A wonderful way to begin our last day in Israel was by visiting the Garden Tomb, the alternate site in Jerusalem where the body of Jesus Christ may well have been laid after His crucifixion.
One piece of evidence that commends the Garden Tomb as the burial place of Christ is the skull-like appearance of a nearby rocky cliff. “They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.” (John 19:17)
Skull-Like Cliff
Our group took its turn to stand together before the open door of the Garden Tomb.
Our Group Outside Tomb
This is the channel in which a wheel-shaped stone might have been moved to close and open the tomb.
Channel For Stone
This image, taken inside the tomb, is of the Loculus, or actual burial place of the body of our Lord Jesus.
Another piece of evidence commending this tomb is this first century Christian symbol of the cross on the wall inside, with letters identifying Jesus Christ as the Alpha and the Omega, God Himself.
Cross Symbol
As our guide reminded us, we visit the Garden Tomb not to see what is there, but what is not there.
There certainly could be no more meaningful place to observe the Lord’s Table than on the grounds of the Garden Tomb, where His victory over sin and death was demonstrated. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (II Cor. 5:21)
Ken Sheppard leading communion
After leaving The Garden Tomb we traveled to Ammunition Hill, the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Six-Day War (June 6, 1967).
A group of current Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were being briefed in the Visitor Center.
Current IDF Soldiers
This lamp stand, or menorah, frequently mentioned in Biblical descriptions of Jewish Temple worship, was prominently displayed in this memorial to Israel’s modern warfare history, thus relating the modern state of Israel to her Biblical heritage.
Menorah
This tank is a relic of the battle, still in its place after over forty years.
Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand in trench fortifications like these. When one man fell, another stepped forward over his body to continue the fight.
Trench Fortifications
Israel lost 182 warriors in the Battle of Ammunition Hill. Their names are recorded as a group memorial here.
Names of Dead
These same men were individually remembered, each with his own personal life history. Israel celebrated here its fallen heroes.
Individual Tributes
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