November 6, 2009

Bob’s Sabbatical

November 6, 2009 – The Birth of the Messiah

 

            Began
beautiful day with a 20 minute ride to Herodian.  It was built on a man-made hill between
Jerusalem and Bethlehem by Herod the Great (37 BC – 4 AD).  There was also a guest house and pool at the
bottom of the hill.  Recently discovered
are the remains of what was probably Herod the Great’s burial tomb.

            Stephen
Need said that we came here to contrast Herod the Great with Jesus.  Herod was known as ‘the builder,” whose many
grandiose projects were/are symbols of physical and political power.  Often such work also reflects fear and/or
paranoia (note height of mountain, steep slopes, etc.).  Height also projects image of power and
authority. 

            Contrast
this with Jesus, and his message of the Kingdom of God, which is built, not on foundations
or mountains, but on Love.  Jesus is
never likened to Herod’s empire, yet he was murdered by the empire.

                        This
raises the issue of anti-Semitism, the Gospel of John and Good Friday.  Was it “the Jews” who killed Jesus?  Stephen maintains that the Crowd in the
Gospel accounts of Jesus’ arrest and trial were not day-in-day-out Jews, but
more likely those who had gained access to Pilate and would have been granted
entry to the Court.  They too were the
ones most threatened by Jesus’ growing popularity, and they would have been the
one’s Pilate came out to ask, “what shall I do with this man?”  This makes me (Bob Cowperthwaite) want to
re-think Holy Week, and especially Good Friday.

            We went
on to Shepherds field, with caves.  Many
scholars now agree that Jesus was probably not born in a “farm shed,” but more
likely in a cave, much like that under the Church of the Nativity.  It would have been typical for shepherds to
live in caves in the winter.  The cave
would have been large enough to have a section for animals and a section for
people.  Translations in Luke for manger =
“feeding trough,” and Inn = “place for humans” (not Holiday Inn.  So the part of the cave for humans had no
room, and Mary gave birth in the part for sheep, using feeding trough.  I note, that scholars may agree on this, but
all the gift shops are selling westernized crèches still!  This image of a cave is compelling, as it
reminds one of a womb, of simplicity, of humility. 

In the cave, we sing, “O Little
Town of Bethlehem,” written by The Rev. Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal Priest
and long-time Rector of Church of the Advent in Boston.  He wrote the lyrics while visiting the
Holyland. He was sitting on a hillside overlooking Bethlehem shortly after the
end of the Civil War.  It was first
popularized as a children’s hymn.  Look
at the words, and think of him, coming out of the terrible experience of the
Civil War.

We next move to the Shepherds
Field Church, designed by Berlucci,  a favorite of our guide.  It is bright, open, filled with light and
life.

After lunch at the Tent
restaurant (with its roof of goat-skins, we went on into Bethlehem.  The Church of the Nativity is the oldest
Christian Church in continuous use.  There are mosaics under parts of the current floor that date from the time of Constantine.  Several
denominations have access to it, and hold services there daily.  It was very crowded, so we were taken through
another door into St. Catherine’s Church, built in the 19^th Century,
attached to the Church of the Nativity. 
Through it there is access to the cave where Jerome secluded himself to
translate Holy Scriptures into Latin in the 4^th Century.

We were very disappointed that we
were unable to go down to the Shrine of the Nativity itself, having spent the
whole day on the nativity theme.  There
are several people staying for a few days after the course is over, and we may
try to go back together, though Bethlehem is in the West Bank, and we will have
to get back through a checkpoint, which could be problematical.

Peace,

     Bob