The Garden Tomb

I had the great honor and privilege to be able to go to the Garden Tomb the other day, the place where Jesus's body lay for three days before He was resurrected. Now before I go into describing the experience, I have to clear something up. The Catholics say that Jesus died and was resurrected at the spot where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher stands currently. Protestants believe that Jesus died and was resurrected at a place called the Garden Tomb, which lies on the other side of Golgotha, which is located about a ten minute's walk from the Sepulcher. As I am a Protestant, I subscribe to this viewpoint. The Garden Tomb is just what the name describes: a tomb in a garden. The garden itself is beautiful, with little paths running through it and sitting areas scattered throughout the place so that pilgrims can sit and reflect before going down to the tomb itself. The place itself is owned by the British, and the majority of people running tours and working there are British. Golgotha, the place of the skull where Jesus was crucified, lies just above and to the right of the actual tomb itself. It's easy to see why the hill is called "the place of the skull" because the hill is shaped like one giant skull. The people who own the tomb do not own Golgotha. It is Muslim territory: a Muslim cemetery lies on top of the hill, and a Palestinian bus station takes up the surrounding area. As we were sitting down to listen to one of the guides describe the day Jesus died, the Muslim call to prayer sounded from a minaret built right above us, drowning out everything the guide was saying and disrupting Christian reflection and prayer in the tomb area. He calmly waited for the call to finish, as if this happened every day (which it does) and then continued to describe in detail what first century Jerusalem was like at the time of Christ. After he was finished, we had a moment of silence, and then went down to the tomb itself. The tomb is carved into a sandy colored rock outcropping, and the area around the door is shaped like a circle, probably to accommodate the circular door lying on its side a short distance away. The door into the tomb itself is very small, and I had to stoop in order to go inside. The entrance had a door built into it to lock it up at night, and on the door was written the words "He is not here, for He is risen." The tomb was empty. Surrounding us, people from around the world were praying, singing hymns, and smiling for joy at His triumph. It was a powerful experience, to be able to go into the tomb that Jesus lay in and see for my own eyes that He is not there. My friend asked "death, where is your sting?" As we exited the tomb. It was a great experience, and I'm proud to be a member of the faith and worship my Lord, who died for me, and then conquered death itself.