The Holy Land and the Bible; . vagueness of doubt as to the precise spot only heightens the emotionof a healthy mind, by leaving the imagination free. That the Betrayal, with all its antecedent agony, took place some-where near the small Kedron bridge, there can however be no doubt,for the flight of steps which formerly led from St. Stephens Gate to thevalley was the natural exit from the city in Christs day. These, how-ever, are now buried beneath 100 feet of rubbish, and no one wouldventure, in the night, down the rocky descent which begins a shortdistance below the bridge. While, moreover,
The Holy Land and the Bible; . vagueness of doubt as to the precise spot only heightens the emotionof a healthy mind, by leaving the imagination free. That the Betrayal, with all its antecedent agony, took place some-where near the small Kedron bridge, there can however be no doubt,for the flight of steps which formerly led from St. Stephens Gate to thevalley was the natural exit from the city in Christs day. These, how-ever, are now buried beneath 100 feet of rubbish, and no one wouldventure, in the night, down the rocky descent which begins a shortdistance below the bridge. While, moreover, the present olive-treescannot be those beneath which our Lord kneeled, the fact that suchtrees still grow on the spot shows that it was just the place for thegarden of oar Saviours time to .have been, though it may have lainabove the bridge instead of below it. The spot now called Gethsemaneseems to have been fixed upon during the visit of the Empress Helenato Jerusalem, in 326, when the places of the Crucifixiion and the. Absaloms Tomb ia tbe VaUey of Jehoshapliat. (See page 350.) XXV.] GETHSEMANE AND CALVARY. 353 Resurrection were supposed to have been identified. But 300 yearsis a long interval; as long, indeed, as the period from Queen Elizabethsday till now, and any identitication made after such a time must bedoubtful. Yet the site that can boast recognition of nearly 1,600 yearshas deep claims on our respect, though other similar enclosures existnear it, and other olive-trees equally ancient are seen in them. Atone time the garden was larger than at present, and contained severalchurches and chapels. The scene of the arrest of Christ was pointedout, in the Middle Ages, in what is now called the Chapel of theSweat, and the traditions respecting other spots connected with thelast hours of our Lord have also varied, but only within narrow limits,for since the fourth century, at all events, the garden has always re-mained the same. The wall of Gethsemane, facing Jerusal
Size: 1455px × 1716px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublishern, booksubjectbible
