A new view of Palm Sunday - Part 2

Statue of Jesus

Continued from A New View of Palm Sunday

Until my pilgrimage to the Holy Land, I never thought about the time frame of events surround Jesus' Passion.  After celebrating the First Eucharist, going to the garden, Jesus' was arrest and awaited both religious and civil trials.  What about the time in between?  We saw a cistern that was likely used to hold prisoners and enemies of the chief priests and elders.  There were cave areas that appeared to be cells and torture chambers.  Being in that space, it was easy to image how bleak and desolate it would have been.  The feelings of abandonment and fear were readily present.  

As we went beneath the church, we felt the isolation and separation.

Where prisoners could have been tied up and/or tortured.

The cistern was small and confined, even though it had been opened up for tourists with lighting and stairs.  It was a looooooong way down.

Looking down, into the former cistern

Looking up, from the cistern stairs, 
you can see two faces peering down

 The above picture talked about the Sacred Pit, "Excavations in 1889 uncovered 3 Byzantine crosses engraved in the orifice at the top, 7 red and 4 black oxide crosses on the walls and the silhouette of a praying figure on the lower south wall.  These findings, along with the ruins of a church and a large number of mosaics, coins, and religious artifacts, testify to the presence of a 5th-century shrine venerated by the Byzantine community.  Prompted by the dungeon-like appearance and its proximity to Caiaphas' palace thought to have been located in this general area, the Byzantines recalled here Jesus' imprisonment overnight as he awaited trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.  Faithful to this ancient tradition, Christians continue to remember Jesus, the Suffering Servant of the Lord, placing on his lips the words of the psalmist:  'My soul is surfeited with troubles...You have plunged me into the bottom of the pit...Upon me your wrath lies heavy...I am imprisoned and cannot escape...O Lord, I call upon you' (Psalm 88)."

Some of our group in the cistern

While we were in this space, contemplating the terror of being imprisoned there, we prayed Psalm 88:

A Despairing Lament

1 A song; a psalm of the Korahites. For the leader; according to Mahalath. For singing; a maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

I

2 Lord, the God of my salvation, I call out by day;
    at night I cry aloud in your presence.
3 Let my prayer come before you;
    incline your ear to my cry.
4 [b]For my soul is filled with troubles;
    my life draws near to Sheol.
5 I am reckoned with those who go down to the pit;
    I am like a warrior without strength.
6 My couch is among the dead,
    like the slain who lie in the grave.
You remember them no more;
    they are cut off from your influence.
7 You plunge me into the bottom of the pit,
    into the darkness of the abyss.
8 Your wrath lies heavy upon me;
    all your waves crash over me.
Selah

II

9 Because of you my acquaintances shun me;
    you make me loathsome to them;
Caged in, I cannot escape;
10     my eyes grow dim from trouble.

All day I call on you, Lord;
    I stretch out my hands to you.
11 [c]Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the shades arise and praise you?
Selah

III

12 Is your mercy proclaimed in the grave,
    your faithfulness among those who have perished?[d]
13 Are your marvels declared in the darkness,
    your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

IV

14 But I cry out to you, Lord;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
15 Why do you reject my soul, Lord,
    and hide your face from me?
16 I have been mortally afflicted since youth;
    I have borne your terrors and I am made numb.
17 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your terrors have destroyed me.
18 All day they surge round like a flood;
    from every side they encircle me.
19 Because of you friend and neighbor shun me;
    my only friend is darkness.

Taken from BibleGateway.com, NABRE translation.

The journey continues . . . Part 3