Lazarus, Come Out

John 11:1-44

Today we ventured to the other side of the Mount of Olives in order to visit the town of Bethany, which is the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  It is the place where, after death and having been in the tomb for four days, Jesus raised his friend Lazarus and brought him back to life.  We celebrated Mass for the 2^nd Sunday of Lent in the church built by Antonio Barluzzi in 1952.  Of his churches, this is one of my favorites.  One interesting detail is that the stone he chose for the construction of the church is one that absorbs water, making it feel a little damp and cold, almost as if you were in a stone tomb.  The fact that there are no windows adds to this effect as well.  After Mass we were able to walk up the hill a little to enter into the cave in which Lazarus was buried.  We all went into the cave and some of us decided to climb through the little hole to enter into the burial chamber. 

Altar at the Church of Lazarus

After Mass we returned to the Israel Museum.  This return trip was so that we could see the model of the city of Jerusalem during the Second Temple period, after the death of Christ but before 70AD when the temple was destroyed.  On our first trip to the museum the model was closed because it was covered with snow.  The model has a scale of 50:1.  It was awesome to be able to see the city the way that it was shortly after the crucifixion and resurrection.  After this visit we had the rest of the day free to work on homework, explore, and pray in Jerusalem.

Model of Jerusalem at the Israeli Museum