Fern Britton's Holy Land Journey

I'm travelling to a place that has been alive in my imagination

since Sunday school.

The site of events which are fundamental to my beliefs.

This destination, this city, holds a very special place in my heart.

I've never been there before

and this is my chance to experience it,

the sights and the sounds for the first time,

and I'm very excited.

(Wow!)

Look at this, look.

Look. Look.

Wow!

Jerusalem.

Gosh!

In my Bible when I was a little girl at Sunday school,

we had these kinds of pictures.

I never thought I'd actually see it.

Down there is where Jesus spent his last days here on Earth,

where he met his death, and, as a Christian,

not a very good one, but nonetheless, I want to sort

of make sense of what it felt for him, as a man, to be here.

Did he know why he was here? Did he know what was going to happen?

This is a story we think we all know, but do we really?

I'm going to explore the tumultuous week leading up to

Jesus's crucifixion.

Why he came here when he did.

His followers are almost ecstatic.

They're expecting this glorious moment.

What lay behind his outburst at the temple.

The possibility for a bloodbath is very real.

His arrest and conviction.

It's through this gate that Jesus would have been led

to the trial from the barracks.

This is astounding stuff.

'And hoping my pilgrimage will test and deepen my faith.'

I feel as if I'm in the Bible.

'It's going to be enlightening.'

This must be it.

'At times, challenging.'

It's crazy, isn't it?

'But, above all, emotional.'

I'm not given to tears.

'Culminating in a decision that will make this trip of a lifetime

'truly unforgettable.'

You see, now you're giving me the thought that I would like one.

I know that's crazy.

This Good Friday is a chance to really investigate the Passion,

the suffering of Jesus in his final days.

See how many times I get hooted.

HORN HONKS

It's a bit like London but without indicators.

Well, actually, no, it's just like London!

Driving into Jerusalem isn't quite what I expected.

It's a city of nearly one million people, all trying to get somewhere.

I find smiling at people helps a lot when you're driving,

just to go, "Thank you, I'm an idiot".

See, smiling works.

Oh, sorry. That was the kerb.

'At last, I spy my destination.'

Ah, look at this!

'The historic square kilometre, where it all happened.'

This must be the old city wall, built 15th/16th century,

something like that, guessing.

'The old city is a car-free zone,

'so I need to find a space to park outside.'

I'm not sure where should I park. Here? Here?

Thank you.

Oh, ha-ha-ha, that's the passenger!

I think if Jesus could do this, he'd be able drive one of these.

Thank goodness for that.

Right, bag.

And here we are, Damascus Gate.

'Finally, I enter the old city, and feel transported back in time.'

This is paradise, isn't it?

Paradise!

Good weather for a bobble hat(!)

Nothing quite prepares you for the excitement of one of these markets.

It's all very good natured, everybody bartering and

buying and selling all mixed up in this fantastic sea of religions.

We have Muslims, we have Jewish people, we have Christians,

and in the architecture we can see minarets,

there's a minaret right there of a mosque,

there's a church right here

and of course there are the synagogues too.

And all of that is mixed in with tourists like me.

'The Jerusalem Jesus knew 2,000 years ago

'would have been very different.

'Islam and, of course, Christianity, didn't yet exist.

'Instead, the vast majority of people would have been Jewish,

'including Jesus himself.

'But they didn't have the place to themselves.

'The Romans watched over the city militarily,

'and they had their own Gods.'

Beneath this Jerusalem must lie the places and the sights

and the smells and the sounds that Jesus himself experienced

when he was here, and that's what I really want to find,

to find where he was.

Of course, I've packed a guide book but that'll only get me so far,

so I have packed my guide book for life.

'In the Bible's New Testament, it's clear how vitally important

'Jesus's time in Jerusalem is to Christianity.'

The story of Easter is both heart-breaking and riveting

and apparently it's based on eyewitness accounts,

but there are factors we have to take into consideration here.

The gospels were written between 40 and 70 years after Jesus's death

and by different authors.

'Given their disparate origins, it's perhaps no wonder

'that the gospel accounts don't always match up,

'making my desire to understand Jesus's last week

'that bit more challenging.'

Thank you.

