Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life

It's Wednesday morning, and later this evening we'll be leaving for the airport to head home.  Since I won't have time later today to write anything, I want to take a moment now to bring some of my thoughts together.  Hopefully it won't take too long.

Our group's focus for yesterday and today is the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Today we'll again be visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the traditional site of the crucifixion and resurrection, located inside the walls of the Old City) and also "Gordon's Calvary" and The Garden Tomb (a site just outside the Old City walls, more recently suggested as a possible site for Jesus' crucifixion and burial).

We visited these sites last week during our initial "familiarization tour", and I must admit that I had a very different reaction to each site.  Like so many other religious sites around here, the traditional site has a large, ornate church built over it and is usually crowded with pilgrims standing in line to catch a brief glimpse of the stone base into which Jesus' cross was allegedly set, as well as the sepulchre (grave) where his body was supposedly laid to rest.  Indeed, on the day we visited there were so many people that while we were able to catch a fleeting glimpse of the stone, we would have had to wait in line for over an hour to enter the sepulchre.  (See photos below)



Pilgrim kneeling at traditional crucifixion site in

the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Pilgrims waiting in line to enter the sepulchre (inside the
large structure on right) -- the traditional site of Jesus' burial

The second site, named "Gordon's Calvary" after Major-General Charles Gordon who described the site in the 1800's and made a case for its authenticity, is a much simpler site.  One of the chief reasons Gordon was drawn to the site was the distinctive appearance of the rock face behind the spot where he suggests the crucifixion could have taken place.  You can see in the photo below (which was taken in the 1800's and is now displayed at the site) the image of a skull, reminding us of Matthew 27:33, 35 -- "And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means 'Place of a Skull"... they crucified him".

Photo of "Gordon's Calvary", taken in the 1800's

There is also an ancient tomb nearby, cut into the rock and located in what archaeology suggests was once a garden, since an ancient olive press and water cistern have also been found there.  This is consistent with John 19:41 - "Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid."  Gordon also believes that, back in the 1st century, this site would have been adjacent to a busy road, in keeping with the Roman practice of crucifying people in very public places so as to shame the criminal and to serve as a warning to others.

What I find so intriguing about this site, though, is the fact that while some of the "face" of Gordon's Calvary is still visible, the actual flat ground in front of the "face" -- the spot where the crosses would have been erected (if Gordon is correct) -- is now the site of a busy bus station.  (see below)

Bus station at site of "Gordon's Calvary" (note the rock "face" in the background)

Why do I find this intriguing?  Because, in my opinion, it fits so well with the life, ministry and mission of Jesus, who didn't retreat from the world to live a holy life.  Rather, he was constantly out mingling with people, especially the common folk, meeting them right where they were -- not just in the Temple or synagogue, but in market places, in their homes, out on the streets and by the seaside.  And I believe that's how and where he calls his followers to be in ministry today.

I don't know any place where this is better expressed than in the old hymn, written by a Methodist pastor named Frank North back in 1903, "Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life".  So I close this entry and this blog with the lyrics of that hymn, hoping that they will serve as a reminder to us (especially to me) to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people, wherever they may be, even if it's at a crowded bus terminal choked with diesel fumes.

Where cross the crowded ways of life,
Where sound the cries of race and clan
Above the noise of selfish strife,
We hear Thy voice, O Son of Man.

In haunts of wretchedness and need,
On shadowed thresholds dark with fears,
From paths where hide the lures of greed,
We catch the vision of Thy tears.

From tender childhood’s helplessness,
From woman’s grief, man’s burdened toil,
From famished souls, from sorrow’s stress,
Thy heart has never known recoil.

The cup of water given for Thee,
Still holds the freshness of Thy grace;
Yet long these multitudes to view
The sweet compassion of Thy face.

O Master, from the mountainside
Make haste to heal these hearts of pain;
Among these restless throngs abide;
O tread the city’s streets again.

Till sons of men shall learn Thy love
And follow where Thy feet have trod,
Till, glorious from Thy heaven above,
Shall come the city of our God!

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