Travel to the Ancient Times - A Journey Through Human History

Author: Ai Jia
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The Stations of the Cross for Jesus Christ
"God's kingdom is at hand; repent." - Jesus
In the 1st century, when the Jews under Roman rule were immersed in religious fervor and political discontent, Jesus of Nazareth had already begun spreading his teachings. Born in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, Jesus proclaimed, "God's kingdom is at hand; repent," and entered Jerusalem three times to spread the gospel of the kingdom. However, his beliefs inevitably enraged the rulers, and Jesus was arrested and tried on charges of profaning God. He was then handed over to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, who sentenced him to be crucified.
Near the Western Wall in Jerusalem, there is a "Via Dolorosa," believed to be the path Jesus walked while being led to the cross by soldiers. According to the New Testament of the Bible, along this road, soldiers made Jesus wear a scarlet robe and a crown woven from thorns, mockingly calling him the "King of the Jews." After the mockery, they made him change back into his original clothes. At Golgotha (meaning "Skull Hill" in Hebrew), Jesus was crucified and suffered greatly until he died, but three days later he rose again and walked among people for 40 days before ascending to heaven. Thus, Jerusalem is revered by Christians as the sacred site of Jesus' suffering and resurrection, as well as the birthplace of the Christian Church.
After this, Christianity spread widely and experienced rapid growth during the "troubled century" of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. In 312 AD, even the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and, the following year, issued the Edict of Milan, establishing Christianity as the empire's state religion. In 335 AD, Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, visited Jerusalem and built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (also known as the Church of the Resurrection) to commemorate Jesus' suffering and resurrection. Jerusalem then became the spiritual center of nearly the entire Western Christian world.