Hey, Cyber-pilgrims!
In the last couple of days we have gone from the Dead Sea to the birthplaces of Jesus and John the Baptist.
Masada, Herod’s Palace Fortress – Imagine building a fortress on an isolated mountain peak in the middle of nowhere, just because you wanted a place to get away. That’s what Herod did rather ingeniously. Because of the remote location, he had 27 storerooms that held tons of goods. It also had one of the most sophisticated water collection systems ever, storing tens of thousands of gallons of water from the surrounding hills. The place was made for defense and to hold out forever in a siege. This is exactly what happened in 63 AD in the first Jewish revolt. When the Romans crushed the rebellion in Jerusalem, about 960 rebels fled to Masada and held out for months and months. Finally the Romans built a ramp up the 1600 foot peak to breach the walls.
Qumran – The site of the Essene commune. They were an apocalyptical community who went to the desert to prepare themselves for the final battle between themselves, the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness. As part of that, they copied and studied the Jewish Scriptures. When the Romans came down the valley on their way to Masada they hid their documents in nearby caves until they could come back to get them. They never returned. The documents lay in the caves until they were discovered in the mid-20th century. Did John the Baptist spend time with the Essenes? Who knows?
Bethany – Home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. Jesus spent a lot of time in Bethany with his friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. His most famous miracle there was the raising of Lazarus from the dead. He waited four days because the Jews believed that the soul of the person hung around their body for three days. So by waiting another day, there could be no doubt that Lazarus was really, really, really dead. Thus, Jesus is shown as the Lord of the living and the dead.
On to Bethlehem – The Birthplace of Jesus
As I said, after being here for 800 years, the Friars have picked up some pretty good real estate. Their guesthouse is adjacent to the Church of the Nativity.
We rose early this morning and had Mass in the grotto where Jesus was born. This is a seven arrow site, meaning that this was the actual place. As I think I mentioned before, houses were often built in front of a caves. The bottom of the house was built out in front of the cave. A second story or “upper room” was often built on top. The people lived in the second floor and the animals lived downstairs in the back. The Greek word ἀνώγεον (anógeon) can mean both “upper room” or “inn”. Contrary to many Christmas pageants, it’s unlikely that Joseph and Mary could not get a room at the local Motel 6. Rather, they were most likely at the home of one of Joseph’s relative and there simply wasn’t room upstairs where the people were. Also, women usually gave birth in the lower part because of ritual purity concerns and the fact that it was warmer and there was lots of hay to make things a bit more sanitary.
It was not possible to take pictures in the Grotto itself. You can see many pictures online. We said Mass in the little Chapel of the Magi, about eight feet from the birthplace of Jesus.
