>> For God so loved the world. [ Music ] That He gave His only Son. [ Music ] And, whoever believes
in Him should not perish but have eternal life. [ Music ] >> Barry where are we right now? >> We're in the courtyard
in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in the Christian corner of the Old City of Jerusalem. This is the traditional
location of where Jesus died and was buried and, of course,
where He rose from the dead. When Constantine became Emperor
of Rome in the 4th century, he established Christianity as
the religion of the Roman world. And, his mother made a trip
to Israel for the sole purpose of trying to identify
locations associated with the life of Jesus. She would ask the locals, and this is where everybody
said those events took place. It was also noteworthy that
the Romans had, basically, demolished that area to a
degree because they knew of the importance that
spot held to Christians. >> Cultural cleansing
is not a new concept. And so, when the
Romans came through, they tried to remove those
locations and reminders of things that they
didn't want the people to associate with Jesus. So, this structure behind us
is on top of those locations. >> It is. >> Is there anything special that we need to do
when we go in? >> Well, we need to observe
reverence when we go in, so, we'll remove our hats. >> Okay. [ Music ] I think one of the
things will catch anybody who visits the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre for the first time, is,
when you walk in through that double door, the very
first thing that you see on the floor is the spot where they say they prepared
Jesus' body for burial. And, that specific
rock is not the rock. That rock has actually
been replaced several times because it's been worn down
from people touching it and kissing it and
placing things on it. If you can stand in
that entranceway and try to use your imagination
and remove the ceilings and remove the walls and just
look at heights, to your right, where the cross would've
stood is a hill. >> We stand on these steps here
to an elevation a little higher than the rest of
the building here. And, we're standing in front
of the traditional location of Calvary, which is where
they believe Jesus Christ was crucified. And, underneath the
glass behind us, what you see is some exposed
bedrock in what they believe is that this is where the cross
actually went into the ground. >> So, this is the
traditional location where Jesus was crucified with
robbers on either side of him. It would've been
very, very visible to have those three
crosses there. The floor that you reach by
those stairs is not very large. You can't fit a large
number of people up there. So, if you imagine those floors
are gone, it shrinks the area where those crosses were. It really makes it plain that Jesus' crucifixion
was a public crucifixion. They're making an
example of these men. They were taunting Him and
taking advantage of the fact that He was finally
stuck, and He was exactly where they wanted him to be. And so, there was a huge
lack of respect shown to Him by those who were there. Again, we can't say for
certain that is the exact spot. >> My personal opinion is,
this is the general location. >> Right. >> And, whether or not the
specific spots are exactly correct, I don't know. >> And, the typography
over time has changed. >> Yes. >> I mean, originally
this was a hillside, and now you've got this
large structure on top of it. To imagine Jesus and
Simeon carrying that cross, coming outside of that city
wall, coming down to Golgotha, and having His cross placed
here, and then, at the finally of the crucifixion having
His body removed and placed in the tomb down beneath us. >> Right. >> What most people don't
realize is how close this spot is to the Rock of the
Anointing just below us and then the Edicule over the
tomb where Jesus was buried. And, we're talking less
than a football field to contain all three
of these locations. They're really close. >> The Scriptures
even tell us that, in the area where He was
crucified there was a garden. >> Right. >> And so, this is, this is
a very close location here. Just around the corner over
there, in the same building, is the Edicule which is
the traditional location of where He was buried. [ Music ] >> We were able to talk to
somebody at the front door. >> Yeah. >> And we weren't sure how
much we were going to get, but, they're trying to work it out
so that we can go down inside by ourselves for just
a couple of minutes, which is a huge honor. >> Yeah it is. And, what they refer to as
the Edicule here is this huge building that's inside the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. And, it sits on top of the
traditional site of the tomb. >> So, it's a superstructure
over to protect whatever's left. >> They've actually done
some renovations here. For the first time in years, there's not scaffolding
and brackets. They took all that down about
three or four months ago. And so, it's actually
