Note: This is the fifth chapter of a book my father, Rev. Matt W. Leach, wrote in 1955 about a miraculous trip to the Holy Land.
-Michael Leach
Jerusalem
If most people had had the same misimpression that I had, they would have thought of Palestine as the Land of Milk and Honey — the Promised Land of the Israelites, rich in vegetation. For such people it is a sore disappointment that meets their eyes.
To picture the Holy Land as it actually is nine months of the year: take all the hills and valleys for as far as you can see and farther yet, remove all vegetation, the trees, the grass. Take away all the wild animals — every living thing. Wash away all the topsoil so that only big rocks remain.
Dry up the land and all streams of water and wells. Take away the wind. Remove all your fancy houses and build little huts of stone plastered with mud, flat on top (there are no trees from which to build). Increase the sun’s heat until it beats down at 90° every day — sometimes reaching over 100°. If you can picture this, you can picture Palestine.
The only possible way to get into Jerusalem is to fly in. There is no other way. The plane cannot fly over Israel, so we must fly around it.1 Below us we see the reddish barren earth. In the few places where there is water, the patch of green stands out in stark contrast to the surrounding land.
Below we see the lonely roads curving around, coiling and uncoiling like a snake as they weave in and out of the bare hills.
Beneath us lies the blue water of the Suez Canal.
Two hours later we land at Amman (a-mon), the old Biblical city of Philadelphia, now the capital of Jordan.2
A half hour later we land at the airport in Jerusalem. Strangely enough, the first thing you notice is not the city or old buildings but the runway. It not only goes uphill, but a road runs through the middle of it!!!!
The American Colony and Zaki Jaber
From the airport a car takes you to the American Colony Hotel where, after much deliberation and talking with the man who will be your guide, you arrive at terms that fit your budget. It is expensive and you shudder at the cost, but with time pressing you close you have no other choice. It was Friday noon and we were leaving Monday morning.
Zaki Jaber proved to be a first class guide.
Having taken our suitcases to our room, cleaned up a little, gathered up our cameras and film, we went with Zaki Jaber by car to St. Stephen’s Gate.
All of the old city of Jerusalem is surrounded by a thick, high wall. It is, I believe, the fourth wall that has been built around Jerusalem from the time of Christ. St. Stephen’s Gate on the east is one of seven gates.
Tradition, whose beginning is lost, has set a certain path as the “Via Dolorosa,” the Way of the Cross. From beginning to end it is steeped in tradition. It has been divided into fourteen stations, of which many have no Biblical foundation.
Is it the true Way of the Cross? Of this question I will speak later. The Jerusalem of Christ is buried 29 feet deep under the present city of Jerusalem.
It isn’t important if this be the true Way. What is important is that here many have found their Savior. And do we not worship a Risen Lord — not a place?
The Romans were always afraid that some religious uprising might occur in the temple area, and therefore had built a fortress to the northwest of the temple.3 During the Feast of the Passover the Jews tended to riot, and Pilate, in order to better quell the disturbances in the temple area, moved to the fortress.
As I entered St. Stephen’s Gate I saw a narrow street with high stone walls. A little ways down on the right is a door. Farther on is an archway. To my left is an inclined road reaching up along the side of the building, leading to the top of the city wall.
There is a crowd gathered, and as we watch we see that it is the regular Friday afternoon observance by the Franciscan Monks who follow the path that Jesus trod to the Cross, pausing at each station to carry out their ritual.
When the crowd has passed we walk up the incline to a room from which we look out over the temple area. Before me lies a large vacant courtyard paved in stone. In the center, where Solomon’s temple stood, we see the Muslim Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, rising up, impressive and beautiful with its delicate mosaic work.
Opposite the door I first saw, on the left of the street, inside the building wall, is the first station of the Cross.
The Fourteen Stations
Station 1. Here are two chapels. The first stands on the spot where, according to tradition, Christ was condemned. The second stands on the spot where, according to tradition, He was scourged and crowned with thorns.
Station 2. Crossing the street and entering the door on the right, I found the second station of the Cross. In this chapel there are two stones in the floor said by tradition to be those on which Christ stood when He received His Cross.
Station 3. Walking west up the street, passing under the arch I earlier mentioned, I came to a little chapel on my left, at the corner of the street. Here tradition says Christ fell the first time.
Station 4. Turning left onto the street crossing my path, I walked south a few yards farther and came to a plaque on the wall of a building. Here tradition says Christ exchanged a look with His mother.
Station 5. Across the street from station 4 another street joins, and on the left corner of this street is station 5. Here Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry His Cross.4
Station 6. Walking west up this new road a little ways, on my left I saw another plaque, this marking the 6th station. Tradition says that here Veronica — the name given to a woman Christ healed of an issue of blood — wiped Jesus’ face.
Tradition goes on to say that the imprint of Jesus’ face was left in this towel, and later she was summoned to Rome by the Emperor Tiberius, who was cured of an illness by merely looking on the image of Christ’s face.
Station 7. Walking west a few steps farther, I found the street is crossed by another, and directly in front of me is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a direct entrance to which is blocked off by a building wall. To my right, across this new street, is station 7, marked by a chapel. Tradition says that Jesus fell a second time at this point.
Station 8. The 8th station is directly across the street towards the Sepulchre and is marked by a plaque. Here Jesus speaks to the daughters of Jerusalem.5
Station 9. The 9th station is the building that obstructs the Via Dolorosa. Tradition says that Jesus fell a third time at this point.
Station 10. We walked the roundabout way and entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is the traditional spot where Christ was stripped of His clothes.
Station 11. This is the traditional spot where Jesus was nailed to the Cross.
Station 12. Jesus dies on the Cross. This is the traditional spot.
Station 13. The body of Jesus was taken from the Cross.
Station 14. The traditional place where Christ was laid in the Holy Sepulchre.
The length of the Via Dolorosa is about 600 yards. The last 5 stations are all in the Holy Sepulchre — a massive, ugly building which surrounds the entire area which Catholic tradition holds as Calvary and Christ’s Tomb. There is nothing left to show if there really was a hill there or not.
The Holy Sepulchre is as divided as a checkerboard, with many different sects each having its portion.
Notes
The flight around Israel. My father’s account reflects the political geography of Jerusalem in 1955, when the Old City was under Jordanian control and the city was divided by the 1949 armistice line. The reference has been retained as part of his firsthand account. ↩
Amman and Philadelphia. Amman was known in the Hellenistic and Roman periods as Philadelphia. My father gives no Scripture reference for the biblical city associated with the location. ↩
The Antonia Fortress. My father’s reference is to the fortress traditionally identified with the Antonia Fortress, which stood beside the Temple Mount. ↩
Mark 15:21, with parallel accounts in Matthew 27:32 and Luke 23:26. My father gives no reference. ↩
Luke 23:27–28. My father gives no reference. ↩
