Happy Independence Day

My Tryst with Jesus: Bethlehem

It all began with the trip to Israel on an official training programme. Every year the organizers select two countries for international exposure visit and for us Israel and Turkey were selected. Israel has always been known as strife stricken country. We visited Israel in 2010, a relatively peaceful year. It is unfortunate that such a holy land, which has plenty to offer to the world, is known more as a war torn nation than anything else. This part of the world, which should be known for Jerusalem, is known more for the strife in Gaza.

As always, I did a lot of net surfing to know about the places we were to visit. The moment I started to explore Jerusalem, I developed an inner desire to know more and more about it. More I read, the desire to visit those places became more intense. Finally, the journey began and as the destiny has in store for me, the first destination was Tel Aviv.

On our first day we were given the Itinerary, and I was thrilled to find that a day was kept for sightseeing and it included Jerusalem and Nazareth among other places, although I had no idea what Nazareth was . I wasn’t aware that Nazreth was the place where Jesus was brought up as young child. I don’t know why but I became little desperate to see Bethlehem. 

I immediately enquired the organizers if Bethlehem was covered in the visits. It came to me as bolt from the blue, when I was told that Bethlehem is in Palestine and we can’t go there. In fact , taking clue from my visible curiosity, the organizers soon made a public announcement informing about the advisory by Indian embassy not to visit Palestine , which meant that chances of visiting Bethlehem were virtually sealed. That was a big disappointment for me. Although, Jerusalem was in the list of places we were to visit, I somehow was very disappointed to find that Bethlehem is in Palestine and we can’t go there. Being a Hindu myself, I had not much idea that for Christians Jerusalem is more important place to visit than Bethlehem.

In the evening I was sharing my disappointment with a senior colleague. He smilingly told me that he too wants to visit Bethlehem and that he has already spoken to a travel agent. When I asked about the advisory, he told that the wife of our Christian friend, who accompanied him, has already visited Bethlehem and that he don’t care about advisory. He said it’s safe to visit as a common tourist and he asked if I was interested. Of course the answer was a big yessssss. We paid the money to the hotel travel agent and the plan was finalized.

The next day we went to Jerusalem and after our morning official session, we secretly slipped away. The travel agent- a woman in her late 40s was waiting with the cab. She was a bundle of energy and an encyclopedia of knowledge. After an hour or so we reached the border. The Palestine border looked more like high security prison that made us wonder if we did the right thing coming there. Our guide spoke to the authorities there in the native language. She was quite familiar with the authorities there. She also talked to someone else on her mobile phone. She then told that she can’t cross the border being the Israeli national and therefore we have to cross ourselves and we will be met by another guide across the border. We looked confused but she smiled and told us that this is the way things work there and we need not be scared. We crossed the border and were greeted by another guide who took us straight to the church of nativity in Bethlehem, which was not very far from the border. Enroute, the guide asked if we were Indians and on conformation he started talking about Amitabh Bacchan and Sharukh Khan. It was nice to know that cinema knows no boundary. After a drive of about 10 minutes, we were there at the Church of Nativity-the birth place of Jesus. My heartbeat rose with excitement and there was a strange sense of desperation in me to see the birth place as soon as possible.

The Church of the Nativity was originally commissioned in 327 AD by Constantine and his mother Helena over the site that is still traditionally considered to be located over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The site's original basilica was completed in 339 AD and destroyed by fire during the Samaritan revolts in the sixth century AD. A new basilica was built in 565 AD by Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor, restoring the architectural tone of the original. The door of humility, Grotto of nativity and the Chapel of manger are integral part of the Church of Nativity.

The Door of Humility is a small rectangular entrance to the church which was created in Ottoman times to prevent carts being driven in by looters, and to force even the most important visitor to dismount from his horse as he entered the holy place. The doorway was reduced from an earlier Crusader doorway, the pointed arch of which can still be seen above the current door. The outline of the Justinian square entrance can also be seen above the door.

The Grotto of Nativity is a rectangular cavern beneath the church and is the focal point of the church. Entered by a flight of steps by the church altar, this is the cave that is honored to be the site of birth of Jesus. The star marks the place where Jesus was born. A touch of the star gave me a great sense of accomplishment.

Steps away from the birthplace shrine are the Chapel of the Manger, owned by the Roman Catholics. Fragments of 12th-century wall mosaics and capitals around the manger survive. Back in the upper church, a door in the north apse leads to the Catholic Church of St. Catherine.

 The place and the experience is such that one likes to be there for long but we had limitation of time. We lit candles and left the church. Our guide was in a hurry to leave us at the border. But we asked if there were anything else to see. He denied and again asked us to hurry up so that he leaves us at the border as early as possible. But my colleagues knew about the ‘Shepherds’ fields’ and we asked him to show that. He told us that there is nothing to see there. When we insisted he agreed to take us there rather unhappily.

The roads descending to the east of Bethlehem lead through the mostly Christian village of Beit Sahour (or Bait Sahur), which includes the Shepherds' Fields: the fields identified since ancient times with the shepherds who saw the Star of Nativity.

The fertile fields of Beit Sahour are believed to be where this biblical scene took place. There are two rival locations for the exact site, one run by the Greek Orthodox and the other by the Franciscans. Both sites have been excavated, and there have been churches and monasteries on both sites since the 4th century or earlier

 The Greek Orthodox site of the Shepherds' Fields is at Kanisat al-Ruwat in the middle of fields 2 km southeast of Bethlehem. The ruins at al-Ruwat include a cave used as a church from the 4th century, of which the barrel-vaulted roof (5th century) still survives. It is approached by a flight of 21 steps and has three apses with traces of mosaic and old frescoes. The mosaic floor includes crosses, and therefore must predate 427, when this was forbidden as impious.

The church at al-Ruwat served the Orthodox community from the 5th century to 1955. It is the only 5th-century church outside Jerusalem to survive intact. Above it a Byzantine chapel was built, and was in turn replaced by a larger church, which was then destroyed in 614. It and a monastery were rebuilt in the 7th century and survived until the 10th century. Today, a new large church has been built, the 4th-century lower church has been restored, and the remains of the upper church and monastery have been preserved.

About 600m to the north of al-Ruwat is the site the Roman Catholics (Franciscans) identify as the Shepherds' Fields, at Khirbat Siyar al-Ghanim. Here there is a low natural cave or rock shelter in pleasant surroundings and with a fine view of the hills. The cave, with soot-blackened roof, has been partly enclosed to make a modern chapel. Above is a modern church (1954) shaped like a tent and decorated with a bronze angel.

After the visit to the fields, we left for the border where our pretty and lively bundle of energy was waiting for us. She told us that we were luck to have been called by the God to see this place. She said with remorse that she takes tourists almost daily to this place but she has not seen this place herself being the Israeli national. She took us to Jerusalem but by the time we reached the crusifixation site, the church was closed. Obviously I felt disappointed again .But as I noticed earlier and readers would agree with me, that perhaps destiny has planned a sequel of my visits. I first saw the birth site , then nazreth and in the end the crusifixation site.

I sincerely wish that peace restores in this part of the world and everyone who is a believer or otherwise gets an opportunity to visit this holy site. Hope the call of JESUS is for all.

In next part, I will be talking about the journey and experience of my visit to Nazreth.