Some of you may know that I will be going to Israel on a tour in a few weeks. My sister, who is the organizer of tour, recently wrote this to the group that is going:

Dear Pilgrims,

I’m sure you will be celebrating Christ’s Resurrection in the next few weeks.  We will be too,  beginning this weekend, with our granddaughters (4 and 6 yrs old).  In our Bruce family tradition, we’ll act out the Easter story again and again, changing who gets to be Jesus, or the angel, or whatever.  Sometimes a hole in the bushes doubles as the tomb; last year the tomb was under the piano bench.  They have a great imagination, but I’m thrilled that they are learning the Scripture truths so well.

The “Hill of the Skull”  just outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem has been overtaken by a modern bus stop.  While you get the sense that one of our holiest places has been desecrated by smelly buses, in a sense that is appropriate, because Jesus was crucified right on the main thoroughfare, where all travelers could see the spectacle of the Son of God carrying our sin on a rugged cross.

There is a walk-in tomb near Calvary that might have been the tomb of Jesus.  If so, it was once sealed tightly shut, but the seal on the door wasn’t strong enough to keep the Son of God inside.  After three days he rose again, alive and victorious over death!

That tomb is certainly empty today, and we can visit it.  In fact, we plan to celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection with communion together there.

Blessings, Les & Kathy Bruce