Act 4 :: Scene 2 | Holy Lands :: Jerusalem (Holy Week)

My initial entry into the old city of Jerusalem came ahead of schedule thanks to the university which insisted on shouting me a weekend there between my two teaching weeks; Before entering the city through the Damascus Gate, in order to heighten the sense of occasion, I stopped to read the story recorded in the Bible whereby Jesus enters the city through the same gate and promptly heals a paralytic man.

(Not long after passing through the gate I was myself confronted by a crippled beggar, in a bit of fluster I offered him some of the nuts/seeds I had in my hand. We both seemed well pleased with the outcome of the exchange. It only occurred to me much much later that I should have tried to heal him. The following day, while re-entering the old city, I saw him getting about a prosthetic leg that was nowhere to be seen the day before.)

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With three major faiths all laying claim to one small city with narrow cobbled-stone streets (the Muslim claim being by far the most tenuous), the chances of getting caught in traffic are high. (During my stay I was caught in: a Muslim crush (post-Friday prayers); a Jewish crush (pre-Passover celebrations); and two Christian crush events (Palm Sunday & walking 'the Stations of the Cross' on Good Friday. The Jewish mob was the most unpleasant, at one point I had to pull a couple of young Jews out of dangers way to safer space).

Different faiths have different regulations for right conduct in sacred spaces; in one building I was ordered to remove my cap (in the upstairs room that Christians commemorate Jesus’ last supper) and then directed to put my hat back on in the room directly below (a Jewish synagogue built around the tomb of David). (I also discovered while in a Muslim area that you can cause offence by merely changing the number of layers you are wearing while in public (less & more).)

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There is a fourth (major) religion that is clearly visible on the streets (and around the holy sites) of Jerusalem - as the following photographs prove.

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The weirdest encounter of the week was with a school kid just outside the Dome of the Rock (the Muslim Holy Site in the old city) who had a plastic gun that he kept shooting me with (at point blank range). (I would love to have known what he was saying as he wasted my Western ass over and over again.)

Walking alone though a tourist zone with a map marks you out as a walking-talking-ATM for locals in the tourism trade. (The 'helpful man' below didn’t actually tell me that he was a professional tour guide until we were well into the private tour; I gave him roughly a tenth of what he initially wanted for his services, and bought him a coffee so he could finish telling me about his life).

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Malcolm - an ex-flatmate (who left me for a girl (like so many other flatmates before him)) – and his wife Vanessa joined me in Jerusalem, we were to be pilgrims together for the ensuing three weeks.

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Before coming to Jerusalem I highly recommend spending 15 minutes investigating the difference between 'venerating' and 'worshipping.' (It will help you sort out the superstition from the genuine devotion, there being much of both in the old city).

Below is my evangelical attempt to fit in with the local custom of the orthodox pilgrims (whereby they rub objects - often their own body parts - on holy places so as to invest those things with good vibes).

(It was a compromise, I confess.)

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For all those Christians struggling to read their Bibles, I highly recommend you try reading the biblical accounts of historic events in the exact same place - or at least a place very near the exact same place, or at the very least, a place somewhat like the exact same place (which was enough for me) - as a strategy to increase interest and motivation. (It is better again to read the accounts at the same time that they are remembered in the Christian calendar. See if you can pick the story, place, and time in the photographs below.)

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Expecting to find Jerusalem and its surrounds in the same state as described in the Bible is akin to hoping to find a highly desirable 2000 year old virgin; she’s been more than a bit touched up by many violent menfolk since the time of Jesus.

I managed to avoid the strong temptation to buy another cross pendant from the many sales outlets in Jerusalem. Only because I purchased one before I left with which I am well pleased, let me tell you all about it.

The cross that I choose to bear is made from a section of a bottle top; it holds significance for me for at least three reasons:

1. Being recycled, or better yet – renewed – it reminds me of the great Christian hope that I hold for the renewal of the world; I long for the day when God will finally take what could be construed as rubbish and rework it into something of great beauty (my life included) – which the Bible calls the New Creation.

2. Being transparent, it reminds me of the need I have as a Christian to be open & honest about my faith experiences (the bad with the good, the failures in addition to the successes, the problems alongside the answers).

3. Being a part of a bottle, it reminds me that - just like an open bottle in the ocean - I can be ‘in Christ’ at the same time as He is in me (which reminds me just how close to God I am because of Jesus and the mysterious workings of His Spirit).

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Travelling independently, without the assistance of tours and guides, certainly makes getting from A(D) to B(C) more difficult, but often allows you the chance to see the holy sites without the presence of a crowd. (And every now and again, you can even get the site all to yourself, sometimes at very unexpected times – like the garden of Gethsemane late on Maundy Thursday.)

A highlight of the week was the dawn service at the garden tomb on Resurrection Sunday. (Staring at the hole in the rock that Jesus Christ might well have stepped out of all those years ago, while singing songs about the resurrection, and its incredible consequences, in the company of Christian brothers and sisters from all over the world, brought forth many tears from these blessed eyes of mine.)

The whole week highlighted the glory of the Universal Church; hearing the streets of Jerusalem filled with the worship of pilgrims from so many different churches and nations around the world - hearing familiar songs in foreign languages and foreign songs sung with familiar devotion – and knowing that all of us were drawn to the same place by the same man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, made the oneness of those who believe and the capacity of the Christian faith to unify people from very different contexts appear both very tangible and attractive.