With
the war in the Middle East, it’s unlikely that anyone celebrated Easter at the
Garden Tomb in Jerusalem this year.* In fact, its website says the tomb is
closed until further notice “due to the current situation.”
Nobody
knows exactly where Jesus’ body was laid after His death, and the Garden Tomb
is only one of several possible sites. Still, I celebrated Easter there in 1958
and, as a seven-year-old, I thought it was an awesome experience. I’m sure it
would be even more moving as an adult. So it’s too bad that nobody is celebrating
there this year.
Still,
it is the event, not the place, that matters.
The
important thing is that Christ died for our sins and then rose again. To paraphrase
Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, if He hadn’t risen, we would still be dead in our
sins. Or, to put it in the words of the chorus of the hymn “This Joyful
Eastertide” by George Woodward (also taken from 1 Corinthians 15):
Had Christ, who once
was slain,
Not burst his
three-day prison,
Our faith had been
in vain;
But now has Christ
arisen, arisen, arisen;
But now has Christ
arisen!
Alleluia!
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
__________
*
My father took the photo at the top of this post on Easter Sunday, 1958, as we
attended service at the Garden Tomb.
