Falling in love with the light of Christ

It seems hard to believe that just three months ago I was in Jerusalem and in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where the sites of Jesus’ crucifixion, cleaning of his dead body, and tomb are housed. The Roman emperor Constantine’s mother, Helena, had the hill around the tomb removed leaving the cave over which she built a church.

The Byzantines added on and built a church over Helena’s church to include Golgotha and the stone upon which Jesus’ body was prepared for burial. It feels a little bit like a Russian nesting doll-the larger holding a smaller — opening each until eventually finding a tiny doll. It is a very dark place. Little if any daylight is exposed. The intense incense accentuates the fact that this is a strange place.

I did not like being there. I was unnerved. I visited the church three times during my pilgrimage wondering why I was not moved by this sacred site. Was the problem the people — many of whom were simply tourists taking weird selfies on the place Jesus was murdered? Was it the creepy energy the people were giving off that this was somehow a funeral? Was it the corrupt tour guide who asked me for $50 to get in front of the line to see the spot where Jesus’ body was laid? ‘Yes’ to each of these questions, but why was I creeped out so deeply by this place that is so holy and sacred?

The answer came on my last trip to the site. I knelt in the tomb in which our Lord’s body was placed and looked up and found my answer. There, embroidered in Greek on a little purple piece of fabric — Christo Anesti! Christ is Risen! Jesus is not in this dark and dower place, but rather He lives so that we too can live. I got off my knees and walked right out that church into the Jerusalem December sun knowing that on Easter we celebrate Jesus’ defeat of death. Christ is found in light, not darkness. He is the light that changes you and me by giving us hope that our lives and deaths will not be relegated to some dark and dower place, but open to the warm Jerusalem sun.

I hope that you and your family during this Lent and Easter seasons will fall more fully in love with the light of Christ.

Christo Anesti!