Golgotha-The Stone Which the Builders Rejected?

So much of what occurred in the life and times of Jesus was not recorded in detail. As a matter of fact John said that only enough was written "that (we) might believe" (John 20:30, 31 ). It remains, therefore, for scholars of many disciplines to search for clues to fill in the gaps and give greater details of people, places, and events of antiquity that have been lost or obscured in the centuries that have passed since Yeshua Ben Joseph lived the life of an ordinary Jewish man while fulfilling his divine mission as the incarnate Son of God.

The field of archaeology has added much to the understanding of the Bible narratives of ancient events, both those of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Apostolic Writings (New Testament). This is particularly true of discoveries of this century which have validated the record of scripture and made it more clearly understood. In his book, Jesus Within Judaism, James Charlesworth cites interesting archaeological discoveries which concern the location of the crucifixion and entombment of Jesus in Jerusalem.

In the fourth century, Constantine the Great built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to mark the spot of the tomb of Jesus. Due to the fact that this site is within the present Turkish walls of Jerusalem, many have believed that it could not have been the location of the crucifixion and entombment because Hebrews 13:12 clearly states that Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem. A competing site, Gordon's Calvary, is just north of and clearly outside the walls of the Old City. Another of the arguments is that this site is said to look like a skull. The statement of John 19:17 is clear: "And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha." Jesus was, indeed, crucified at Golgotha, the place of a skull. Many Christians, particularly Protestants, who have decried the belligerent, clearly un-Christlike collection of ecclesiastical authorities who compete for control of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, have disdained the Orthodox site of history in favor of Gordon's site.

In the 1960's, however, Kenyon discovered proof that the wall presently encompassing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built no earlier than 41 C.E. by Herod Agrippa. Then, in 1976, M. Broshi uncovered the remains of a Herodian wall in the northeast section of the church itself. Shortly hereafter, very near the traditional site of the tomb of Jesus, D. Katsimibinis discovered a large out-cropping of stone that rises over thirty-six feet above what appears to have been an ancient stone quarry.

Since this spot was outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem in 30 C.E. and near a public road, it met all the requirements for Jewish and Roman executions. The stone cropping is in the shape of a skull and would have been visible location for an execution which the Romans would have wanted prominently displayed. There is, indeed, a tomb nearby, the traditional Holy Sepulchre. Clearly there is evidence that this place meets the criteria of scripture for having been the location of the crucifixion and entombment. But, there is more.

Charlesworth notes that the earliest Christians living in Jerusalem may have known what archaeologists have only recently discovered-namely, that Golgotha is a rejected quarry stone, an outcropping of stone which builders of the time considered of insufficient quality to be quarried. Perhaps this is part of what Peter meant when he quoted Psalm 118:22 while witnessing of his faith in Jesus to the elders of Israel in Acts 4:11: This is the stone which was at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the comer." Obviously Peter was speaking of the person of Jesus, but could he also have been referring to the stone on which Jesus was crucified as a metaphorical testimony to the spiritual and prophetic truth about Jesus? The outcropping of stone which quarriers and builders had rejected became the site for the crucifixion of the Chief Cornerstone whom the architects of Israeli society rejected. It is the place where the Son of man was lifted up so that he could draw all men unto himself. This rejected stone is located to the right, just inside the front door of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Pere Couasnon summarized the conclusion of this archaeological research: "…the new tomb (Matthew, John) hewn in the rock (Matthew, Mark, Luke) in a garden (John) near to the city (John)…in the tomb, mortuary couch is situated on the righthand side (Mark), while the low door obliges one to stoop to look inside (John)."

Once again, archaeology has succeeded in digging up the Word, confirming and illuminating the record of Holy Scripture.

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