I'm going to have to work out my own version of events,

the way they seem to me,

and I'm lucky enough to have several local guides to help me.

'My search starts in the hills to the East of Jerusalem.

'This is where it's believed Jesus and his disciples

'made their approach to the city, a week before Good Friday.'

So how many miles away is that?

'Claire Pfann is an expert in Jesus's ministry.'

So why did he come to Jerusalem?

Jerusalem was the most important city for Jews

everywhere in the world.

It was as though there was a funnel from heaven to earth over Jerusalem.

If you wanted to meet God and if you wanted to proclaim a new vision

of the Kingdom of Heaven, you would come to Jerusalem to do so.

And what was his message? What was he bringing to Jerusalem?

The message really was that the benefits of God,

his protection, his provision, were available even for the people

who were marginal in society,

the tax collectors, the sinners, the women of ill-repute,

the people who were uneducated.

God wanted to reach out to them

and have them become part of his kingdom.

So did he know that he was walking into danger here?

Yes, he knew that the religious authorities are on the lookout

for radical movements, for zealous movements that might tip the tables

and bring down the wrath of Rome upon the Jewish people.

Their philosophy of politics was to cooperate with Rome

in order to keep things calm and stable.

So they're always on the watch.

They recognise that Jesus is an unauthorised preacher

and he represents an outsider movement in their minds.

They want these types of movements not to manifest political rebellion

and they're looking at Jesus as a potential danger.

They don't want any civil unrest.

Not at all, not at all.

So, it looks as though Jesus knew he was coming into danger here

and yet he came anyway.

And I wonder whether I would have come with him with his followers.

Would I have nailed my colours to his mast or would I have waited

until perhaps he was getting a bit more popular

to see if it was a good thing to do?

His disciples followed him.

Why wouldn't they, even thought he was taking them into a known danger?

But, you know, he'd never let them down before.

This was the man they'd seen walk on water.

'The gospels tell us that before Jesus and his disciples

'entered Jerusalem, they first went to a village on its outskirts.'

In biblical times, this town was called Bethany.

Now it's al-Eizariya.

This is a nice little town.

People going about their daily business on a Monday morning.

'But life here isn't as simple as it first looks

'because, running through the town, is a wall built by Israel

'for what it says are security reasons.'

Oh, my goodness!

Now you've heard about the wall.

Look at this. This is the wall.

And that is NOT a thing of beauty, is it?

Oh, my goodness, look!

You hear about humans erecting big walls like this

in the middle of cities.

Obviously Berlin, here,

possibly between Mexico and America.

This is madness.

Just to keep the people out.

You won't be able to climb up that, would you, that's for sure?

'Jesus had visited Bethany several times before

'and, according to the gospel of John,

'it had recently been the site of one of his greatest miracles.

'For this is the hometown of Lazarus - the man who, we're told,

'Jesus raised from the dead.

'It's what's drawn pilgrims here for over 1,500 years

'and the main attraction,

'amongst the various churches and ancient ruins, is the very tomb

'where Jesus's miracle is said to have taken place.

'But is it?'

I love all these stalls out here.

Ah, here we are.

Couldn't be more clear, could it?

In orange signage there it says, "Lazarus's tomb."

This is it.

But you must always read the small print, mustn't you,

and here it says,

"In Christian tradition, it possibly is Lazarus's tomb."

So it may be, it may not be,

but you want to come and have a look, don't you? Come on.

It is certainly rough stone hewn out of the rock here.

It's blooming dark.

And the air gets a bit warmer down here.

Ooh, take my glasses off, that's for certain.

Well, if I didn't need a replacement hip, I do now(!)

Well...

Oh, so this is...

Oh, there's more steps.

What is THAT?

OK, here I go.

Look at this.

Ah.

Oh, my goodness!

Whoa!

This must be it, this MUST be it.

Look at that.

I mean, this might NOT have been Lazarus's tomb.

It may not have been exactly where Jesus was,

but you know what's lovely?

These bits of graffiti and things, and this cross hewn into here.

I find it quite moving really that pilgrims have been coming here

and they give this place a kind of resonance, you know.

What are these?

Leaving messages.

