Calvary

the scent of the Easter Lily…

Given the Easter holiday is so nearby, my mind went to Calvary where Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to a wooden cross that was then raised up for all to see. In Jerusalem, the Church of St. Andrew is dedicated to the spot where this event is said to have happened.

“Calvary, also Gagulta (Aramaic: ܓܓܘܠܬܐ‎‎), was, according to the Gospels, a site immediately outside Jerusalem’s walls where Jesus was crucified.”—-Wikipedia

As I had travelled that far, I took a tour to make the most of it. The guide had some interesting information:

Jesus was brought to the Roman Governor Pontius Pilot on the charge of having held himself out as “King of the Jews.” This was treason, the only offense, according to the Roman law at the time, to carry the punishment of  crucifixion. The others on either side of him were also being crucified for treason; they were Zealots, like those at Masada who held out against Roman rule. The Roman custom was to crucify traitors by the side of a main road outside the town gate. In that way, they would be a visible warning against rebellion. Queen Millicent, a Crusader Queen, had the Church of St. Andrew built around the site where Jesus was crucified. Though this church is inside the current city walls, this site was outside the city walls 2,000 years ago.

Here is a photo of an olive tree, said to be over 2,000 years old, in what is marked as the nearby garden where Jesus was arrested. 

What does this olive tree remember?

TATTOO—Journeys on My Mind by Tina Marie L. Lamb is available at Amazon and BarnesandNoble and iBooks and Audible.

Buy it. Read it. (Or listen to it.) Let me know what you think. –TMLL