Today is Sunday—usually considered the Christian day of rest—and we had a brief service in the Church of Bethesda. Bishop Keith A. Butler led us in worship songs and scriptures. After, we all moved to the outside grounds where we saw the centuries old ruins of the original pool of Bethesda mentioned in John 5:2-8. Jesus performed a miracle for a man on the Sabbath (Shabbat). I like what Pastor Sean R. Moore shared about the passage: “Sometimes, it seems like someone else is always beating you to the punch,” he said. “But here we see that Jesus shows up on the scene Himself to perform a miracle.”
The Way of the Cross
We started our day hearing about a miracle Jesus performed, and now, we were on foot walking through Lion’s Gate to follow the path Jesus walked while carrying His cross to Golgotha—the place of His 
crucifixion. In Hebrew, Golgotha means skull. The path, called Via Dolorosa, is also a bazaar with numerous merchants. Along the path are stations, which reference scriptures in the 
Bible, such as when Jesus fell. At Station No. 1 Amnon tells us “The entire way: Not 100 percent. Some of it is tradition. But some of it is fact.” He warns us to stay close together and do our best to keep with the group. Pastor Moore confirms: “It is easy to get lost. You can stop to take one picture and lose the group just like that.”
Making our way past the first few stations the road became narrower and seemed flooded with people. Because I was taught in my childhood to follow the leader, I stuck close to Amnon. The road went up and down. Amnon brought to our attention after we trekked up the first hill how out of breath we were. “Now, can you imagine doing that carrying a cross?” Perspective.
Now, we were headed down. Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, we made a sharp turn to the right. People were weaving in and out of our group. The atmosphere was filled with so much bustle and commotion. It was almost hard to hear, but Amnon pointed to a location on the stone wall. “This is where Jesus fell the first time. That is where He put His hand to steady himself.” Tradition or fact? Either way, I believed we were on the route.
Our group continued walking. We came to a doorway that stated that this was the station where Simon helped Jesus carry His cross, because He had fallen again. By this point, I don’t know how Jesus was even able to keep moving; nonetheless, carry the cross. He had been whipped, beaten, and slapped. Let’s not forget, on His head was a crown of thorns (I saw the actual plant the Romans made the crown of thorns from and to put it simply, the thorns 
are no joke—very sharp to the touch). All I thought, “He kept going. He kept going.” We kept going.
Another up and down and turn to the left, and the group was at the final stations where the nailing, crucifying, dying and resurrecting occurred. Of course, the location looks nothing like what it must have looked like in 1st century B.C.1 A.D., but Amnon explained how the series of the events happened. Present-day, the location is home to a church, which encompasses all the stations. Amnon pointed to where Jesus was nailed from outside the church. Then, he explained that all the events happened within the short proximity of the other, because of the weight of the cross and the effort it took to lift it.
As we walked into the church, it was packed with people. We climbed steps toward the area where the cross stood. About 12 feet from there was a stone—the place Jesus’ body was laid when it came down from the cross. People were kneeling down to touch, to pray, to take pictures and to weep. For about 15 minutes we couldn’t move, because the crowd was so great, and the group in front of us would not continue. It 
brought to mind the scriptures that talk about the throngs of people and multitude that would encompass Jesus. I, also, wondered if the crowd was like this while Jesus hung on the cross. Still, centuries later people are pushing close to get close to Jesus.
After verbally requesting to pass, our group had to be more assertive and make our own way through the area. I made a comment only loud enough for a few people to hear: “He has risen.” I did not mean it to be insensitive, and no one who heard it took it that way. But in that church seeing these sites, reminds that I am Christian, because Jesus is risen and alive. For me that was an indescribable feeling. Jesus went through pain and shame for me.
Next, we came to the rock where Joseph of Arimethea took Jesus’ body to prepare it for burial. Because it was Passover, he couldn’t finish, but Joseph sealed Jesus in a tomb, which was the next item—the Holy Sepulcher. Again, because of the crowd and our time schedule, we couldn’t walk through it. I can’t say I was disappointed. Jesus wasn’t in there. Again, He has risen! I did greatly enjoy this portion of the trip, because it put into perspective the events before and after the 
crucifixion.
