The Place Where He Isn’t

But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

Matthew 28:5–6

This morning, I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I had never been there on Easter before. I had heard stories of what happens there on Easter, with the place packed full of tourists and priests of different factions of christianity all fighting for the right to hold their services in the same place at the same time. I’ve seen videos of fist fights breaking out between robed priests.

The exterior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

I don’t like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in general. I always feel a little creeped out when I go there. It seems so full of false religion, with people kissing rocks and idolizing this place. On the other hand, as an archaeologist, I think that this site is the best candidate for the tomb from which Jesus rose.

But, I realized that if I ever wanted to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Easter Sunday, this was my best chance to do so. For one thing, I live right around the corner from it. Also, there are very few tourists in Jerusalem right now, due to the war, so I thought maybe the place wouldn’t be too packed. So, I decided I should not miss out on the experience.

I went around 7:30 in the morning. I thought about going before sunrise, like the women did on the original Resurrection Day. But I decided I didn’t want to be out and about that early.

There have been a lot of renovations going on in the church recently, and the last time I went, there were large areas in the church that were blocked off. Most of those areas have been re-opened now.

As I walked to the church, I noticed that the streets seemed unusually empty. I passed a few children playing with a ball, and a couple of old men standing around talking, but that was all. Even when I approached the church, there was almost an unnatural quietness in the air.

The door to the tomb was closed, and there were bars for extra security. It was somewhat reminiscent of when Jesus was buried in a sealed and guarded tomb.

I entered the church, and saw that it was not crowded. There was a service going on in one area, with monks chanting and a lot of incense smoke filling the air. And there were a few visitors standing around. But, there was plenty of room for me to move around. I walked past the aedicula, the inner structure that surrounds the place of the tomb. The door was shut. That struck me as ironic. The tomb door was shut on the very day that we celebrate the open tomb. I stood for a few minuted, watching the ceremony of the chanting monks. A teenage boy, dressed in a long robe, was filming it on his phone. Do monks post their best chants to social media?

As I stood there, a man, maybe a priest, came out of the aedicula. He was wearing long robes and some kind of breastplate that was richly decorated. A woman followed him out of the aedicula. She was very well dressed. I wondered what sort of important person she was, that she was allowed into the tomb on Easter morning. But then, a few moments later, a young priest with the air of a waiter strode rapidly toward the aedicula and disappeared inside carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses. What in the world was going on in there? I imagined some wealthy couple paying ridiculous amounts of money to the church in order to go on a private breakfast date in the tomb of Jesus on Easter morning. That’s what I imagined. Realistically, I suppose the wine was probably for an elite communion service in the tomb.

I wandered on, around the circle of the church until I came back toward the entrance. In the entryway is a stone slab which is supposedly the stone where Jesus body was prepared for burial. The slab is polished smooth from people toughing and kissing it, but today it looked shinier than usual. I took a closer look and saw that it was covered in oil. A few people knelt before it, rubbing their rosaries in the oil.

I left the church and headed home. I hadn’t stayed long, but it was long enough to deeply feel the emptiness of the religion I saw there. I was sad. I was sad for the people who went to that church looking for a spiritual connection. Will a crucifix rubbed on a stone slab really give them the fulfillment they need? I don’t think so. Only Jesus can provide wholeness, and from what I saw, Jesus wasn’t there at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre this Easter morning.

But, on the other hand, I am very glad that Jesus isn’t there. That’s because after three days in the tomb, Jesus rose from the dead. When He died on the cross, He paid the ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. And, when He rose from the dead, He completed His victory over sin and death. Through Jesus, we can have forgiveness of sins, a personal relationship with God, and eternal life.