Prayer request.

I won't read that because it's personal,

but that one happened to be in English.

It's lovely.

'According to the gospels,

'Jesus frequently travelled from Bethany to Jerusalem

'during his last days.

'But his most famous visit came at the beginning of that week.

'I know it as Palm Sunday.'

Somewhere near here, Jesus said to his disciples,

"Go to the nearby village

"and you will find a donkey and a colt tied up.

"Say to the man who owns them, 'The Lord needs these,'

"and the man will say, 'Yes, of course,'

"and untie them and give them to you."

And the disciples did that and they brought the donkey to Jesus.

'I've always found some details of this key event puzzling.

'Local historian Yisca Harani has offered to explain them to me.'

So when Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as we call it,

I imagine a huge cavalcade of people and him triumphant.

Is that the right vision?

We don't know exactly how popular he was, even in the Galilee,

but he has his followers.

Now his followers are almost ecstatic.

They're expecting the moment to come to Jerusalem

and entering the city would mean that there may be a change coming.

So I believe that they probably aroused the crowds around as well.

Maybe for many other Jews coming from North Africa or from Rome

or from the area of Mesopotamia, Babylon,

they wouldn't recognise him.

They would probably ask, "What is this?"

And they would tell him, "Look, look, he is the master.

"He may be the Messiah we're waiting for".

-But why did he come on a donkey?

-Here there's clearly a message.

Zechariah, one of the prophets that prophesies the future

foretold that the king, the future king, should come with humility,

and donkey means humility.

When you sit on a donkey, you feel like a bag of potatoes, like this.

No king ever would ride a donkey and so when Jesus asks his disciples,

"Get me a donkey", everybody says,

"Oh, Zechariah, oh, could that be the real king then?"

You mentioned earlier the Messiah, they were waiting for the Messiah.

How would the people of the time have interpreted the word Messiah?

I don't think people really knew what to expect,

but they wanted a certain result,

so they wanted either a warrior that will overthrow the Romans

or a new priest that will overthrow the corrupt priesthood.

I think this is indeed the novelty of Jesus.

He's not a warrior Messiah.

He's not a priest Messiah.

He is a Messiah to proclaim that things are going to be

as God wanted them to be.

I'm beginning to see how Jesus came here now,

sitting on the donkey, coming with friends and followers,

hoping to make an impact of some kind in Jerusalem,

because now he was following his destiny.

He couldn't stop. He knew that he had to be here.

He didn't know how quite it would end

but, nonetheless, he was doing as he felt he was told

and how many of us can say we've done that?

'The next morning, I'm up early,

'ready to continue in Jesus's footsteps as he entered the city.'

It's unbelievably beautiful.

The colour of these stones.

The lovely palm trees.

Bit of a grey sky today.

Might rain.

Rains in Jerusalem? I don't remember that in the Bible.

Bus loads of tourists arriving.

-Good morning. Where are you from?

-Santa Rosa, California.

-California?

-We've come to take the Holy Land tour.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you. We will.

-Goodbye.

This is part of the route, possibly, that Jesus would have taken

when he'd left the Mount Of Olives behind us

and come through here into the city in through the walls.

They're obviously students, aren't they, going off to their studies?

Come over here. Look at that view. How beautiful is that?

It's...

I feel as if I'm in the Bible!

'Jesus's visit coincided with the city's busiest period.

'Jerusalem was hosting the biggest religious festival of the year,

'The Feast of Passover,

'when Jews celebrated escaping slavery in Egypt.

'Tradition has it that God freed them by unleashing ten plagues

'on the Egyptians.'

The worst and final plague of all would be the death

of the first-born child in a house.

But God said to the Jewish people,

"If you get a lamb and slaughter it and daub its blood on your house,

"I, the spirit of the Lord,

"will pass over your house and save your children."

So Jesus coming here to Jerusalem at the feast of Passover

was a very big event.

This place would be full of Jewish people

from all over the world.

'For the Romans, this posed a major security threat.

'Thousands of Jews, celebrating their previous freedom,

'could have stirred up anger at their present occupation.

'And the place most likely to be a flashpoint was the temple.'

Hello. This is so beautiful.

