buried and where he was resurreted. The last five Stations of the Cross are found in this church.


The Church is venerated as Golgotha, (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified, and is said to also contain the place where Jesus was buried (the sepulchre). The church has been an important Christian pilgrimage destination since at least the 4th century, as the purported site of the resurrection of Jesus.

Behind this man is where the cross is said to have been placed to crucify Jesus.

Just inside the entrance of the church is The Stone of Anointing, also known as The Stone of Unction, which tradition claims to be the spot where Jesus' body was prepared for burial by Joseph of Arimathea.

The Rotunda is located in the centre of the Anastasis, beneath the larger of the church's two domes. In the center of the Rotunda is the chapel called The Edicule, which contains the Holy Sepulchre itself (where some believe Jesus was buried). We were able to take turns and go inside.

I had a really hard time finding out what "stations" were what and where - the internet has all kinds of "versions". It was a bit frustrating. But despite the fact that no one can agree on what happened where, the Via Delorosa was quite an experience for me. It was one of the highlights of the trip. To walk where Jesus walked, while He carried the cross, to be crucified for my sins... wow, words cannot explain how it felt to be there!! As I walked along, I sang the song "Via Delorosa" in my head.. wow, just... wow!!

After walking the Via Delorosa, we stopped at a sidewalk cafe for lunch. I, of course, had to have another Felafel! They are just so good!!

Our guide, George, starting calling us his "honey cookies" at the beginning of the trip. Someone found a bag of honey cookies and gave them to George. It was pretty funny! George was a great guide, very knowledgeable and very funny. If we needed to use the restroom, he called that "coffee out"- funny!!!

This is said to be where Satan tempted Christ: "Then the devil took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If you are the Son of God throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He will give His angels charge concerning you,' and, 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." - Matthew 4:5-6. Jesus said to him, "On the other hand it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" - Matthew 4:7.

We then met up with the bus driver and he took us to the Israel Museum. They had an outside model of Old Jerusalem. It was huge!! It showed Jerusalem as it would have been in Jesus' time.

We then got to go inside the Shrine of the Book. The Shrine of the Book, a wing of the Israel Museum, houses the Dead Sea Scrolls—discovered 1947–56 in 11 caves in and around the Wadi Qumran. Of course, pictures were not allowed inside.

Our next stop was the Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb, located in Jerusalem, outside the city walls and close to the Damascus Gate, is a rock-cut tomb considered by some to be the site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus, and to be adjacent to Golgotha, in contradistinction to the traditional site for these—the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There is no mention of the Garden Tomb as the place of Jesus' burial before the nineteenth century. During the nineteenth century some doubts were raised concerning the authenticity of the traditional site. In 1883, near to the Damascus Gate, General Gordon found a rocky escarpment, which from several angles resembled the face of a skull; since one of the possible etymologies for Golgotha is the Aramaic word for skull, and may refer to the shape of the place, Gordon concluded that the rocky escarpment was likely to have been Golgotha. Prior to Gordon, this possibility had also been suggested by Colonel Conder in 1870, by Fisher Howe in 1871, and by the German scholar Otto Thenius in 1842. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has its tomb just a few yards away from its Golgotha, corresponding with the account of John the Evangelist: "Now in the place where he was crucified there was a ... new tomb" (John 19:41). In 1869 a number of tombs had also been found near Gordon's Golgotha, and Gordon concluded that one of them must have been the tomb of Jesus. John also specifies that Jesus' tomb was located in a garden; consequently, an ancient wine pres and cistern have been cited as evidence that the area had once been a garden, and the somewhat isolated tomb adjacent to the cistern has become identified as the Garden Tomb of Jesus. This particular tomb also has a stone groove running along the ground outside it, which Gordon argued to be a slot that once housed a stone, corresponding to the biblical account of a stone being rolled over the tomb entrance to close it. The tomb has two chambers, the second to the right of the first, with stone benches along the sides of each wall in the second chamber, except the wall joining it to the first, and along the back wall of the first chamber; the benches have been heavily damaged but are still discernible. Due to the archaeological issues the Garden Tomb site raises, several scholars have rejected its claim to be Jesus' tomb. However, despite the archaeological discoveries, the Garden Tomb has become a popular place of pilgrimage among Protestants. Though acceptance of the validity of the traditional site, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is not a tenet of faith for any major Christian denomination, many Catholic and Orthodox Christians ignore the potential of the Garden Tomb, and hold fast to the traditional location. For myself, the Garden Tomb seemed more like the place Christ was buried. It just felt "right". We were able to go inside the tomb - pretty amazing!





Golgotha (near the Garden Tomb)Before we left the Garden Tomb, we had a service. We sang a couple of hymns. Brother David gave a short devotional. Then we had communion. We sang another hymn before leaving. What a powerful thing!!! Partaking in communion in the area where Christ was crucified, buried, and then raised from the dead. It was very moving! We got to keep the olive wood cup used in communion.

A couple of years ago, someones camera was snatched off their neck and there was supposed to be a ton of peddlers hounding us, so we stayed in a tight group with men on the outside and in back. It actually wasn't bad at all.

We drove by the Old City again and saw the New Gate which is the newest gate in Jerusalem's Old City Walls, built in 1898 to provide direct access to the Christian Quarter for the visit of the German Emperor William II.

Then we returned to the hotel where we relaxed for a bit before dinner. I took a short cat-nap. Dinner was at 6:30 p.m. and it was very good!

After dinner a group of us went to the hotel gift shop and then walked to Abrahams Gift Store a few blocks away. It was a lot of fun. This group of people has made me feel quite welcome. We laughed and joked together. It was very nice!

We then headed back to the hotel where we chatted a bit longer. Then we all retired to our rooms. Brenda and I were in bed by 10:00 p.m.