In the past couple of days, our group has covered 33 years of Jesus' life.  Yesterday we visited the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (as the Catholics call it) or the Church of the Resurrection (as the Greek Orthodoxes call it) in particular, which marks the place where Jesus almost certainly was crucified, buried and rose again. 



Today we visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. 



These two churches had many things in common.  The first is that they have been places of worship and of Christian pilgrimage for many centuries.  In fact, the early church worshipped at the site of the crucifixion (where the Church of the Resurrection is) from as early as thirty years after the death of Jesus.  The second is that both churches are incredibly ornate, especially when they mark the spot of Jesus' birth ...



and his death ...



I hadn't seen pictures of these sites before, so the grandeur took me by surprise.    At first I found it off putting - I would have preferred the sites to be simple and to look like they would have done when it all happened. This would, of course, have been impossible, even if this region hadn't been subject to constant conflict over the padt two millennia - the mere presence of the millions of tourists who have visited these holy places over the centuries would have ensured that the sites were eroded. 
As it is, a temple was built by Hadrian on the site of the crucifixion and resurrection less than 100 years after Jesus' death, so this would have destroyed the sites anyway!  Therefore, it's actually pretty wonderful that the churches were built to ensure that Christians could worship in this place, and here we are 2,000 years on, and we’re still able to do so!  Isn’t that amazing!?


The third thing that the churches have in common is the fact that they are divided churches.  There are at least three different chapels housed in the same church building, which reflects the sad truth that even Christians don’t always get on – as we well know!  I hope that there is some acknowledgement between these divided Christian communities of our unity in Christ, which means that whatever our race, gender or nationality, we are one body. I guess we won’t see the full reality of that until we get to heaven.


I visited the Church of the Resurrection twice yesterday – the first time was with the large group of 40 in the morning and a smaller group of us went again in the afternoon.  The second time, I sat and journalled and read my Bible in the Calvary Chapel.  I was struck by the reality that where I was sitting could have been where Jesus’ friends were watching on, or indeed where the soldiers or Jewish leaders were scoffing – this stuff really happened.  My faith is a historical faith.  God really became man and entered history in the most amazing way.  Perhaps then the Orthodox Church was right to make the Calvary Chapel and the site of the tomb so glorious – for that is what they were – and they’re telling the story of a truth that is far more glorious than man could ever make it.  Even Jesus’ death on the cross, which was the most awful thing, was part of this glorious story, and the Calvary Chapel reflected this.
One of the more beautiful moments was when a group gathered and prayed and sang together.  I don’t know what language they were speaking, but it doesn’t matter – my spirit lifted and I felt able to worship with them, after all, the God we worship is the God of the whole world and Jesus died so that everyone from every tribe and tongue may be united.  Not to be outdone, four of us sang together, “When I survey the wondrous cross” and I found that profoundly moving.  Amazingly our four voices seemed to fill the church, joining in with the millions who have sung in that very place.


So far, it’s been an incredible experience and I’ve only been here for two days!  I think there are many more in store!