Hameshiach qam! Be'emet qam!

Saturday: 5 am. Got up to join the Roman Catholic procession for entrance into the Holy Sepulcher. At 6:30, a 3 hour resurrection mass began. A beaming man from Australia explained everything to us as we followed along in the 168 page translation mass order. Chapters of scripture were intonated - The Creation account, the Exodus account, Isaiah's Prophecies of one who would come to free Israel, and then the Resurrection accounts. A significant group of people were gathered, but the crowd was a beautifully void of tourists. This was a crowd that had come to worship He Who is risen from the dead.

The participants of the mass gathered their things and left, but we had another celebration to attend. Hundreds of police entered the Church and began setting up barricades. Within minutes the dozen of people that had stayed were joined by hundreds and then thousands of Armenian and Greek Orthodox believers. My companion Caleb warned me that it was going to be packed and people were going to be pushy. Of course, the Orthodox do not allow people to sit during a service, so there is no way to hold your ground. We started off in the second row but within an hour another 6 or 7 rows of people had nudged their way in front of us. By 11am my legs were at a 90 degree angle trying to hold back the crowd that was pushing from behind. Young adults and the elderly joined in shouting Khristós Anésti!(He is risen) Alithós Anésti! (He is risen indeed). By 12:30 I had given up my pressure to be squeezed from all directions. Every 15 minutes or so someone nearby would faint and the crowd would push them through to the medics across the barricades. Soon, the Greek and Armenian Orthodox Patriarchs processed around the tomb three times before entering. Shortly after one, the "Holy Fire" was seen inside the tomb, a flame that is said to come from heaven every year to be caught by the Patriarch. Torches were passed out with the holy flame and people scrambled to light their bundles of candles. The hundreds of flaming torches around me was bit scary. The fire extinguishers strapped to the backs of the countless crowd control officers were barely a comfort. I had just seen on of the most famous of the Orthodox traditions.

After a few hours of sleep I woke at 11:30 pm to make my way back to the Holy Sepulcher for the joint resurrection service. Less people made the event just a bit more peaceful as I watched from my perch halfway up a pillar. The processions of the various church leaders was followed by a trek to the roof where we joined the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Here, the service was quiet, but every once in a while the paschal phrase was heard: Kristos Tenestwal! (He is risen) Bergit Tenestwal! (He is risen indeed). Many had been fasting since Friday afternoon and were now breaking that fast with a meal. One of them told us his testimony and invited us to join in the feast.

Our final stop was the garden tomb. We were the first in line for the 6:00 opening. This service was much more familiar. We sang a dozen hymns and were reminded about Thomas, the disciple who doubted. Yet even he, who had missed the first appearance of Jesus to the disciples was blessed with an intentional visit from the risen LORD. He is risen! He is risen indeed.

Hameshiach qam! (He is risen) Be'emet qam! (He is risen indeed).