Fourth in a series on Israel and what we can learn from the Jewish people.
“Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.” — Acts 2:29,32
Israel is a land of tombs and also of tomb raiders. It has become big business there to steal artifacts from ancient burial grounds because there are so many and so few guards to protect them. In fact, in the valley of Gehinnom, which circles the west and southern side of the Old City, archaeologists have excavated tombs dating back two thousand years to the time of Jesus. Our Lord referred to this particular place as Gehenna, a metaphor for “hell” because it had earned its reputation in ancient times as the site of human sacrifices and other wickedness. However, in the first century it had become the site of some of Jerusalem’s most glamorous tombs and many high ranking people were believed to have been buried there.
Today, among those notable tombs of Jerusalem are three that everyone who visits will make sure they see. The first is King David’s tomb, a Jewish holy site. There you will usually find Hasidic or “religious Jews” praying. As you go through the entrance you’ll be encouraged to touch a mezuzah, a parchment inscribed with religious texts, which is located above the doorway. Part of the tomb is also a rabbinical library and a favorite place for scholarly Jews to congregate, read the Torah and the Talmud, while expressing their views to each other, sometimes in an adamant manner.
The tomb is covered with a blue velvet cloth embroidered with the words David Melech Israel Hai Vekayam, which means, “David, king of Israel, lives and endures.” It’s the first song many Jewish children learn, which evokes the sense that David’s spirit is still with them. Those who pray at King David’s tomb also turn to face the center of Jerusalem, which David made the united capital of the tribes of Israel. It’s interesting that the anniversary of David’s death also coincides with the eve of Shavuot or the Feast of Pentecost, the birth of the church.
It was at King David’s tomb that our guide revealed something strange. She said it with a straight face, so we assumed she was telling the truth. Next to the tomb, guarded by a wooden partition was a doorway that went around behind the tomb. It had a very simple curtain covering its entrance. Out of curiosity we asked our guide what was behind the curtain and she said that no one knew because the last time someone tried to go through it, flames of fire shot up from the ground and nobody had tried since. Maybe Indiana Jones is true after all!
There are two other prominent tomb sites in Jerusalem which receive more visitors than all the others in the Holy Land. They are the two possible burial sites of Jesus. One is called Gordon’s Garden tomb, after the man who discovered it in 1867. It is a beautiful and peaceful site
outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. It was thought to have been a huge garden area in the first century. This setting appears to agree with John’s gospel which says, At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid (John. 19:41).
The other tomb is located inside the famous Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian quarter. It was built by the Emperor Constantine the Great, under the influence of his mother Helena who is reported to have encouraged the building of some eighty churches to commemorate different Christian holy sites. It is the most famous site in all of Christianity and is actually shared by the Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian, Syrian, Ethiopian and Coptic Christian church representatives. It consists of many chapels that speak to various events in the death, 
burial and resurrection of Jesus. I use the term “shared” somewhat tongue-in-cheek because the areas bump up against each other and when one group invades another’s space, sometimes fist fights have reportedly broken out. Jesus, said, “By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). My, oh my, do we as the church of Jesus Christ have a long way to go!
But no matter what site you believe to be the real one, there is one thing they have in common that no other religion on the face of the earth can claim. There are no bones there in either tomb. No body remaining. They are empty because the good news—the heart of the Christian gospel message is that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He is no longer in any tomb, anywhere. Jesus is alive!
The Jews we saw that day praying at King David’s tomb can never make that claim, as great a king as he was. The Muslims who pray at Mecca cannot say that about their prophet, Muhammad, his bones are still reportedly in the Kaaba. The Buddhists, the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Ba’hais, or the multitudes of other religious groups—none can make that claim about those they worship. Jesus overcame death for you and me. As the angel proclaimed that day to Mary Magdelene, “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying” (Matthew 28:6).
If you ever go to Israel be sure and visit these three tombs but when you do, I assure you nothing will have changed. One will still be full of old bones and the others will be empty.
Maranatha!
Click here for a short video tour of Church of the Holy Sepulchre
To help us walk closer with God and to know him better.
