The Church of the Holy Sepulcher may very well be the holiest Christian site in the world. It is known to the Eastern Orthodox Christians as the Church of the Resurrection. The large structure stands on the site believed to be both Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, and the tomb (sepulcher) where He was buried and from which He rose.
Based on tradition alone, it has much supporting evidence for being considered so.
- ‣ From the early 1st century A.D., the site was a deserted quarry outside the city walls. Tombs, left by the quarrymen, have been found and date from the 1st century B.C. to the 1st century A.D.
- ‣ Worship services by the Christian community were held there until 66 A.D. according to the historians Eusebius and Scholasticus (who wrote several centuries later.)
- ‣ The Roman Emperor Hadrian, in contempt of the Jews and Christians, built the Temple of Venus over the site in 135 A.D.
- ‣ Eusebius, an eyewitness historian, claimed that in the course of tearing down the Temple of Venus and excavating the site, they found an original memorial of the sacred site. However, he also claimed that the crosses of Jesus and the two thieves were also found.
Because of these and many other factors, the Oxford Archaeological Guide to the Holy Land says of this church:
“Is this the place where Christ died and was buried? Very probably, Yes.” (O’Connor, Oxford Archaeological Guide to the Holy Land, 1998, p. 47)
Dan Bahat, former City Archaeologist of Jerusalem, concludes:
We may not be absolutely certain that the site of the Holy Sepulcher Church is the site of Jesus’ burial, but we have no other site that can lay a claim nearly as weighty, and we really have no reason to reject the authenticity of the site. (Kay Prag, Blue Guide to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, 2002)
Upon entering the church, you will immediately see the Stone of Unction, which marks the traditional place where they laid the body of Jesus in preparation for burial.
Just behind the stone is a beautiful mosaic depicting the anointing of Christ for His burial. The original church did not have this wall, making it possible to see the Holy Sepulcher from the entrance.
Walking to the west from the stone, you arrive at the focal point of the church, the beautiful Rotunda or Anastasis. Underneath the large copula, is the edicule which enshrines the proposed Tomb of Christ.
A stairway on the right just as you come through the entrance, leads to Golgotha—Calvary—the place of Christ’s crucifixion.
Many visitors to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher miss an intriguing place just beneath Calvary on the main floor. It’s called the Chapel of Adam and it can be reached through a door next to the Stone of Unction.
Origen, a church father of the 2nd century, noted that Christ was crucified over the place where Adam was buried. The chapel enshrines a cracked slab. A very early tradition says that the blood of Christ ran down from the cross via this crack and reached the skull of Adam. Thus His blood atoned for the sins of mankind from Adam and for all time.
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