really beautiful now. >> Until then, you
didn't have a clear view of the Edicule itself. >> Right. >> Thinking about the death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone
of Christianity. And so, to be in the place
that traditionally marks that even is enormous. >> Yeah, very special,
very special. [ Music ] >> In doing my research
about the Edicule, every time you see pictures
of it or videos of it, it is jampacked crowded. I mean there are people that
will wait for hours trying to get in there for just
a couple of seconds. >> I have visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
probably eight or ten times, and I have never been able
to go inside the Edicule. And, the reason is exactly that. There's usually a line
of hours to get in there. >> We were really blessed to go just before one
group started their time at the entrance of the Edicule. And, we were told to wait, that, as soon as they were done there
would be this brief window of time. So, we just stood there. And we waited, and we watched
them perform their service. And, after a few minutes,
we were finally allowed in. But, we took as much time as we
could to try to soak in as much as we could of the space. [ Music ] When you first walk in, you go through a door
into a square room. And, in the center of that room
is a pedestal with a glass case. And, what I understand
is that, the rock inside that glass case is
supposed to be a remnant of the rolling stone that
actually closed the tomb. And, directly opposite the
entrance is another smaller door that leads into a much
more confined space. [ Music ] >> Okay Jeremy, we're
inside the Edicule. And, this right here,
this flat slab is where they believed
they laid the body of Jesus Christ after He died. >> Now, this slab is on top
of what remains of that. We don't see any
original rock left. >> No, the original cave and everything was long gone
centuries ago, it was destroyed. But, they've built this Edicule over this area to
help protect it. This spot was established by
Queen Helen in the 4th century when she came here
and the people of the area said this is the
location where it took place. >> The tomb that his
body would've laid in would not have been large. >> No, it wouldn't
have been large. [ Music ] >> It was very much similar
to the Church of Nativity where everything is protected, and you have the structure
built over the top of it. But, you still get the idea
of I'm going underground. And, there's a shelf here
where a body would've gone. And, it's just around
the corner from a hill where a cross would've
been placed. And, that was just
really special. [ Music ] It's hard for people
who aren't familiar with first century
burial practices to picture what a first century
tomb would've looked like. And, frankly, going into the
Edicule doesn't help a whole lot with that. But, Barry knew that there was
a place, just on the backside of the Edicule, where we
could go and see an example of first century tombs. >> And, that location of
the tombs is important and gives more credibility
to the location of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. [ Music ] Okay Jeremy, we've crawled into a hole here back behind
the Edicule at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But, I wanted to show you
these niches in the rock here. These are first century
Jewish tombs. What's significant about this
is that we are literally 20 feet from where the Edicule is. And so, this shows that
Jewish people buried people in this area. >> You can see how a body would
be placed inside each one. You've got the chiseled marks
where they carved it out. And, as opposed to the Edicule, you can actually
see the actual rock, you can see what it
would've looked like. >> Right. >> Now, from what I
understand, after about a year of a body laying in here,
they would bring it out, then they'd put the bones in the
small bone boxes, the ossuaries. >> And then, they would
be reburied again. >> Seeing this, helps us to
imagine what it would've been like when they placed
Jesus' body in the tomb. They would've placed His body
in, they would've rolled a stone in front of it and
closed it off. >> Right. [ Music ] >> There are a lot of times where the location
is really important. Even in the Old Testament,
God specified a place for His people to worship. And, it was in Jerusalem. When you go to the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, you see people from all over the world
coming to this place. And, it's important. But, I think it's important
to remember what Jesus said to the woman at the well. There is going to come a time,
very shortly, where it wasn't in Jerusalem or in Samaria
where you would worship God, that God was looking for
people to worship him in spirit and in truth. It's not the location. And, after His death, burial,
and resurrection, and especially after Pentecost, Jesus provided
a way for worshipers of God, through Him, to worship
anywhere. And, I think it's
