Finding the Cross of the Lord

From the gallery running along the wall of the temple, to the right of the stairs leading to Golgotha, going down 30 steps, we find ourselves in the Greek Church of St. Helena. In the right corner of this church there is a staircase that leads to the Cave of the Finding of the Cross. A marble slab in it marks the place where, according to legend, the cross on which Christ was crucified was found.

The story of the finding of the Cross of the Lord is remarkable. After the destruction of Jerusalem predicted by Jesus (as a punishment for the Jews for rejecting the Son of God), the city remained in desolation until Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Constantine (306-337). With the pilgrimage to Jerusalem of Constantine's mother, Helena, an ardent Christian, who was later elevated to the rank of saints, numerous churches and shrines began to be erected in the city, archaeological excavations were carried out.

When you look up from the bottom of the cistern carved in limestone, where His cross was dumped along with other garbage after the Crucifixion of the Lord, you understand how difficult it was to search for shrines in the years of St. Helena. In fact, by the time of excavations on Golgotha (the territory of the current Church of the Resurrection), three hundred years had already passed! By that time, most of the objects associated with Christ were buried and rested under a thick layer of earth. First of all, the hill of Golgotha was excavated, then the cave of the Holy Sepulchre. Not far from them, three crosses were found - the precious Cross of the Savior, as well as the crosses of the thieves crucified with Him. Christ's cross was determined by placing a dead man on it, and he immediately came to life. Part of the found Cross was left in the Holy City, and the rest of the life-giving tree was sent to Emperor Constantine the Great.

On the site of the discovery of the shrines, three majestic, incomparable in beauty temples were quickly erected. The main building was the Church of the Resurrection built on the site of the Holy Sepulchre of the Lord. Of particular beauty was the Edicule ("Tomb") located inside the temple, made of white marble, decorated with twelve columns with a silver capital. Unfortunately, none of this has survived to this day – too often over the past centuries, the main temple of Christians has become an arena of military operations, sometimes being destroyed to the very foundations. Nevertheless, due to the fact that in ancient times geographical maps were drawn not as they are now - symbols and numbers understandable only to the initiated, but with houses, fortress towers, palaces, we can form a certain idea of that distant era. A mosaic from the time of Emperor Justinian (6th century), found during excavations of a Byzantine church in the city of Medva in Jordan, has brought to us the appearance of Byzantine Jerusalem. It can be seen that behind the northern gate there was a semicircular square with a column in the center (hence the current Arabic name of the gate: Bab al-Amud - Gate of the Column). Two straight streets with covered colonnades on either side led to the southern part of the city. One of these streets faced the facades of the two main churches of Jerusalem: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the huge Church of St. Mary, built by the great Orthodox Emperor Justinian. Other temples and monasteries, the patriarch's palace, the forum, towers, and gates are also marked on the map. Temple Square, where the golden dome of the Mosque of Omar now stands, is still depicted only in the form of a wasteland with a small church in the lower right corner.

Under Golgotha, to the right of the Stone of Anointing, there is an entrance to the chapel of the forefather Adam, who, according to legend, after his fall lived on the site of the future Jerusalem. According to legend, Adam predicted that if the crucifixion of Christ took place, the stone foundation of Golgotha would split, which we can observe now. And during the Second Coming, this crevice, according to local legend, will completely split the earth in half. In the back of the chapel there is a glass window. Through it, we were shown a crevice formed during the earthquake at the crucifixion of Christ. Christians put a ruler on it, measuring the width of the crack and regularly take readings from it. As soon as the crack begins to widen, it means that the end of the world is not far off. I looked at the creepy device with some concern.

The Last Judgment, by the way, will take place here, nearby. As far as the eye can see, the slope of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem is covered with limestone slabs. Under them lie the ashes of thousands of people who lived hundreds of years ago – Muslims, Christians, Jews. When the Last Judgment comes, the dead will crawl out from under the dusty tombstones, put on flesh and stand before the Almighty. A lot of money is paid to book your last resting place in the biblical "valley of the dead". This is supposed to provide a better place in paradise. Over the year, due to the aggravation of the situation in neighboring Iraq, prices for cemetery plots have risen to prohibitive heights.

Долина Иосафата, это узкая лощина между Елеонской (Масличной) горой, и зубчатыми стенами Старого города Иерусалима.

Несмотря на распри, все три мировые религии сходны в том, что Страшный суд будет происходить именно здесь. «Я соберу все народы, и приведу их в долину Иосафата, и там произведу над ними суд», - говорит в «ат-Таурат» (Ветхий Завет, Библия) Господь устами пророка Иоиля. Накануне на Елеонской горе Иисус Христос второй раз спустится на землю. То есть там же где Он и вознесся на небо. Как в согласии с Библией пишет Коран: «И сказал Господь: «О Иса, поистине Я заберу (умерщвлю) тебя и вознесу к Себе, удалю тебя от тех, кто не веровал, и возвеличу Твоих последователей (то есть христиан) над теми, кто не верует в Судный День». Второй раз Иисус придет уже, чтобы судить мир. Мусульмане, как и христиане, ожидают Второго Пришествия Христа, ибо Он не умер м пребывает живым у Господа Своего, и согласно Корану вернется на землю до Конца Света и Дня Воскресения. Причем, как говорится в Библии: «И станут ноги Его в тот день на горе Елеонской» (Зах.14:4), что возвышается над долиной Суда. И тогда: «Кто будет веровать и креститься, спасен будет, а кто не будет веровать, осужден будет» (Мк.16:16)

Это ли не лучшее свидетельство для того, чтобы принять крещение, то есть стать христианином? Для сомневающихся же поговорим подробнее о том, почему спасение и вечная жизнь возможны только через принятие Иисуса Христа как Сына Божия, и не иначе. Признаваемая Кораном данной от Бога книга Инджиль (Евангелие) сообщает: «Ибо так возлюбил Бог мир, что отдал Сына Своего Единородного, дабы всякий, верующий в Него, не погиб, но имел жизнь вечную. Ибо не послал Бог Сына Своего в мир, чтобы судить мир, но чтобы спасен был мир через Него. Верующий в Него не судится, а неверующий уже осужден, потому что не уверовал во имя Единородного Сына Божия» (Ин.3:16-18).