The Underground Street of Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem

2,000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth was captured and taken from the Garden of Gethsemane to be judged and crucified. The route that Jesus took to his crucifixion is known as the Via Dolorosa, Latin for way of suffering. So, what was the actual route that Jesus took? Today, the Old City of Jerusalem has a designated street called Via Dolorosa, which, according to tradition, is the same route that Jesus would have taken while carrying the cross onto his crucifixion. But here is the problem. After the first century, Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. And what that has caused is the level of the streets to go up. The rubble and the ruins would stay on the bottom, a new street would be built on top of that, and then again destroyed, then again on top, and on top. So, the stones of the Via Dolorosa, of the modern street we have today, that millions of pilgrims walk on every year, actually date back to the Middle Ages and not the time of Jesus. So, where is the original street that Jesus would have walked on? Where are the stones that would have witnessed the most famous and significant event in human history? In this video, we descend underground and explore the excavated ruins beneath the street of Via Dolorosa. It's amazing here because we're seeing something that not everybody has seen. You know, I've watched just about everything that there is to watch about Jerusalem. I don't know what else I could watch or read about this city, and I've never heard about this place. Could this be the original pavement that Jesus had walked on? Join us today as we embark on a very unique adventure. So, there are two acceptable theories about the route that Jesus would have taken before crucifixion. The first theory is the traditional route, through the Lion's Gate and goes along the Via Dolorosa street. Its origins date back to the Byzantine pilgrims that chose this route over a thousand years ago as the official processional route. The second theory is based on recent archaeological findings that suggest Jesus would have walked on the other side of the city at the Jaffa Gate. This is a very intriguing theory and requires more in-depth research. We're going to pin it down and get back to it in another episode. For now, we're going to focus on the traditional route for two main reasons. Number one, the Byzantine pilgrims who lived here much closer to the time the events took place wrote about this being the route that Jesus took. And up until the 13th century, they wrote that they could still see the original places which were preserved in a much better shape than they are today. Number two, we found out that in the 1930s, a French archaeologist, Louis-Hugh Vincent, excavated what he believed to be a portion of the Antonia Fortress and possibly even the pavement where Jesus was judged by Pilate before his crucifixion. We actually found out that this excavation site is accessible for visitors, but it can be tricky to find it. We've heard that there is a door but no signs. You have to go through a convent deep underground. So, we're excited to go to Jerusalem and see if we can find this place. Joining us on this adventure is a pastor, a songwriter, and a friend, Daryl Petrie. Welcome to Jerusalem. Thank you very much. It's beautiful here. When we're in Jerusalem, we cannot pass the opportunity to taste the Jerusalem cakes with hyssop. These are Jerusalem cakes, even though it's bread, but they are called cakes. And then you got hyssop, the biblical hyssop. So, this is hyssop? Yeah, it's ground, dried and ground. So, what you do, you take a piece off as big as you want it, you dip in there, or you can make an incision in it and dip it in there, and then you eat it. And that's it. It smells good. It's so good. Huge piece. It tastes like bread, amazing bread with hyssop. You got that. I never had hyssop before. This is awesome. And since we are here in the fall, it also happens to be the season for fresh raw almonds, which you can buy at the Lion's Gate before entering the Via Dolorosa street. Okay, so this is an almond. I've never seen an almond in its coat. It's velvety on the outside. So, we actually eat both parts, crack it open, and this is the almond before it's roasted. So, eat that. Then you eat that. Or you could just eat it like that. What do you think? I love it. It tastes very different. I love the flavor of it. There's nothing like it. I'm 48 years old. I've never eaten an almond in its skin. That's awesome. It's coming up. It's just a few feet away. I've waited all of my life to see the Via Dolorosa. We have actually been here before, in the Via Dolorosa street, a year ago. And we filmed an episode about it. At that time, even though we were not walking on the exact same stones that Jesus would have walked on, we knew that we were close. But this time, we heard about a place where you can go underground, beneath the street of Via Dolorosa, and see the original pavement. To enter this place, one must go through the Convent of Sisters of Zion, which is located about 1,000 feet from the Lion's Gate. And even though the door does not have any signs, we found out that the best way to identify its entrance is to look for the famous ark, which