important to remember that. >> I enjoy taking people to the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. And, I enjoy trying to help them
understand what the building is and what probably
happened there. After we walk through the
building, I always try to bring people outside and
gather them together and try to remind them that this
isn't just a tourist stop. There's a very important advance
that happened in this location. They're the most important
things to ever happen in the history of mankind. >> From the creation of
the world going forward, this is what all of
history was working towards. And, from or perspective,
looking back, it's all been influenced
and shaped by that. To say that the crucifixion
and burial and resurrection of Jesus was the pivotal moment of history is not
an exaggeration. [ Music ] >> We're west of the
old City of Jerusalem. We've actually come to a
tomb from the first century. We wanted to show what a tomb from the first century
would've looked like. Joseph of Arimathea
was a rich man, so he would've had
a rich man's tomb. This tomb would've been
very similar to what Joseph of Arimathea would've had. [ Music ] >> Coming up to the
tomb, I was surprised. I wasn't expecting the
landscaping to be what it was. We're in this nice garden area. There are these trees providing
shade and some flowering bushes. I wasn't expecting that. So, it was beautiful. It kind of put me in the
frame of mind of the women on the first day coming into the
garden area where the tomb was. I think it helps
give that feeling. [ Music ] >> Jeremy, what we have
here is a rolling stone tomb from the first century. King Herod, of course, built
his tomb at the Herodium. But, his family's tomb was
built right here in Jerusalem. [ Music ] >> This arch doorway, because
it said they stoop down in, is this doorway a normal height? >> Yeah. This is very typical of
a first century tomb like this. It would've been this short. And, we read that in the Bible. When John and Peter
came to the tomb, they had to stoop
down to look into it. >> And, there's this massive
metal door in the way. We can't get in. We can see this rolling
stone and it's just massive. It's longer than my forearm. >> Yeah. Look how wide it is. >> It's really easy to imagine
the women being concerned about how they were going to
get this rolled out of the way when they were going to be
the first ones to the tomb to get to Jesus' body. >> There's no way they
could've rolled it. I mean it's that heavy. >> There was the earthquake,
the angel moves the stone back, and that starts the whole
post resurrection appearances. The women run out to tell the
disciples, they come back, John beats Peter in this
footrace to the tomb. Mary still struggled
with believing in the resurrection even
after Peter and John run back. She runs back with them. And, they look in and
believe and take off. And, Mary's left in the garden
and she begins weeping assuming that the body has been taken. And, that's when she has her
encounter with Jesus and assumes that He's the gardener. To think about that, this
was a wealthy person's tomb. This has a much different feel than those first century
tombs we saw in the Church of the Sepulchre,
there were just niches where they would place the body. >> Right. This is complete tomb. The niches that you saw in the Holy Sepulchre would be
inside the tomb area right here. It's beautiful, isn't it? >> It's amazing. This is amazing. One of the things that we
need to remember, when we come to a site like this and
we're trying to envision and imagine what it must have
been like on that morning, all of the disciples have
assumed that He's died. They don't understand that
He's going to be raised. And, they're not expecting that. Which, from our perspective,
it's kind of shocking because multiple times before
the arrest and the trial and the crucifixion, He flat
out told them that He was going to be crucified and
that He was going to come back on the third day. And, this is the third day
and they're still shocked. They think that this
has been a failure. All of the apostles have fled. Peter has denied Christ. The women are coming to prepare
His body for final interment. They expect His body
to stay there. And so, they would've
been in absolute shock to have found the tomb empty. And, all the Jewish leaders had
to do was to produce a body. If He was not raised, then, everything that He taught
was wrong, it was false, He was either lying or crazy. And so, this moment and the fact that it actually happened is
critical to all of Christianity. [ Music ] Trying to follow the sequence
and order of that last week of Jesus' life was so hectic. There were so many
things that happened in such a short period of time. We're finally back
up here in Galilee on the shore of the lake. The feel is entirely different. It is so much more relaxing. It's almost like you can
take a breath and slow down. >> We're in the city of
Tabgha which is a location on the northern side
of the Sea of Galilee. And, this is the
