I went to the Old City today. It was not the first time. I went alone yesterday as well. The city is impossible to get lost in since it is surrounded by a wall. If you follow one direction long enough then you will eventually get there.
Today I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I was rushed through the last time. There are many shrines in that church, mainly the mount on which Christ was crucified and the tomb where he was buried. They may not be the exact location, but they are very close. For me it is a place to reflect.
It is hard to explain what I feel when I am there. I look into the tomb where he may have been laid. It is so dark inside even without the covering. The ceiling is low. You have to crouch down the entire time you are inside. There is a heavy wet smell in the air making it seem so more tight than it already is. The opening has little tunnels going off of it only long enough and wide enough for a dead body. Even those who are quite alive can feel the death around them just to be there. I wonder if that is how the Lord felt when he left the light of heaven to sojourn on this planet of darkness. And for three days the Master laid there without his heart beating or lungs breathing, dead among the stones. As I looked into that tomb, though, I smiled knowing that this is where everything ended. A perfect place for death became the location of the most magnificent and miraculous coming of life. Jesus the Mesiah arose from the dead and the light that shone from his glory is spreading throughout this dark earth reaching every people.
Oh, the Lord was so right when he told Abraham, "Through you I will bless all the nations." And the nations are being blessed. I have heard the Word and believed; there are millions who have believed Jesus is the Son of God! His pain ended at that tomb on the third day because on that day his heart began to beat and his lungs breathed, he scooted out, hunching over he walked out of the tomb and breathed the fresh morning air. That day the angels praised him on high, and the disciples were astonished. His blessing was only beginning over the nations, but a day is coming when all people, when all creatures, are going to praise his holy name for he slept among the stones to give life to the dead.
