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Tom Brimmer's Journal St. Peter’s in Galicantu There is a church sitting overlooking the city of David near the southern wall of the old city in Jerusalem. It is called St. Peter’s in Galicantu. When Jesus was alive, it was inside the city walls. The location is the complex of buildings that housed the offices of the High Priest. There is a wonderful hymn that begins with the words, “He was wounded for my transgression…” Jesus was betrayed by Judas as He prayed in the garden of Gethsemany. The religious authorities accused him of breaking the divine laws. He was also accused in front of the Roman authorities of fomenting revolution. Tried, convicted and condemned to die, He said, to comfort and instruct his followers, that no man was taking his life, he gave it freely. The process was not quick. He had several opportunities to change his mind. The religious authorities spent a whole night trying to get him to deny the charges. They really wanted him to recant and allow the world to see him as the impostor they thought he was. Caiphas was the High Priest. It hadn’t been all that long since the High Priest was a very important office indeed. They had been the real rulers of the nation until the Romans took over. The home of the High Priest was among the largest in the city and included many offices for the various officials of his court. The religious judgments of the whole land were conducted under his direct supervision. There were no civil marriages and many matters of daily life fell under the authority of the religious court. He literally held the power of life and death in his hand in many matters. He could have a man stoned at the city gates if he was convicted of certain religious offences. There was a torture chamber in the basement if the suspected criminal was reluctant to confess. There was no doubt in the mind of Caiphas that Jesus was a threat to society. In particular, Jesus was a threat to the authority of the High Priest. Jesus had often made a point of ignoring or challenging the ridiculous and petty rulings that were not in complete agreement with the Bible. He was a very popular figure among the general population and many proclaimed that he was a great rabbi. Thousands followed him and that made the Romans nervous. In today’s society, there are groups who gather around a charismatic leader and follow. On several occasions, the government of the United States has decided to intervene to maintain a certain kind of public order. If the followers are using drugs, the government might attempt to stop that activity. If they are storing weapons, the government might be interested because of a possible conflict. If they are teaching doomsday theology and preparing to die, the government might attempt to break up the group to prevent mass suicide. Both Caiphas and Pontius Pilate thought they had a similar situation. Caiphas was interested in silencing a man who posed a threat to his relatively placid control. The region was already tense with zealots gathering in the wilderness and preparing to revolt against the Romans. If the followers of Jesus decided to break away from the Romans, Caiphas would be among the first to suffer. The Romans expected him to maintain an orderly society. When Jesus finally arrived at the complex of buildings where Caiphas lived, the religious court was ready to deal with the problem. Jesus was taken to the torture chamber. There is no other name for the place that fits the setting. It is a room, hewn in the rocks. Pillars of stone were not hewn away so that they can support the buildings above. Holes were bored through both the vertical columns and the lintel above so that each arm can be secured from the roof and each leg stretched out sideways and attached to the pillars. The prisoner is suspended in the air and every part of his body is available for the whip of the questioners. They beat him, questioned him, tortured him and threw him into a nearby pit. The pit too is a form of torture. There is only one entrance, from above. It is nearly twenty feet deep. It was probably first used as a cistern and is usually subject to dampness. It was filthy and probably had several inches of water on the floor. Jesus was beaten, bleeding, and weary, in great pain and there was no place to sit except in the muddy water in the bottom of a pit. If ever there was a time to give up, that was it. He could have changed the course of the universe that night. He decided to continue. At St. Peter’s in Galicantu thousands of visitors pass through every month. They walk in and sit in the chapel then walk down through the lower rooms. The mood is quiet, contemplative and deeply moving. You feel the atmosphere all the way to your bones. As you stand in the torture chamber, you feel your heart breaking. As you stand in the pit, tears come to your eyes. He did it for each of us. In effect, it’s my fault. It is nearly impossible to understand that kind of love. ©mikeclay.com, 1999 |
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