Bible Study

1. Church of the Holy SepulcherWhere Jesus is said to have been crucified, buried and resurrected.This is said to be the most sacred site in Christendom

2. Bible Study • Read Mark 16:1-8 What is the significance of Mark’s gospel ending with the women leaving in fear telling no one? Why were later endings added? • Read Matthew 28:1-15 • Luke 24:1-12 • John 20:1-18 Compare Matthew, Luke and John’s telling with Mark’s. What are similarities or differences? In each gospel who does Jesus appear to first? What is the significance of this What is the significance of Jesus resurrection in your life of faith?

3. Associated with legends of Adam’s tomb, a small rise just outside the city walls had long reminded Jerusalem residents of a human skull, Golgotha in Aramaic. An ancient quarry here had been turned into the city’s burial ground, with family tombs cut into the rock Under Roman occupation the ‘place of the skull’ became where they crucified common criminals – and Jesus Christ.

4. For over a century the early Christians preserved the memory of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection here despite increasing Roman persecution. Emperor Hadrian finally destroyed Jerusalem in 135AD and covered the site with a shrine to Venus and a statue of Jupiter. Video

5. When Constantine adopted Christianity two centuries later, his mother Helena came on a pilgrimage and found that Hadrian had not razed Christ’s tomb as feared, only covered it with rubble. Clearing this away work was completed on the first great basilica here in 335 ADThis is altar around Golgotha-where Jesus was crucified

6. Burned by the Persians in the 7th century, Constantine’s original basilica was rebuilt only to be destroyed again in 1009 by Arab caliph al-Hakim. Restored a generation later, it was the sorry state of Christianity’s core symbol that ignited Europe to the passion of the Holy Crusades.

7. Entering Jerusalem in 1099 and finding the new structure unsuitable, the Crusaders rebuilt the church, extending it to include the site of the crucifixion and Calvary not part of Constantine’s original monument. Since then the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has suffered fire, earthquake, wars and natural deterioration. (This is the dome above the tomb Jesus was buried in)

8. While the Tomb of Jesus and the main passages of the Holy Sepulcher are considered common spaces, the three main religious communities each own a part of the church: The Chapel of Saint Helen, near the place where Jesus' cross is said to have been found, belongs to the Armenians; the Greek-Orthodox Church has ownership over the largest part of the church, including the Altar of the Calvary, where Jesus's cross was raised; the Franciscans own the Chapel of the Crucifixion where Jesus was crucified, along with the northern part of the Church, where according to tradition Jesus appeared to his mother.

9. Inside the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a narrow flight of steps ascends 15 feet up what tradition says was the final slope to the summit of Calvary-to the place of the crucifixion.

10. Station 11Jesus is nailed to the CrossThe first chapel on Calvary is the Catholic (Franciscan) Chapel of the Nailing of the Cross.This mosaic above the altar shows Jesus being nailed to the cross, watched by the Holy Women.

11. Station 12Jesus Dies on the CrossThis is the Greek Orthodox chapel and altar of Calvary, which contains the actual Rock of Calvary around which the church was built.

12. The rock can be seen under glass on either side of the main altar, and beneath the altar there is a hole that allows you to touch the rock itself.

13. Chapel of AdamDirectly beneath Calvary on the main floor. This identification with Adam is based on the ancient tradition (noted by Origen in the 2nd century) that Christ was crucified over the place where Adam was buried. The crack in the rock is said to be caused by the earthquake that occurred during the Crucifixion.

14. Station 13Jesus is taken down from the Cross – Stone of Unctionis the first thing one meets upon entering the Church The Stone of Unction, or Anointing Stone is where the body of Christ was laid to be prepared for burial.This limestone slab dates from 1808, when the prior 12th-century slab was destroyed. Ownership of this site has varied over the centuries, but it now belongs to the four main sects: the opulent lamps that hang over the stone slab are contributed by Armenians, Copts, Greeks and Latins.

15. Station 14Jesus is laid in the tombThough the cave here was carved away by a Muslim ruler 1000 years ago, a clear history remains that this has been the revered location of the tomb.

16. Though the cave here was carved away by a Muslim ruler 1000 years ago, a clear history remains that this has been the revered location of the tomb.Earlier the Roman emperor Hadrian erected a large platform of earth over the whole area for the construction of a temple to Venus. 

17. Jerome adds to Eusebius' statement that a statue of Jupiter was on the site for 180 years (AD 140-320)  When Constantine converted the empire to Christianity, he had the pagan temples dismantled, the earth removed and a church built over the spot.

18. Inside, the shrine contains two small rooms. The first is the Greek Orthodox Chapel of the Angel, which features an altar containing a piece of the stone rolled away by angels at the Resurrection. In the wall by the entrance, steps lead to the roof of the edicule. A low door on the opposite side leads to the tiny Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, which contains the tomb of Christ itself. This is the 14th Station of the Cross and the holiest site in Christendom. Here a marble slab covers the place where the body of Christ was laid and from which he rose from the dead.

19. Around to the back (west) of the ediculeis an ironwork, cage-like structure containing the Coptic chapel. Beneath the altar is another piece of Christ's tomb

20. To the right (north) of the sepulchre is the Roman Catholic area, which consists of a large square chapel (the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene) and another private chapel for Franciscan monks. The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene is held to be the site where Jesus appeared to Mary after his resurrection.

21. The best piece of evidence that the tomb of Jesus was in this area is the fact that other first-century tombs are still preserved inside the church.  Called the "Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea," these burial shafts (kokhim) are clearly from the time of Christ's death and thus attest to some kind of burial ground in the area.  Combined with the evidence from tradition, this church is most likely the true location of the Christ's death and burial.