/ Gathering Stones aka Biblical Archaeology: March 2008

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Garden of Gethsemane


The time of the Passover was a time when all the Jews came to Jerusalem for the event. The city would be housed to a maximum capacity and every “nook and cranny” would be utilized for quarters. The Cave of Gethsemane was one such case. Normally the cave would be used for processing olive oil, but at this time of the year, the cave would be unused and available for quarters. The people of Jerusalem opened their homes to their kinsmen by providing them with shelter. The kinsmen would arrive with the paschal lamb and upon leaving would leave the animal skin as a token of appreciation for their kindness.



John 18:1
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.


Tourists flock to the Garden of Gethsemane to venerate the site of Jesus' arrest without understanding that it is the TRADITIONAL site and not one that is proven by archaeological or historical evidences. Instead, the earliest archaeological and historical evidences point to the cave which is known as the Grotto of the Apostles, a place which is almost hidden by the TRADITIONAL site of the Tomb of the Virgin which was built next to the cave in the fifth century.

The Gospel of John is the only text to use the word "garden.” In the Greek text, the word is kepos which can be translated as a garden, but in reality, it is more accurately translated as “a cultivated tract of land.” (Taylor: 1995)

Just as the text of John 18:1 says Jesus “went forth” from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives, the text of John 18:4 identifies again that Jesus went forth from something or somewhere in the garden when the soldiers came to arrest him. Since Jesus entered the garden (John 18:1) yet did not go out of the garden to speak to the guards, then the text implies that Jesus was in another area than the olive grove.

Archaeological excavations have identified that the cave was used as an area for pressing olives. The time of the Passover Feast in Jerusalem is a time when nights are chilly and the dew settles heavily on the ground. The night that Jesus was arrested was such a night as identified from the text of the Gospel of John citing in verse 18—“for it was cold...” It is only reasonable to understand that the cave where the olives were pressed would be more comfortable than the open air under the olive trees. The translation for Gethsemane is “press of oils” so one may consider that the groves of olive trees on the terraced landside and the cave for the manufacture of olive oil to be one and the same called Gethsemane.


Taylor, Joan E., "The Garden of Gethsemane, Not the Place of Jesus' Arrest," Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 1995

posted by ~serapha~ at 9:43 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

John 12:12-20 The Triumphant Entry

12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.
16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.
17 The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record.
18 For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle.
19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

Can you imagine the whispering crowds in Jerusalem before the Passover? As He approaches from Jericho, Jesus is nearing Bethany, the traditional site where He had raised Lazarus from the dead. Being so close to Jerusalem, the town of Bethany is simply bursting at it seams with people who are there for the Passover meal, and the people hear from those who “bore witness" of the resurrection of Lazarus that the Rabbi named Jesus is nearing the city.

They hail Him in the hopes that He will be their Messiah, the Anointed One who will deliver them from the oppression of Roman rule—for they were truly looking for an earthly King of the Jews.

The next day, as Jesus leaves Bethany for Jerusalem, He will be descending from a height of 2750 feet above sea level on a caravan road leading into the Kidron Valley. The road is not straight, but rather like the Jordan River, meanders past olive and date trees on terraced hillsides.

Initially the city of Jerusalem is not visible to those approaching from Bethany. The first view would be the southwestern walls of the Temple Mount and the ridge of Ophel leading southward away from the city.

After a couple of turns and the rise and fall in the elevation of the road, at last the Holy City would be revealed in its splendor.

The white limestone columns are so highly polished that they appear pure white. They are adorned with capitals trimmed in gold. Upon seeing the Holy City Jesus weeps for the people. After three and a half years of ministry, the people have never understood that the coming Kingdom of God is within.

From the Temple Mount, looking eastward toward Bethany, it would be two miles and much of the "pomp and circumstance" of Jesus' entrance to the city would be visible far from the city of Jerusalem. Extra soldiers were garrisoned in Jerusalem during the Passover to control the crowds. The procurator would travel from Caesarea by the Sea to Jerusalem to preside over any matters that should arise during the feast. Pilate, the Procurator of Judea and Samaria, and Herod, the King of Perea and the Galilee, were both in the city.

For centuries nothing would be built within eight hundred feet outside the city walls as a defensive measure; therefore, providing a spectacular view of the Triumphant Entry—the Roman soldiers and authorities approaching Jerusalem from the Kidron Valley, the residents of Jerusalem, the pilgrims at Jerusalem for the feast, and especially the Scribes and Pharisees on the Temple Mount. Before their eyes, the followers of Jesus were laying palm leaves and cloaks before the Son of God riding triumphantly into the city as a fulfillment of prophecy.

~serapha~

posted by ~serapha~ at 7:00 PM 0 comments