Beauty and Christ
Why Do Christians Visit Jerusalem?
Christians hold Jerusalem sacred above all other cities because it is where Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead, and where the Church was born at Pentecost. Pilgrims come to walk the way of the cross, pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and stand in the place where the central events of the faith took place.
Why this city
Jerusalem was already the holy city of Israel, the place of the Temple, when Jesus came to it. There he taught in the Temple courts, shared the Last Supper, prayed in Gethsemane, was tried and crucified outside the walls, and rose again on the third day. Weeks later, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon his followers there and the Church began. No city carries more of the story of Christ.
Pilgrims come to walk the Via Dolorosa, to pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to look out over the city from the Mount of Olives, and to read the Gospels in the very landscape where they happened.
What it points to
Jesus wept over Jerusalem, longing to gather its people as a hen gathers her chicks. The earthly city, for all its holiness, was never the final goal. The Bible ends with a new and heavenly Jerusalem coming down from God, a city where he dwells with his people and every tear is wiped away.
So Christians visit the earthly Jerusalem and love it, but they are travelling toward the greater one. The way into that city is not a road on a map but a Person: the same Jesus who died and rose just outside these walls.
Come and see
Beauty is a door, never a trick. The cathedrals, the hymns, and the long roads of pilgrimage were all made by people who had first found something, or Someone, worth the labour of a lifetime. If the beauty draws you, follow it to its source. The living Christ it points toward is not an argument to win but a Person to meet, and he still draws near to everyone who comes to him with an open heart. The Gospel of John is a gentle place to begin.
Meet JesusRead the Gospel of JohnThe Church around the worldJesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is Jerusalem important to Christians?
- Jerusalem is where Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead, and where the Church was born at Pentecost. It holds the central events of the Christian faith, which is why Christians have honoured it as a holy city since the earliest centuries.
- What do Christians visit in Jerusalem?
- Pilgrims walk the Via Dolorosa, the traditional path to the cross; pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre over the sites of the crucifixion and resurrection; visit the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives; and read the Gospels in the landscape where they took place.
- What is the new Jerusalem?
- The new Jerusalem is the heavenly city the Bible describes in Revelation 21, coming down from God, where he dwells with his people and wipes away every tear. The earthly Jerusalem points toward it, and the way in is Jesus himself.