CREEDE HINSHAW: A complicated biblical renovation project

Here’s a construction project any contractor involved in historic renovation would love to have on his or her resume: the repair and restoration of the tomb where the body of Jesus was laid after the crucifixion.

Just such a renovation is taking place currently at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, beneath which lies the cave traditionally believed to be used as Jesus’ tomb.

Pilgrims visiting this venerated site are often disappointed to discover that there is no possibility of getting anywhere near the actual location of the tomb. A large church was built over the site and inside that church a smaller structure was built precisely over the tomb. In other words, the tomb is encased beneath a building that sits inside of another building. One would have to employ all the powers of the imagination to have any sense of what this tomb might have originally been like or what the disciples and the women would have experienced in those first few agonizing days following the cross.

You can watch online a two-minute National Geographic video of the work. The conservators recently removed a marble slab covering the entrance to the tomb for the past 550 years. What a dramatic moment! Around the time Columbus landed in the New World was the last time anybody saw that holy cave.

Expecting the original tomb to have been long ago destroyed, the contractors instead discovered cave walls 6 feet high and a layer of debris on the cave floor beneath which was a marble slab with a cross carved upon it. They speculate this slab may date to the 1200s and beneath it might be the original niche upon which Jesus’ body was laid.

Almost every renovation has difficulties involving two main factors: the decision makers and the money. These factors, especially the former one, have caused real headaches at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

This historic church is actually administered by six different Christian groups, all of whom had to agree with each other before any renovation could be done. The adherents of these groups have engaged in fistfights in the church on some of the holiest days of the year, and so finding common ground around renovation was no easy task. Last year Jewish authorities shut down the tottering church for safety reasons, prompting the jealous, bickering parties, to agree to shore up their church.

Funding the $4 million project is equally intriguing. The Christian community in Israel is small and poor. A major gift came from King Abdullah II of Jordan, a direct descendent of Muhammad, and another major gift came from the widow of the Turkish-American businessman who founded Atlantic Records.

To summarize: Jewish authorities were the catalyst for work on one of the most important sites in Christendom, while major funding came from surprising sources. As of this writing the 6 often suspicious congregations are still working together.

As for the renovation itself, the church has given the contractors scant time to complete the project. Plans seem to call for them to cut a small window in the wall of the church structure so pilgrims can peer into the cave where Jesus’ body may have once rested.

Contact columnist Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].