Garden Tomb

This blog post will be all about my first day in the city, my first day to leave the JC and get some fresh air! Side note: We had church in from 10-1, and I was lucky enough to teach the nursery today. There is nothing better than playing with little kids. It was especially neat to play with them in light of what I've been learning in Old Testament. We've been learning all about covenants and how important families are. The lesson for nursery was about the Plan of Salvation! It all tied in very nicely, and I got to see a little glimpse of heaven when I was singing and playing with those sweet children. And then I got a little glimpse of parenthood when they started crying and fighting and getting hurt. Lovely :)

 These are my wonderful roommates! From right to left: Michelle, Lindee, Sara, and me! They are all incredibly sweet girls, and I'm lucky to be rooming with them!

 This is me leaving the confines of the JC for the first time and entering the city! It was a biiiigg deal to get out! We had to stay in groups and walk really fast, cause the drivers here are CRAZY. The honking that goes on in the streets drowns out even the call to prayer! We almost got hit several times by speeding and reckless cars. I will need to be quite cautious when I'm walking around :)

 This is what the apartments look like from afar. Lots of this side of the city (I think it's the West side, but I'm not sure. We haven't toured the city or learned anything about it yet) are just apartments.

 The Jerusalem Center from the streets of Jerusalem! It was nice to be on the outside and looking in, for a change :)

This is a typical little house--one of the cleaner and maintained ones. People aren't too concerned with how their yard looks, or how much garbage is lying around. It gives the city a very intimate feel, as everything is built VERY close together and there are no personal boundaries. Kind of strange, for such a conservative people. But it's beautiful, and I feel like I'm in a movie! Everything was so interesting to look at! And I'm sure I'll learn more about the people and the city, so I'll let you know what I figure out!

An example of the kind of look that is present in all the buildings. Pretty much everything is made of this beautiful chipped limestone, and it all looks ancient and weather worn. This is one of the cleanest walls I saw. It's so epic :)

We're about to go into the Garden Tomb! It was pretty close to the middle of the modern city, although it was outside the city walls in Jesus' time. I don't know exactly where that boundary is yet, but I'll learn. The Garden Tomb was a little tour place, maintained by a British company-or-other. It was set off by very high walls (complete with barbed wire on the fences) that  blocked a ton of the sound from the city. It hushed the bustle and just let peace be the noise.

 The first site we saw was Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. This site is reported to be a pretty good guess of the exact place of the crucifixion because (1) it was outside the ancient city gates, (2) it was by a main road in the ancient days, and (3) it was already a place that Romans frequently used for executions, so it made sense that they would keep performing executions in this place.

The Golgotha hill itself. Can you see the representation of the skull in the rocks? There is a bus stop built right under it, as you can see in the picture below. Our tour guide, a Messianic Jew (a Jew who believes that Christ was the Messiah) said that he loved the bus stop because of the symbolism. He said that it perfectly represented the picture of Christ's death--the crucifixion itself wasn't a sanctified, holy event. It was in a loud public place, viewed by a lot of people, and for the common people. I don't know if I completely agree with him (I like my sites clean and tidy and quiet), but it was a very interesting thought. There is symbolism in all things!

Some views of the "garden" part of the Garden Tomb. It was very beautiful and well kept. 

This is the sign outside of the tomb. "JESUS CHRIST declared with power to be the SON OF GOD by the RESURRECTION from the dead."

The scriptures written out in many languages, so that all who come to worship can understand.

The first picture of the garden tomb. Isn't it beautiful? Pardon the person entering the tomb. :) You can see the track in which the giant stone was rolled to cover the doorway.

This is most likely the space where Christ was laid to rest in his burial clothes. You can see it clearly from the door. He isn't here, he is risen :)

What a blessing to be able to enter the tomb and see for myself that Christ was not there. He has risen, conquered death and pain for us. Walking out of the darkness of that tomb and seeing the light of day was a very neat experience. I could imagine it as representing what Christ did for us--walking out of that dark tomb as a resurrected being, He brought everlasting light into our lives through his Atonement. I was so grateful that I had the freedom to walk out of that tomb, to leave the cold chains of death behind and to embrace the sunlight and see the garden. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and His death. He died that I might live again with Him and our Heavenly Father!

 There were many people at the site today. There was a large group of Nigerians and a small group of Romanians. We were all allowed a few minutes to sing hymns of our culture praising Christ. It was such a neat experience to hear songs of worship in different languages.Acts 2 relates of an experience of the apostles while the Holy Spirit descended upon them:
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own ^alanguage.

 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans?

 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and ^aproselytes,

 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our ^atongues the wonderful works of God.

The Savior understood and accepted these praises from all who sung them at the Tomb today. There are a great many people who love Jesus Christ and his sacrifice, culture being no restraint. And the cool thing is that Christ died for every one of us--Nigerian, Romanian, British pastor, or Messianic Jew. He is no respecter of persons!

 This picture is for Dan. Eat your heart out, buddy--straight from Nigeria  We're friends now--she gave me her phone number and name. :)

Going to the Garden Tomb was an incredible experience. Something I've been reading about my whole life was finally made tangible through my physical senses. The spirit was very sweet and calm in that place. I know that my Savior died for me, and more importantly, He LIVES for me! He lives, He has conquered death, He is the King of all!! I love him so much!