at first believed to be the very ark under which Jesus stood when he was sentenced by Pilate. And right under the ark, there will be a door that takes you underground, beneath the street of Via Dolorosa. This is it. It has to be. Look how much lower. No way. Yes, look. Ancient... Look at these. These are ancient walls. Oh, my goodness. It does have mold on it. Look how much deeper they go. Do you see where this city ended? This is the city wall. That's the street. It is... Breathtaking. I can't believe we get to see the original walls of the city and the street. So, this place was excavated in the 1930s by a very credible French archaeologist, Louis-Hugh Vincent. And he's someone who has done a lot of groundbreaking archaeological work in Jerusalem. Above us is the New Jerusalem, where we just walked. This is the Medieval-time Jerusalem. And below us is the Jesus-time Jerusalem, the original streets of Via Dolorosa. Vincent identified this site to be part of the Antonia Fortress. But more significantly, he identified one section of it to be the Gabbatha, the pavement where Jesus was judged by Pilate. We're looking here. This is directly under the modern Via Dolorosa street. The modern Via Dolorosa street is above us. However, in the 1960s, a French Catholic priest, Pierre Benoit, became involved in excavations in Jerusalem and claimed that Vincent was wrong. He proposed that this site is not the pavement where Jesus was judged, but it is a Hadrian forum from the 2nd century. This is a very good example of how the same site with the same artifacts can be interpreted in very different ways. Look over here. Where? The inscription? Look at the inscription. This is a game, an inscription, a game that the Roman soldiers would use to play. So, where do we go from here? Frankly, it is not so easy. It seems that even the scholars are divided on this matter. Some institutions, like the Oxford University, have accepted Pierre's theory that this is not from the time of Jesus, but from the 2nd century. While others, like the Zondervan Bible Dictionary, still accept the original findings as legitimate, making this site to be the best candidate for the Gabbatha, the pavement where Jesus was judged. So, this would be from Mark 15, 16, 20. It says, then, the soldiers led him, Jesus, away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. And they clothed them with purple, and they twisted a crown of thorns. Put it on his head, and began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck him on the head with a reed and spat on him. And bowing the knee, they worshipped him. And when they had mocked him, they took the purple off him, put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. ♪ Sometimes we hurt, and sometimes we cry... ♪ In the end, we know that the true location of these events took place here in Jerusalem. It could be in this site or on the other side of the city. ♪ With all kind word that's fit... ♪ A lot of people don't realize the significance of the Lord's ministry. You know, they get this idea that he was very unpopular. Nobody cared when he walked through the streets of these streets. ♪ Jesus knows you, how he loves you... ♪ And as intriguing as it can be to find the exact location, not knowing it does not take away from the fact that these events really happened. He's real. He really walked down the Via Dolorosa and shed his blood on that street. He really died on the cross of Calvary. He really rose again in power and great glory. And he's really coming back again. And he loves us. ♪ Someone's looking... ♪ Everybody has faith. There's over 4,000 religions in the world. You can follow after religious teachings. You can become a religious person and be reformed. But, you know, you've just turned over a new leaf. You might be a better person. You might make better decisions. You might have deeper resolves to do good things. That's reformation. What Jesus does, what the blood of Jesus does, is literally transform an individual. A new creation. A brand new creation. And that's the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The power of the blood that was shed on the streets of the Via Dolorosa. ♪ Right where you fall, on his name call, let his love come rushing in. ♪ And this is why we have to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is why it's so important for people to hear the gospel. Because salvation helps an individual properly place their faith. Faith is sort of like a fuse. I don't know if that makes any sense. Faith is sort of like a fuse. When you put the right fuse in the right place, pow, you have life. Electricity. You put your faith in Muhammad, all you have is religion. Put your faith in Buddha, all you have is religion. Put your faith in Jesus, you become life. ♪ Oh, let his love come rushing in. ♪ Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for watching this video. And we also want to thank Daryl Petry for letting us use his original songs. ♪ I'd like to tell the whole world about Jesus... ♪ If you want to hear the full version of it, check out his YouTube channel linked in the description of this video below. You'll find there a lot of his other original music and also the full version of this song with its lyrics. And until next time, may God bless you. ♪ Pour out his mercy and save by his grace. ♪