Series–Stories from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

—Inside this church that marks the traditional site of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ there is a small underground room cut out of the surrounding rock that most visitors shuffle in and out of without any knowledge of the exciting discovery said to have been made there in 326 A.D. by Helena, the mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome. What did Helena find? The cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified!

—The discovery of the cross sent waves of joy throughout the Christian world, giving rise to the sale of its fragments as relics while prompting others to question the legitimacy of Helena’s discovery. John Calvin once quipped, for example, that all the extant fragments of the cross, if collected, could fill a large ship. The church countered that the blood of Christ, having dripped upon the cross during Jesus’ crucifixion, gave to the cross a material indestructibility so that it could be divided indefinitely without diminishment much like the well-known miracle of the loaves and fishes, and thus the Feast of the Finding of the Cross became an annual celebration for the Roman Catholic Church until 1960 when it was abruptly omitted from the church calendar.

—Some believe that the custodians of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher still possess a fragment of the cross that is on display in a quiet room near the front entrance of the church. Others simply shrug their shoulders in doubt or shake their heads in disbelief. For me it has never been about proving the authenticity of cross fragments, Jesus’ burial shroud, or even the exact spot on the hill of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified. If authenticated, those things would certainly confirm the historicity of the Bible or add a wave of awe to my own worship of Jesus, but it really comes down to one’s personal relationship with him, and for me the words of the hymn writer put it best, “I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me.”

—Daniel McCabe

Series–Stories from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The True Cross, part 8

—Inside this church that marks the traditional site of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ there is a small underground room cut out of the surrounding rock that most visitors shuffle in and out of without any knowledge of the exciting discovery said to have been made there in 326 A.D. by Helena, the mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome. What did Helena find? The cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified!

—The discovery of the cross sent waves of joy throughout the Christian world, giving rise to the sale of its fragments as relics while prompting others to question the legitimacy of Helena’s discovery. John Calvin once quipped, for example, that all the extant fragments of the cross, if collected, could fill a large ship. The church countered that the blood of Christ, having dripped upon the cross during Jesus’ crucifixion, gave to the cross a material indestructibility so that it could be divided indefinitely without diminishment much like the well-known miracle of the loaves and fishes, and thus the Feast of the Finding of the Cross became an annual celebration for the Roman Catholic Church until 1960 when it was abruptly omitted from the church calendar.

—Some believe that the custodians of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher still possess a fragment of the cross that is on display in a quiet room near the front entrance of the church. Others simply shrug their shoulders in doubt or shake their heads in disbelief. For me it has never been about proving the authenticity of cross fragments, Jesus’ burial shroud, or even the exact spot on the hill of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified. If authenticated, those things would certainly confirm the historicity of the Bible or add a wave of awe to my own worship of Jesus, but it really comes down to one’s personal relationship with him, and for me the words of the hymn writer put it best, “I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me.”

—Daniel McCabe

Life in the Land:

Series–Stories from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The True Cross, part 8

—Inside this church that marks the traditional site of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ there is a small underground room cut out of the surrounding rock that most visitors shuffle in and out of without any knowledge of the exciting discovery said to have been made there in 326 A.D. by Helena, the mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome. What did Helena find? The cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified!

—The discovery of the cross sent waves of joy throughout the Christian world, giving rise to the sale of its fragments as relics while prompting others to question the legitimacy of Helena’s discovery. John Calvin once quipped, for example, that all the extant fragments of the cross, if collected, could fill a large ship. The church countered that the blood of Christ, having dripped upon the cross during Jesus’ crucifixion, gave to the cross a material indestructibility so that it could be divided indefinitely without diminishment much like the well-known miracle of the loaves and fishes, and thus the Feast of the Finding of the Cross became an annual celebration for the Roman Catholic Church until 1960 when it was abruptly omitted from the church calendar.

—Some believe that the custodians of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher still possess a fragment of the cross that is on display in a quiet room near the front entrance of the church. Others simply shrug their shoulders in doubt or shake their heads in disbelief. For me it has never been about proving the authenticity of cross fragments, Jesus’ burial shroud, or even the exact spot on the hill of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified. If authenticated, those things would certainly confirm the historicity of the Bible or add a wave of awe to my own worship of Jesus, but it really comes down to one’s personal relationship with him, and for me the words of the hymn writer put it best, “I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me.”

—Daniel McCabe