-I'm Fern.

-I'm Gregory. Pleased to meet you, Fern.

-May I call you Gregory...

-Please do. Please do.

-..cos you're properly Father Gregory?

-Father Gregory, yes.

'Dominican priest Father Gregory Tatum has joined me for a tour

'of what remains of the temple.'

-Where are we heading now?

-Right now I'd like to show you a street

that Jesus would have walked on.

Now, you need a certain amount of imagination

because over here these doorways are shops.

-Yes.

-All of these stones were thrown down in 70AD

when the Romans destroyed the temple.

So those are real temple stones?

Those were the stones from the temple.

-Whoops! Look at you with your dramatic cloak.

-Yeah.

SHE LAUGHS

-It's handy dandy.

-Very handy dandy.

Now we must be walking in rooms of some kind?

-Yes, we're in people's houses.

-Ah, people's houses.

Can we have a sit down? Being up and down steps is exhausting!

Yes, it is. You're quite right.

Yeah. Let's have a sit down. Thank you.

So this would be one of the main entrances going up to the temple?

These are the steps going up to the temple.

The Holder Gates are behind us. There's a set of three there.

So you would have come up these steps

and then gone through the platform

and then you would have seen the temple building itself.

Describe for me what was going on in the temple.

You've got hundreds of thousands of people crammed into a small place.

There are people praying. There are people selling animals.

There are money changers. There's singing.

There's people going about their daily business,

so it's quite a chaotic experience.

So what happened in the temple with Jesus?

Well, Jesus overturned some tables of some money changers

and he chased some people who were selling birds or other animals.

So why did he do it?

I think one of the most common and convincing theories

is that he is symbolising the destruction of the temple.

Jews thought, when the land becomes too polluted with idolatry,

sexual misconduct, murder and economic oppression,

then the divine presence in the Holy of Holies returns to heaven.

The temple is destroyed and the people are sent into exile.

And so, if he is symbolising the destruction of the temple,

he's saying, "This is a threat to get the people to repent."

So, by tipping the tables and getting so angry,

was there a potential for inciting violence in that act?

It is a very provocative act

and it could have escalated into a major riot.

However, the Romans would prefer not

slaughtering large numbers of people.

It's bad for business after all(!)

'Jesus's provocations at the temple would only have confirmed his

'growing reputation as a troublemaker.

'But, for the time being, he was still free.

'Over the next few days, Jesus carried on speaking in public.

'Where and when isn't always clear in the gospels.

'Wednesday is almost completely unaccounted for

'but some experts believe that one little-known location

'could have played a role in those final days.'

Morning.

Wow. Here we are.

This is the Pool of Siloam.

'This pool doesn't feature in the Bible's account of Easter,

'but it crops up earlier in John's Gospel.

'So it was a place, which, in all likelihood, Jesus knew.'

This place is very quiet now, but 2,000 years ago at Passover,

this place would be full of hundreds of people.

They'd walk down these steps

and they would ritually cleanse themselves in the pool.

I'm paddling in it now. You'll have to use your imagination.

Because they needed to be cleansed

before they would be allowed into the temple.

'And I'm not the only pilgrim here on Jesus's trail.'

It's very emotional, isn't it?

Are you finding bits that are making you feel a bit,

a bit strange, connected?

It's overwhelming.

Right now, I feel overwhelmed by everything.

It's just like, almost not real.

I think that's right.

It's very hard to take in, isn't it, because it's suddenly so real?

To suddenly be on the set, so to speak, you know,

suddenly you're here and you think, "Oh, my goodness, this is real."

And I can feel it.

Well, it puts everything that we've read and studied into perspective

and now we're able to be here and touch this and see this

and smell this and meet the people

and it suddenly just brings it all together, gels it.

If Jesus did come here,

it would have been one of his last days of freedom.

You get the sense that time was running out and his popularity,

although it was growing, made the temple authorities even more

determined to put a stop to him.

'As evening approached on Thursday,

'Jesus drew his disciples close to him for a meal - the Last Supper.'

'To find out more about this famous meal,

'I'm meeting up with Claire Pfann again at a restaurant known for

'its modern interpretation of biblical cuisine.'

