The main entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built at the traditional location of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection

CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE Seeing Our Need for a Savior

JOHN 19

 SINCE AS EARLY AS THE FIRST CENTURY, Christians have venerated the site where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands as the place where Jesus Christ died and rose again. The Aramaic name of the place, Golgotha (Calvariae in Latin), has echoes of death in its meaning: "Place of the Skull" (John 19:17). Though Christianity’s opponents, from Rome's Emperor Hadrian to Egypt's Caliph al Hakim, have tried to destroy its memory, they have unwittingly helped preserve the significance of the site.

During the fourth century, Constantine built a church on the site to memorialize the place of Christ's resurrection. The church has been built, rebuilt, and expanded. (Much of what we see today stems from the Crusader period.) Different religions, ethnic groups, and sects have obscured the entire original site. Many Christians today are so put off by the religiosity and traditionalism of the goings on in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that they reject its authenticity in spite of the overwhelming historical evidence to the contrary. The church feels quite foreign to those accustomed to Western worship. Gold icons, chanting priests, and strong incense fill the spaces between the building's dark, cold, stone walls. Six different Christian sects quarrel over the goings-on within. Territorial fistfights have even erupted on occasion.

If we're not careful, our character can appear much like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. A watching world may only see our hypocrisy and therefore miss out on our Savior. Our lives should be doors for others to come to God, not barriers of religiosity they must get around in order to see the gospel. How ironic that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre demonstrates the very need for the event it reveres Christ's death on the cross. We need a Savior, and our sin reveals it.