Luke 24:1-3 “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (NIV)
As I discussed in my previous piece, after reading The Search for the Authentic Tomb of Jesus by Dr. William McBirnie, I was convinced the location of the crucifixion of Christ was the area just above, or just below, the hillside limestone cliff which today overlooks a bus depot.
However, I am not certain if the nearby tomb, now called “The Garden Tomb,” is the one where Jesus was resurrected. Now I do think it is incredible how well that tomb area has been preserved by The Garden Tomb Association for well over a century. And if that particular tomb is not “the tomb,” it does give a good idea as to the nature of the tomb where Jesus was placed.
As war was taking place throughout March of 2026 between Iran and Israel allied with the U.S., most pilgrimage sites in Israel were closed, including The Garden Tomb. On “Palm Sunday,” the streets were practically empty on the Mount of Olives, as I saw for myself from a video. In past years, many thousands of people have crowded the streets there for an annual procession to celebrate the entry Jesus made to the city of Jerusalem. Thus I figured that come Easter, The Garden Tomb would still be closed. Yet I wondered.
Turns out, even though there was a government mandate limiting the number of people for gathering at such a place to 50, The Garden Tomb Association opened the doors on Easter morning from 7:00 am to 10:00 am. They did not advertise the opening because of the 50 person limit.
A woman, Veronica, whose channel is named 'Cool Kenyan In Israel,' went to The Garden Tomb. She was one of only a few people there!
Visiting The Garden Tomb on Easter at a time when only several people were present would be a dream scenario for me.
The whole scenario reminded me of the women who went to the tomb nearly two thousand years ago, starting out before the sun was even seen on the horizon. While others in Jerusalem were preparing for whatever they planned to do that day, that handful of women were in route to carry out their plan of properly preparing Christ’s body for burial. Due to their loving care for Jesus, they were the first to discover the pinnacle event in human history: Jesus had risen from the dead!
Jesus is risen!!!
Hunter Irvine
Scripture Love Blog
