Adam's Grotto

The past few days have been, to say the absolute least, action packed. Instead of boring you all I will simpy tell you a few of the highlights. On Shabbat (Saturday...the Jewish Sabbath) me and a few friends went to Tel Aviv and spent the afternoon on the Mediterranean sea...it was glorious! The sand was white and the water was a perfect temperature. After watching the sun set over the waters (which was quite picturesque) we went into town and had a bite to eat before heading back to Jerusalem. On Sunday we had a class field study all day which was really interesting. The topic for the day was "Biblical Jerusalem" and from 7 AM -12 PM we studied Old Testament Jerusalem. For this study we got the chance to see where King David's city was and study the archaeology of his time period. After doing that for a while we studied Solomon's city and eventually got to go through a water tunnel from the time of Hezekiah. This is interesting: As the Assyrians were coming to Jerusalem to fight, King Hezekiah decided that he didn't want them to have access to a the water supply for the city. So, he built this huge tunnel diverting the water supply throughout the city and built a wall blocking the water off. We walked through that tunnel. It was cool. You can read about it in 2 Chronicles I think. That afternoon we studied New Testament Jerusalem which was a very spiritual experience. One cool thing we did was visit the Temple Mount and the archaelogical exhibits surrounding it. I knew the facts about the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 but I guess that I never really grasped the extremity of the whole experience. Looking at the size of the bricks used for the Temple was my first clue that Herod’s Temple was bigger than anything I could possible imagine. When we looked at the Roman street below and saw how it was rippled from the bricks falling and studied the huge indents in the road it finally hit me. The Temple must have been huge! I began thinking back as to what it might have been like to be a Jew in the 1st Century watching the Temple get destroyed by the Roman army. It must have been emotionally devastating to watch the bricks fall and to listen to the loud crash as the landed on the street below. I can’t even fathom what it was like. Also, the area where we were was where the money changers were below the Temple. Most likely it was along the very road I walked that Christ overturned the tables and told them not to change money in God's house (Mt. 21:12; Mk 11:15; Jn 2:15). This is where it was done! Wow!
It is was a very spiritual experience for me to visit the steps ascending to the Temple Mount. As we were sitting there discussing the Temple and reading Scripture I felt as if this might have been something like what Christ and the disciples did back in the 1st Century. It was common for Rabbi's to teach their disciples on those steps so Christ probably taught his students there as well. I bet Peter, Matthew, and the rest sat on those very steps listening to truths directly from the mouth of God. Also, there is speculation that the Holy Spirit descended on mankind on Pentecost there. I thought back to Pentecost so many years ago and imagined what it might have been like. The fact that the first time this part of the Trinity entered into man might be right where we were sitting almost brought tears to my eyes. Check out Acts ch. 1-2 for this one.
By far the most spiritual part of our field study was visiting the sites of Christ’s miracles. We visited two sites where the Son of God performed miraculous healings. It is difficult to imagine what it must have been like to see those sorts of things but being at the very place where they occurred was awesome! Visiting the Pools of Bethesda (Jn. 5) and the Pool of Siloam (Jn. 9) where Christ healed a lame man and a blind man made me think about the miraculous spiritual healing that has occurred in my own life. There have been times in my life where I was spiritually blind like the man at the Pool of Siloam and there have been times where I have been spiritually lame like the man by the Pools of Bethesda. Yet, like both men Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God has healed me! To visit these Holy Sites caused me to really reflect upon the changes that God performed on my own soul. It was quite an experience. The very fact that the Son of God tread those very stones that I was standing upon was very powerful.
The last part of our field study was a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where the faith of all Christians becomes real and tangible. It was here that I learned something very interesting. Apparently Church Tradition has it that the Garden of Eden was actually in Jerusalem (it is interesting to note that the Rabbincal Sages also teach the very same thing). So, Tradition has it that Calvary-"the Place of the Skull"-where our Lord was crucified was called that for two reasons. The first reason is because the rocky outcrop outside the city walls actually looked like a skull. The second reason is because the skull of Adam (from Adam and Eve infamy) was actually beneath that rock. Now, whether you believe this literally or take it metaphorically it is still a very powerful teaching because the spiritual truth that lies behind it is very important. The place where God placed man to live and commune with him was the place where the Son of God died for mankind. Life comes full circle! The very Word of God who created man and placed him in the Garden died for that man and his descendents at the very place! The sin which had been passed along like a disease among humans was borne in the Garden and was defeated at the very same place. It couldn't have been any other way. The only perfect sacrifice that could be sufficient for mankind would be the very Word of God who created man to sacrifice himself...at the exact place he created them! There is a picture as you come down the stairs from Calvary which captures this teaching very well. It shows Christ being crucified on Calvary and deep in the ground, right beneath the Cross, is the skull of Adam. What this portrays is that Christ completely defeated sin upon the Cross! Sin is no more! Death is no more! The disease of Adam has been cured! We are forgiven! This is a very beautiful thing. Because of this teaching there is a small chapel beneath Calvary called "Adam's Grotto" (hence the title of this blog entry) and you can see the base of the rock Christ was crucified upon and attempt to understand the full mystery of what occured there. It is difficult to fully grasp what happened that day on Calvary but I think that after learning about "Adam's Grotto" I came one step closer to a fuller understanding of God's love for man. His love is all enveloping and bigger than we can ever hope to grasp; all we can do is thank him for it.