TRADITION - A - Sepulcher

Her name was Helena, and her son was the emperor in Rome, Constantine.

It is commonly reported that upon her conversion to 'christianity' (I know that I didn't capitalize the C), she toured her son's empire, especially the Holy Land. Wikipedia indicates that it was the year A.D. 325. Along her way she was able to identify many sites we might associate with the New Testament account. One such 'discovery' was the very cross used by the Romans when the crucified Christ. Oh, yeah! I'm convinced. How about you?

On the site that she identified as the location where Jesus was crucified, she had a magnificent church constructed. Today, it is called the 'Church of the Holy Sepulcher'. Here's a picture.


What do you think?
Do you think that this Church is built on the site of Jesus' crucifixion?



The map above shows the location of the Church. It's red and it has a cross on it. The cross in this map runs left-right.

Now, folks; What's wrong with this picture? (The pun is intentional)
This is more of that tradition stuff. That's what's wrong.

Crucifixions were not conducted inside the city. The Romans used crucifixion as a punishment, but they used it as a deterrent against rebellion too. They crucified their victims along major roadways where many people would see sight. Jesus was crucified just outside the Damascus gate. Can you see the Damascus gate? It's on the North side of the city. At the top of the picture you can see the words ''Jeremiah's Grotto''. The crucifixion site is right close there, and so is the garden tomb.

Thousands if not millions of pilgrims travel to Jerusalem every year so they can visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the place where Jesus was crucified. They get down on their knees and kiss a spot on the floor. And, they are deceived if they think that they have kissed the place where Jesus was crucified. They kissed a floor slab in the city of Jerusalem.

Traditions are powerful. We don't let go of them easily, and in some cases, we shouldn't let go. The trouble is, there are quite a few that should have been abandoned a long time ago.
Helena, Constantine's mommy was wrong. This wasn't the location of Jesus' crucifixion.

You might consider taking a long look at this site. It even says that the crucifixion location used to be outside the city wall. That's interesting isn't it? If you look at the next map, you will see that the church (which is supposed to be where the crucifixion took place) is located just inside the ancient wall, and it's quite a distance to the garden tomb.