This year, once again, the Lord cut down a Christmas tree for us with His own hand. It’s the tipmost top of a splendid mugo pine from across the street, which blew down in last week’s big wind.
The Ascension (Chapter 68 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
He was taken up before their eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. –Acts 1:9
The Chapel of the Ascension is a Christian and Muslim shrine believed to mark the last place on earth where Jesus stood before ascending into heaven.
Mensa Christi (Chapter 67 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” –John 21:12
Inside the Primacy of Peter, in the apse before the altar, is a rock reputed to be the one on which the risen Jesus served breakfast to His disciples.
The Primacy of Peter (Chapter 66 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. –John 21:9
The last few chapters of this book introduce a brand new category that should elicit a shiver of wonder: stones known or touched by the risen Christ.
The Garden Tomb (Chapter 65 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. –John 19:41
Our discussion of the stone relics associated with Easter would not be complete without mentioning the Garden Tomb.
The Tomb of Christ (Chapter 63 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
He is not here; He has risen! –Luke 24:6
Beneath the larger of the two domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a rotunda known as the Anastasis, a Greek word meaning resurrection.
The Anointing Stone (Chapter 62 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, they wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. –John 19:39-40
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Chapter 60 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
And they crucified Him. –Mark 15:24
Of the fourteen Stations of the Cross, the last five are in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher: Jesus is stripped; He is nailed to the cross; He dies; He is taken down; He is laid in the tomb.
Column of the Flagellation (Chapter 59 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
He had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified. Mark 15:15
This fragment of a column, composed of red porphyry, is housed in the Franciscan Chapel of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Is it the actual column to which Jesus was tied to undergo flogging?
Stone Handprint (Chapter 58 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
As they led Him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene … and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. –Luke 23:26
The first ten Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa probably preserve no authentic first century remains. But Station Five—“Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross”—does exhibit one arresting stone artifact.