By Marianne Schwab | Best Travel Deals Tips Blog

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The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem

Journey to Israel Where the Bible Comes Alive

The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem is a beautiful and peaceful place that many believe is the authentic side of the tomb where Christ's body was laid after his crucifixion. The Gospels describe that Jesus was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem near a gate of the city and along a major thoroughfare. It also gives details that the place where He was crucified was located near a garden and that a tomb was located there as well.

Although many scholars believe the Church of Holy Sepulchre is the location where Jesus' body was laid in a tomb after being crucified by the Romans at Golgotha, others think it was possibly an area now called the Garden Tomb located outside the Old City Walls of Jerusalem.

The Gospels describe it as being a tomb cut out of rock and the property of Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man. It had a weeping chamber, a burial chamber, it was sealed with a rolling stone, it had a traditionally low doorway through which the disciples were forced to stoop in order to look into (and enter) the tomb that morning. The Garden Tomb fits this description and when you visit it, you can understand why General Charles Gordon began to publish his beliefs that this site could contest that of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the authentic site of Jesus' tomb.

Having been to both locations, I have to say that the Garden Tomb has a more authentic "vibe" whereas the The Church of Holy Sepulchre reeks of an overly religious treatment to what so many now unfortunately associate with authenticity.

I could be completely wrong, but one of the most disheartening things when you take a Walk Where Jesus Walked tour of the Holy Land is that locations mentioned in the four gospels of the New Testament have churches built over them in order to "preserve" the site. Although, it seems odd now versus having left the site more "natural," the Church of Holy Sepulchre was built over this possible site of the Jesus' tomb enshrined and believed to be the one where Christ's body was laid after he was crucified. You can even walk inside of it.

I love sharing about my travel experiences in the Holy Land on my Walk Where Jesus Walked tour because the Bible comes alive when you travel through Israel to places like the Garden of Gethsemane, the original steps of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, Golgotha where Jesus was crucified by the Romans, discovering the Eye of the Needle Gate, and even the Mount of the Beatitudes nestled next to the Sea of Galilee.

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