At the location where we commemorate Jesus taking up his cross there is a chapel that has as part of its floor the original roman road that Jesus would have walked. There are still the grooves made by chariots and carvings in the stone that could have been the soldiers playing a game while beating Jesus.
It is overwhelming to think that we are touching such a powerful piece of history. Was this made the day Jesus died as soldiers mocked him and beat him? While there is no way to know for sure, it is certainly a possibility. The location is just right according to where the Bible says Jesus was taken and beaten and then travelled on.
The road itself rises through the city as we make our way to what would have been Golgotha. The streets are narrow and some are empty while others are a busy market - probably the same in Jesus day, althought since it was Passover and the city was crowded, there probably where not many empty streets.
The road ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which sits upon what was Golgotha. The church is massive and as you enter you climb steep stairs to the altar that sits on the top of the mountain. You are able to kneel under the altar and place your hand down a hole and touch the acutal rock of the mountian. It is here that we believe Jesus was crucified. Again, there is not much time to linger as the lines are long, but as I placed my hand on the rock the only words that came to me were, "Thank You Jesus!"
(FYI, that is not me under the altar but the cousin of a friend of mine from High School. He and his family are from a church in Pittsburg and were on our bus. It is a small world!)
Within this huge church is a chapel divided into two rooms. (The chapel is behind me).
The first room is an anteroom called the chapel of the angel. (Here are candels burning in the chapel.)
And then you enter into what could be the tomb of Jesus. No pictures are allowed in this site, but as I ran my hands over what could have been where Jesus laid I ried to imagine both his body lying there on Friday and then the empty linens there 3 days later. No words came this time. Just awe, wonder, amazement.
After lunch and walking up and down the city streets again (and thinking how easy it would be to get lost...) we journeyed to the Western Wall. Both times I have been there now it has been raining and cold so we didn't stay long, but to have another chance to pray as I laid my hands on the wall of the Temple, a wall that would have been the back wall of the Holy of Holies was simply incredible. 
There was more to this day that I will share later, but you can see that our final day was incredibly full. Sometimes I wished we had more time to listen, look, think, share and reflect and my guess is that on Jesus' final day he wished he had more time too.
Shalom!
