On the Fringe

On a Saturday morning about 5 weeks ago (Wow! Was it really that long ago?!), David and I were at St. Luke’s church at 7:30 a.m., boarding a bus bound for – Jerusalem! Unable to make this traditional pre-Easter trip for 2 years because of covid, members and friends of St. Luke’s Anglican church filled the bus with excited chatter.

Haifa to Jerusalem is usually about a 2 hour drive, but a 40 minute or so breakfast stop after driving for all of 40 minutes made it a little longer this morning – but also a little more pleasant. This group values eating together – and David was able to procure a decaf latte.

Once in Jerusalem, we were dropped off near our entry point into the Old City, The Lion’s Gate. We would be walking the Via Dolorosa, the sorrowful way, believed to be the path that Jesus walked on his way to his crucifixion. There are 14 stations along the way, most of which we visited. We would be walking in procession, often singing, behind the cross that a church member would carry in front of our group. A later video clip will hopefully illustrate this. It was a beautiful experience to be part of a group, walking and singing together – even though we didn’t understand most of the words, listening to Scriptures together, and meditating on Jesus’ last hours together. The photos below show (1) a few of the women in our group with the cross, which was carried only by the women and David and was surprisingly heavy; (2) and (3) show us entering The Lion’s Gate. It is in the massively thick wall, built when Jerusalem was under the control of the Ottoman Empire (1500s).

The tour guide we brought with us conducted the tour all in Arabic, as was to be expected. Thus, David and I understood only what someone chose to translate for us. One of the earliest stops was St. Anne’s church. Not only was the church beautiful, but the historic pools of Bethesda are located right behind it, including the pool where Jesus healed the paralytic who was hoping to be lifted into the water – to be healed. Our procession route did not explore the pools, but I did steal away and take a cursory look at them. We’ll be coming back and exploring them more fully.

We then saw so many churches in rapid succession that I could not tell you details of each one, but I was struck by the ways the story of Christ’s last hours were embedded in their design and art. For example, the Church of the Flagellation (below) had a crown of thorns on the ceiling and the lamps had tiny maces hanging from them.

The Convent of the Sisters of Zion is built on top of this piece of striated Roman pavement that goes back to the days of Jesus.

The art in the vestibule of this Polish Catholic church makes a theological point. As one enters the church, the first thing one sees is Christ’s suffering as he bears his physical cross with a cloud of spirit saints as witnesses. As one leaves the church, the last thing one sees is the painting of Christ’s spirit bearing his cross with comparative ease, leading the way for his followers who bear their physical crosses. It’s a beautiful reminder as we leave the church building that we are led forth into life by one who likewise carried a cross, who suffered, died, and conquered sin and death for our sakes.

To keep us grounded in the practical realities of life, halfway through our procession, our cross suddenly appeared wearing a green sweater. I believe this was an effort to make it more visible in order to keep members of the group from getting lost as the roads were becoming super crowded. I had to include a photo of David taking a turn holding the green sweater clad cross. He was in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at this point.

This is a video of our procession down a Jerusalem street. The cross was kind of in the middle of the group at this point. The song we’re singing is about the cross. “Vee salib” means “on the cross” in Arabic. It got a little awkward when a car needed to get by.

We saw many other sights, including Helen’s cistern, the Coptic Church, and the Ethiopian Church. The last stop of the Via Dolorosa is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed to be the site of Golgotha as well as Jesus’ empty tomb. Several ancient denominations have sanctuaries in it, including the Roman Catholics, the Armenians, and the Greek Orthodox. My photos are of the Greek Orthodox area.

After we were finished walking the Via Dolorosa, we went to St. George’s Anglican Guesthouse for a large buffet lunch. Some of us then relaxed in the courtyard for an hour while others went off to do some shopping. Several of the women in our group went out and bought bags full of a traditional bread in Jerusalem in the shape of a large circle. They think it’s the precursor to our bagels. It’s mildly sweet and apparently has no salt in it. One friend gave us a circle to eat on the bus as we drove back to Haifa, and we devoured it with such gusto that she generously gave us a second one! It was a pleasant end to a pleasant day.