Israel Commentary Pt. II

Greetings... this is part II of my trip to Israel and surrounding areas. Feel free to post your thoughts in reply

Beauty:
I was surprised at how beautiful various parts of Israel are. I guess I didn’t really picture it being so lush and fertile. On the way from the airport to Jerusalem we passed farms, vineyards, forests, and picturesque rocky hills. The guy in the mini-bus told me that everyone in the world wants this land because it is so beautiful. Ok, its pretty, but I don’t think that’s the reason. Otherwise they’d all be fighting over Yosemite.

Power Symbols and Architecture:
I just got back from a very wet and cold trip to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. I found the church very interesting. This is a very symbolic place. It is built over the place (supposedly) where Jesus died and includes the tomb where Jesus was laid (even less likely in my opinion). There are six ancient Christian sects that share (if you want to call it that) the same space. Their chanting and rituals are sometimes clashing with each other and historically speaking that isn’t the only thing clashing. The church dates back to the 4th century when Constantine commissioned it to be built. It is actually not a very pretty church since it has conflicting architecture due to being ruined in fires and earthquakes several times. And it has terrible lighting and a bit too much incense for my liking.

In Jerusalem, everything is symbolic… especially the buildings. I read recently that one of the major reasons why the Dome of the Rock was built (by the Muslims) was to visually demonstrate how Islam had superceded Christianity and Judaism. (This is per historian Bernard Lewis.) When the Muslim’s took over power in Jerusalem the late 600’s they couldn’t let the other religious symbols in the city stand alone… all empires must demonstrate their power through architecture. So they built the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. The dome is bigger, brighter (covered with a gold looking top) and in a more prominent position visually speaking than the Church of the Sepulcher with its dome. The dome was also intentionally built on the Temple Mount in a grandiose style over the rock where the Ark of the Covenant used to rest in the Most Holy Place of the Jewish Temple (before it was destroyed 600 years earlier by the Romans). The inscriptions all over the Dome of the Rock quote Qur’anic texts that are not subtle in their attempts to point out the heresy of the Christian believe in the Trinity. All of this is quite interesting… (this is part of the 3,000 year collision that I mentioned last time).

But, back to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher… I was especially provoked to reflection by something a person could easily miss. Throughout the church (and actually all over Jerusalem) you can find evidence of the Crusaders who came a 1,000 years ago. The signs I’m referring to are little crusader crosses carved into the stones. The Crusaders came and fought with the Muslims for control of Jerusalem and other parts of the “Holy Land.” Eventually they lost. Anyway, the evidence of their having been in Jerusalem is quite apparent. The little Crusader crosses, the stuff I just read about using architecture symbolically, and the six groups of clerics fighting for authority and position in this church made me think about “power.” Somewhere along the way Christianity and the symbol of the cross regrettably became associated with power and conquest. Historically, this first seems to happen with Constantine who has a vision of a cross with light (or lightning) behind it (mixing a symbol of Jesus’ crucifixion with Roman God Jupiter). Constantine then goes out in military conquest (successfully) under the symbol of the cross and makes Christianity the state religion. This is the beginning of “empowered” Christianity (Christendom). Up to this point it had thrived and rapidly expanded as an oppressed and marginalized religious movement, which Rome could not stamp out and which sprang up all the way around the Mediterranean and beyond. Constantine’s so called “conversion” is a terrible tragedy because he had no real understanding of the Christian use of the symbol or of the reality it pointed to. The cross (when seen in light of the Resurrection) was a symbol for Christians of God’s victory over evil – evil being seen most clearly as the brutal earthly regimes and movements of which Rome, herself, was the supreme symbol. Somehow Constantine and his cronies managed to rework (hi-jack) the Christian meaning of the cross to promote militaristic power and conquest.

So back to my observations about Jerusalem (and the rest of the world)… The skyline of Old Jerusalem is punctuated by symbolism: mosques with the symbol of Islam, the Star of David and the Israeli flag, and crosses. What is the purpose of these symbols? I won’t speak for the other religious groups, but it seems that many churches and Christians use the symbol of the cross as a statement of power and / or intimidation. I find this ironic because that is the very way that the Romans used it… not the way that the early followers of Jesus used it. Any person claiming to follow Jesus who uses the cross as a symbol of political power or as a way of intimidation is acting out of ignorance. I say ignorance because, although the cross was historically about power when it was used to kill Jesus, it was about the power and cruelty of an occupying force. The cross was the primary tool of mockery and condescension used by the Romans for the purpose of telling everyone else what would happen to them if they tried to stand against their power and authority. (Remember the mocking signs over Jesus’ head, “The King of the Jews” – no accident.) Thus the cross for Jesus’ followers should be symbolic of humility and total reliance / confidence in God in the midst of distress.

As a side note with regard to church structures, it is only after Constantine (historically speaking) that you find church buildings showing up in large numbers. And whatever there was before were simply humble rooms used for gathering groups too large to fit in a private home (the home being where most Jesus followers gathered). New Testament teaching has no concept of “sacred” places. In fact, quite the contrary, the Jesus Community distinguishes itself even from Judaism by distancing itself from the Jewish Temple (which can be seen all over the place in the New Testament if you know what you are looking for). The early followers of Jesus would say things like, “The whole world is the Lord’s” or “Wherever two or three gather… that is where Jesus is.” Big steeples (which were originally guard towers when they were first incorporated into churches in the 600’s CE), the use of gaudy marble and metals in grand architectural schemes and the like are all afterthoughts and have caused a deep change in the self-identity and practice of followers of Jesus. (Does it have to be this way??? Hmmm…)

All of what I have been saying makes it ironic in my mind that people claiming to follow Jesus are caught up in the scuffle over sacred space and architecture here in Jerusalem (or anywhere else for that matter). Also, with regard to power, it is also paradoxical that those who spend their whole lives trying to maintain the memory of the death of Jesus (I’m thinking of the religious orders taking care of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher) don’t pay much attention to His explicit teaching about “first and last” when dealing with each other.

One final note: In Bethlehem at the Church of the Nativity (which I haven’t visited yet due to the snowstorm here in Jerusalem) the Orthodox, Catholic, and Armenian Church can’t get along (they all share the church building) so their solution is to have a Muslim family keep the keys and take responsibility for opening and closing the church each day. Ha!

My Latest / Greatest Business Idea:
Although I have more than enough to keep me occupied in my life, I have this weird thing about me where I think of new entrepreneurial business ideas about every other week (for example: Dog grooming business, import / export business from Kenya, etc.) So far I haven’t actually started any of them yet… but they are great ideas (ok, some of them might have some merit). My newest one has to do with a need that I see here in Jerusalem. Although it seems that nobody can agree about anything here, I have found one thing almost everyone seems to agree on: smoking. So, I think a go-to-the-bank business idea would be a lung cancer treatment center. Sooner or later, everyone here is gonna need my services. (Ok, actually that is sad… but true). My personal favorite (read with sarcasm) is how the guy making my falafel sandwich smokes while he is making the little falafel balls to deep fry and then put in my tasty pita. I’d go somewhere else, but I can save fifty cents. (Just kidding… his falafels taste better actually. Ok, and they’re cheaper!)