An Illustration in Search of a Sermon - by Don Neuendorf
Monday, February 01, 2010 :: 44 Views ::
1 Comments ::
Do you know why a short ladder (only 5 rungs tall) has appeared in every single photo of the main entrance of the Church since the invention of photography?
Back in 1757 (before the Revolutionary War, etc.), the Ottoman Empire issued a ruling that established the status quo at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
You see, the church was owned or controlled by several different divisions of the Christian faith who were constantly fighting over how it was to be treated (repairs, expansions, worship, admission, etc.). So to stop the fighting...
...the government (the Ottoman Turks), divided up responsibility for the property among six parties. Sometime between that day and the first photographs of the church, someone placed a short ladder against the side of the building above the main entrance. Two hundred and fifty-two years later that ladder is in the exact same place. (Nobody knows when it was placed there, but for sure it was before 1867 when the ruling was reaffirmed.)
You see, it rests on a ledge controlled by the Greek Orthodox Church, but it leans up against a window controlled by the Armenian Church. So neither group can move the ladder without affecting the territory of the other.
That short ladder has appeared in every photo of the entrance for 252 years because these church groups are more concerned about control of the alleged empty grave of Jesus than they are about telling the world that Jesus' grave is empty.
Hmm... maybe this story will make an appearance in my Easter Sunday sermon this year. (Credit to Biblical Archeology Review magazine)
p.s. The animosity over control of the alleged grave of Jesus is still pretty lively. "On a hot summer day in 2002, the Coptic monk who is stationed on the roof to express Coptic claims to the Ethiopian territory there moved his chair from its agreed spot into the shade. This was interpreted as a hostile move by the Ethiopians, and eleven were hospitalized after the resulting fracas." (Wikipedia)