GOLGOTHA

GOLGOTHA: THE PLACE OF THE SKULL “And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull” Matthew 27:33 KJV Somewhere just outside the walls of first century Jerusalem stood the place where Jesus Christ was crucified. The Gospel writers call it Golgotha. The name comes from the Aramaic behind Golgotha and means “skull.” Luke, writing in Greek, calls the location Κρανίον, kranion, meaning “skull.” Our English word Calvary comes through the Latin calvaria, which means the same thing. The Bible never actually calls it “Mount Calvary.” We know more about the location than most people realize. Jesus suffered outside the gate according to Hebrews 13:12. John 19:20 tells us the place was near the city. Matthew 27:39 records people passing by while He hung there, which fits the Roman practice of public execution near traveled roads where everybody could see the consequences of challenging Rome. John gives us another fascinating detail. “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre” John 19:41 KJV So we’re looking for a location outside the Jerusalem of Jesus’ day, close enough to the city for people to travel past it, with tombs and a garden nearby. There are two famous candidates today. The traditional location is beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Although that church sits inside Jerusalem’s present walls, archaeology indicates the area was outside the city wall during the time of Christ. Excavations have also uncovered an ancient quarry and first century style rock cut tombs in the area. That gives the traditional site a much stronger archaeological case than many Protestants realize. Then there is Skull Hill, often called Gordon’s Calvary, north of the Old City near the Garden Tomb. Look at the rock face and you’ll immediately understand why people became fascinated with it. The cliff resembles a human skull. Two dark cavities look like eye sockets carved into the limestone. In the nineteenth century, British General Charles Gordon became convinced that this could be Golgotha, and the location became especially popular among Protestant Christians. It certainly creates a striking picture of “the place of a skull.” There is a problem, though. The nearby Garden Tomb appears archaeologically to be much older than the first century. That makes identifying that particular tomb as Joseph of Arimathaea’s “new tomb” extremely difficult. Could Skull Hill still have been the crucifixion location while Jesus was buried in another nearby tomb? Possibly. Could the traditional location beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre actually preserve the real area? Absolutely. We simply cannot prove the precise spot with certainty. What we can establish is far more important. There really was a Golgotha outside Jerusalem. Rome really crucified people publicly. Jesus of Nazareth was taken outside the city and nailed to a Roman cross. Joseph of Arimathaea placed His body in a tomb nearby. Three days later, the location of Golgotha became secondary because the tomb was empty. The most important archaeological feature in Christianity has never been the shape of a hill. It’s an empty grave. “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.” Matthew 28:6 KJV #MoreJoyMinistries