traditional site of where the events
of John 21 occur. This is the conversation that
Jesus has with His disciples. Early one morning, after they
had been fishing all night, if you'll remember, Jesus had
appeared to a number of people in Jerusalem but had instructed
the disciples to go to Galilee and from there He would give
them further instructions. >> Now, we're about eight
days after the resurrection. He's appeared to several
people down there in Jerusalem. He's appeared to the disciples
on a couple different occasions. He's already appeared to Thomas. They're up here getting back
into the swing of everyday life. But, they haven't been
told when He would arrive. And so, they're basically
waiting for Jesus to show up. And, while waiting,
they decide to go out for a nighttime
fishing trip. Before we go too much further
into John 21, I think we need to add a layer of perspective. If you remember, just
around the corner from here is the
Cove of the Sower. What Luke does for
us is he explains, over in Luke chapter 5, after Jesus finished teaching
the parable of the sower, He tells Peter to
push back further into the sea and to go fishing. Peter explains to him, we've
been out all night, but, at Your command, I'll do that. And so he and the people
on his boat lower the nets down into the water and
bring up such a large catch that the boat starts to sink. It's in that moment that Peter
makes a startling declaration about Jesus. Peter falls on his knees
and says depart from me because I am a sinful man. Peter starts to acknowledge
something and confess something
about who Jesus is. We come back to John 21,
they were all so discouraged at the crucifixion of Christ. Peter denied Jesus three times. They go out for a
nighttime fishing trip and they haven't
caught anything. And then, they see someone
walking along the shore and they don't know who it is. And, the person from
the shore tells them to throw their nets
in on the other side. And, they have such
a large catch of fish that Peter has flashbacks
to that moment in the cove of the sower and jumps
into the sea to get here as quickly as possible. They sit down with Jesus
and have a meal with Him. >> And, of course, later on,
after they'd finished breakfast, Jesus had a conversation
with Peter. And, in that conversation
He asked Peter, three different occasions,
about the love that Peter has for Jesus. Peter responds by saying
he does love Jesus, probably a reflection
of the three times that Peter denied Christ. >> I think it's amazing
that Jesus provides for an opportunity back where
He spent so much quality time with the apostles away from the
hustle and bustle of Jerusalem, He comes up here and has a
quiet down moment with them and provides a slower
opportunity to help Peter work through what he had
done and to understand that he had been
forgiven for that. >> All of the post
resurrection appearances by Jesus were important whether
they were to His disciples or to just people in general. There's one more that we really
need to take a closer look at. But, to do that, we need to go
back to the Mount of Olives. [ Music ] >> After Jesus meets with the
seven disciples, in John 21, and has breakfast with them on
the shore of the Sea of Galilee, they go up to a mountain
somewhere in the Galilee area where they received the
Great Commission that we read about over in Matthew 28. And then following that,
they head back to Jerusalem. And, they're in that
area for a couple of weeks before Jesus ascends
from the Mount of Olives. And so, just a little over a
month after His crucifixion, they're back in the area where
that whole thing took place. [ Music ] Barry, we've arrived, the
top of the Mount of Olives. We're talking about
the ascension. And, there's a passage
that you like to read. >> I think the best text
to look at is actually from Luke the 24th chapter. In verse 50 it says, "when He
led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up His
hands, He blessed them, while He blessed them,
He parted from them and was carried up into Heaven. And, the worshiped Him
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and
were continually in the temple blessing God." >> Now, they've just
come down from Galilee. And, they have some questions
about the nature of the kingdom. Is Jesus going to
restore the kingdom? >> Right. >> It's really easy,
from this spot, to imagine them standing here. They're at the top
of the mountain. There's a part of me that wants
to imagine it in the garden where He prayed because He
had a habit of going there and He was known for
going to there to pray. So, there's a part of me that
wants to romanticize that, and think that that's
where it is. But, either way, no
matter where it was, as He went up into the sky
and was taken from their site, as they turned, they
would've seen all of Jerusalem laid
out before them. I wonder if they had thoughts
running through their head about just a month
and a half ago this is where the triumphal entry to the
