Easter Reflections from the Garden Tomb Jerusalem 2013

Easter Reflections from the Garden Tomb Jerusalem 2013

We were so delighted when we found we would be at the Garden Tomb for Easter. We had seen the services on the web, but there is nothing as good as being there.

Palm Sunday, however, came first! We are worshipping at the historic Anglican church in Jerusalem called Christ Church. The teaching is great, the organisation is 'interesting', but it is refreshing to be part of a liturgy we are unfamiliar with. So, when we arrived on Palm Sunday, we found we were locked out! Eventually the doors were opened and the leadership led us into the church waving huge palm branches, which, of course we cannot grow in England!! There was also a trumpeter playing Hosanna. We all entered the church singing 'Hosanna in the highest!' It was a memorable occasion. In the afternoon we went to see a procession of 1000's of Christian coming down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. Palm branches waiving and people singing as they came into the city.

Easter here at the Garden Tomb is the highlight of the year and the celebrations are meticulously planned. As our director says, 'Good organisation is invisible, but bad organisation is seen everywhere'. 

On Tuesday evening of Easter week, our Director's wife Rosalind, took the Volunteer Fellowship through the biblical narrative of the Easter story. We started in the Garden Tomb bunker which is prepared in case of emergency. It contains everything needed for to live for 2 weeks if there were to be chemical bombs dropped on Jerusalem! We moved all through the Garden with our lamps and torches, stopping at one place for communion, then readings and worship songs that took us through the Easter story, finally arriving at the tomb where we sang 'All hail the Lamb' as we thanked God for the risen Christ. It was a special time for us.

Good Friday dawned and the garden welcomed all who would come and share with us. The service was led by Paul and Steve Bridge the Ass. Director preached a wonderful message entitled 'The Victorious Victim'.

This was the beginning of a day of quiet reflection. People came to have personal moments of meditation and prayer in a beautiful place, thinking of the huge sacrifice made by the Lord Jesus to bring us back into relationship with God. One of the last visitors was an AOG minister called Richard. He was so surprised to see us there, as are all the other AOG ministers that arrive.

Saturday brought a visit by a Korean group who, for me, brought the resurrection atmosphere into the Garden. The strains of the old Ron Kenoly song filled the air! Hallelujah! Jesus is alive, death has lost its victory and the grave has been denied, Jesus lives forever He's alive... I danced with them because Jesus is the conqueror!

Sunday came. I just had to peep into the tomb, it was 5.45!

I wrote on FB 'The tomb is empty!' 'Phew,' said one of my respondents, 'That's a relief.'

The rush  of people into the Garden at 6.15 was so exciting! It wasn't long before it was full. Seeing so many people keen to celebrate the resurrection was glorious. And it went on all morning, 3000 people coming to worship the risen Lord in our Garden. The different services reflected the styles of worship and the cultures of the people who had come. It just gave us a glimpse of what heaven sees.

Finally, as the garden was emptying and we met the Korean worship leader again. 'Will you pray for us?' he asked. What a privilege to pray the blessing of God on the lives of 2 young people.

'And Lord these 2 junior seniors want your blessing on the rest of our days too'. Was it all worth only having 1 day off Easter week? What do you think? :)

The Judean Wilderness

The Wilderness

On our day off this week, we decided to go to En Gedi.
The  first challenge of this trip was that Paul hadn't driven in Israel before, and we are not familiar with navigating around Jerusalem roads because we walk everywhere within the city. However, Richard, the GT Director told Paul 'Everyone here drives fast, take your time and don't try to race them!' Richard didn't know how instructive his words were to this new volunteer!!! We were also told not to stray into Palestinian territory. We were using a car with Israeli number plates, so it was safer to stay on that side of the divide. So we set off. We were soon driving away from Jerusalem on the Jericho Road, past the Inn of the Good Samaritan and into the desert region of the Dead Sea.

En Gedi is located on the edge of the Judean desert, on the shore of the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth (approximately 400m below sea level).


The scenery in the area is stunning! Mountains, the colour of sand, with little or no vegetation and amazing rock formations. We saw some Ibex wandering round with their babies and they were hardly discernible on the mountain side. Their colouring camouflaged them, protecting them from predators.

When we arrived at En Gedi, the area was full of families picnicing and the sounds were of happy children having fun. We heard shouts of 'Abba' from the children calling their fathers. It reminded me that our 'Abba', Father God, enjoys hearing from us too. It also reminded me that as we like to see our children move through childhood to maturity, so does God. In Hebrews 5 and 6 the writer encourages us to get past the 'milk' stage of our Christian lives and become 'mature in our understanding'. The writer is encouraging us to take responsibility spiritually and to move on.

With our water bottles, hats and sunscreen we set off on the trail of Wadi David (no, not pronounced David but Daveed) to find a waterfall. The sun was hot and the terrain was very uneven, rocky and rising. Yet, I saw many mothers with very young babies in slings climbing the path. They were willing to take the risk to let the baby enjoy the time out with the family. God sometimes allows us to get into risky situations, because it helps our growth and teaches us that God is with us through the times of difficulty and danger enabling us to become stronger.

Every so often we came to a place where there was a waterfall and a pool of water. The children loved being in the water and the Abbas loved standing under the waterfalls!! It was so refreshing. The families played here for a while and rested from the heat of the exposed places. This enabled them to climb higher to the next waterfall and pool of refreshment. The higher we rose the climb became more difficult, but the views surrounding us were more beautiful.

As we were climbing, I thought about David. It was in this area that David was running away from Saul. The caves in the mountains were visible all around us. It would be a good place to hide from someone. David was holed up in a cave one day and Saul came to the very cave and used it to have a sleep. David's followers wanted to kill Saul, but David wouldn't let them, using the words 'It's a serious thing to attack the Lord's anointed one'. David was confident that his time would come. It is good to remember that God's timing can be different to ours; but God has a bigger picture in view. David trusted God in the most difficult of situations and kept to God's plan. That is maturity.