place just 40 days ago He was in a tomb on the
other side of town. Just so much has happened, it's been an intense
three and a half years. Jesus starts ascending
up into the sky. And, what Acts records for us, it has more detail
about the ascension. It tells us that Jesus goes up, He goes beyond their site
behind a cloud, and a couple of angels appear to
them and as them. Why do you stand here
looking off into Heaven? Now, that was a really natural
thing for them to have done. I can imagine myself. >> Right. >> Gazing off trying to
figure out where He went and is He coming back
down anytime soon. They let them know that
Jesus will come back in a similar manner. He's coming back in judgement. While they're waiting for
Him they're told to go back into Jerusalem and wait
for the day of Pentecost when they would receive
the promised Holy Spirit. >> Right. There was
a part of them that probably wondered what now. Not only had they been
given the Great Commission. But, they'd also been
promised a Comforter, someone that would come
and help them in all this. >> I'm sure they were
confused because their concept of the nature of Jesus'
kingdom has been shaken a couple of different times. And we know that they are asking
Him about that during that stop on the Mount of Olives. And, Jesus said it's not for
you to know when I'm going to restore my kingdom. Go back to Jerusalem and wait. >> I think there
was a transformation of the disciples going
on during this period. And then, of course, when you
look a little further ahead into the Book of Acts,
you really see it, especially after the
day of Pentecost. But, I'm sure this was a
period of a lot of questions but a period of looking
forward to the future because everything
Jesus had told them over the last three
years had come true. >> During the triumphal
entry, they were excited. They thought that the
kingdom was eminent and so, they would've been riding
this incredible high. They didn't understand
that Jesus was going to go through what He went through. They weren't anticipating that, even though He had
warned them several times. They've just had all
of these ups and downs. So, I just kind of picture
this moment that's recorded over in Acts chapter
1 where they've kind of steadied themselves. I don't think there as
overconfident, necessarily, as they had been at
the triumphal entry. They're still excited,
they're still hopeful, there's just this quiet
peace about them as they wait to see what Jesus
is going to do next. [ Music ] As our time in Israel journeying
together draws to an end, there are two important
passages that I'd like for us to read together. The first is over in
Matthew chapter 28. And this is Jesus'
second to last appearance after His resurrection. It says, "When they went
to Galilee to the mountain to which Jesus had
directed them, when they saw Him
they worshiped Him. But, some doubted. And, Jesus came and said to
them all authority in Heaven and on earth has
been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And, behold, I am with you
always to the end of the age." It's our hope that, as you've
taken this journey with us and witnessed all of these
places where Jesus lived and taught and died
and was raised that you would become convicted
that He really did exist, that He came from Heaven, that
He became a man, that He died on the cross, and that
He rose from the grave. And, He did all of that
to atone for our sins, to grant us forgiveness, and
to bring us into a relationship with our Heavenly Father. And, if you've not
yet been baptized, because of that belief,
we hope that you'd respond to what Jesus instructs
His apostles here. Now, the second passage that
we want to pay attention to us over in First John chapter 1. Our second hope is
that, for those of you that have taken this journey
with us, that you would realize that you've been able to see
things that not everyone gets to see and that it helps
ground your conviction that Jesus was real. What John tried to
emphasize is that, because he had spent those
three years with Jesus, he had interacted with
Him, he had heard Him, he had witnessed the miracles, he had witnessed the post
resurrection appearances. Because of all of that, it
built this fire inside of him to tell others about Christ. We hope that, in some small
way, that you feel the same way after having seen these
places, going with us. Listen to what John has to say. "That which was from the
beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our
eyes which we have looked upon and touched with our hands,
concerning the Word of Life, the life was made manifest and
we have seen it and testified to it and proclaimed to you
the eternal life which was with the Father and was
made manifest to us. That which we have seen and
heard we proclaim also to you so that you too may have
fellowship with us, and indeed, our fellowship is
with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And, we are writing these things so that our joy may
be complete." [ Music ]