'The exuberant head chef is Moshe Basson and he's roped me in

'to help serve up to a group of visiting Japanese tourists.'

-ALL:

-Oh!

'After the photo-call, he promises to show me a dish

that Jesus might have known.

So you want to work or just to talk?

Chef, I want to work AND talk, but maybe you do more of the work.

Oh, there's a apron coming, OK.

Thank you.

So what can I do? Give me a job.

So you're going to make pesto and the Hyssop was the brush of Moses

and Israelites leaving Egypt marking the door with the blood of the lamb.

The Hyssop also shows up in the story of the crucifixion of Jesus

when they try to lift to him some myrrh,

a drink to help ease his pain and they lift it on a branch of Hyssop.

-Wow, OK.

-We will add some garlic.

Look at these jumbo cloves.

They're big!

And I will add some walnuts.

-Yes, very good for you also.

-Very Biblical.

-Do we have this in the Bible, Claire?

-Walnuts?

We have all kinds of nuts in the Bible.

So we're bruising all these leaves.

Nice bit of salt there. Olive oil.

-Olive oil from the mountains of Jerusalem.

-Mmmm.

'It's fun to explore what dishes may have been eaten at the Last Supper

'but it's the symbolic meaning of the meal and what was said

'that really interests me.'

Oh, this is the pesto that we made?

Thank you. Thank you very much.

How did this meal differ from any other?

They must have had hundreds of meals together before?

Well, first, it was Passover week,

and Jesus takes elements from the Passover meal to use them

as teaching points, as connecting points,

for his disciples to understand his own death.

In most Jewish meals, you would share bread and wine,

even as today on the Sabbath.

He identifies the bread with his body and the wine with his blood,

which would be shed.

And so he makes a link between himself and the Passover

and through the shedding of blood with even the Passover lamb.

We've got it here. Tear some of that.

Do it as you think he would have done this.

Well, he took a loaf and he said to them,

"This is my body, the wine is my blood.

"Do this in memory of me."

And I think he broke it and he passed it on

and they may have dipped it in salt, which is a tradition too.

So these are very ancient traditions.

Let's do this together, just as Jesus did with his followers.

'But Jesus also drops a bombshell.

'He tells his loyal disciples that, later that night,

'one of them will betray him and all the rest will abandon him,

'including chief disciple, Peter.'

When Peter hears this he cannot believe it.

He has that way of disagreeing with Jesus that shows how gutsy he is

and how secure he is in their relationship and he says,

"I will never deny you. I would follow you to death."

They don't want to believe it, do they?

They don't want to believe it but the reason Jesus tells them

that all of them will flee is so that, after the fact,

they realise that Jesus knew what would happen before it happened.

And this means that other things that Jesus has promised them,

that he will rise from the dead, that he will send the spirit,

that his kingdom will come, they can trust him.

So, on one hand, he was serving them this wonderful food

and yet the tension in the room would have been palpable?

Yes, unbelievable.

'The Last Supper is re-enacted every week by millions of Christians

'through the ritual of Holy Communion.

'And what better place for me to take it than Jerusalem?'

Oh, this is lovely.

Every religion has its place here in Jerusalem

and this is the Anglican Cathedral, St George's Cathedral,

so I've come early today to have communion,

but look at what a beautiful, peaceful precinct this is.

Lovely.

He broke it and gave it to his disciples saying,

"Take. Eat.

"This is my body which is given for you.

"Do this for the remembrance of me."

I was confirmed quite late in life.

I was about 40, I think, and I can't explain why I wanted to do it.

It was just something that I needed to do

and now I'm very comfortable with sharing the peace,

shaking hands with strangers

and lining up ready to receive the sacrament

and it's a real sense of community.

It's a wonderful thing.

Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

-ALL:

-Thanks be to God.

'Afterwards, I'm very keen to speak to the Dean -

'a man with one of the best postings in the Anglican church.'

So what does it mean to you being the Dean here

giving the ministry in Jerusalem?

I think it's so special here in Jerusalem because it's where

it happened and I think to walk in the footsteps of Jesus is such

a profound experience,

not only on a personal level and a formation,

but also to walk in the footsteps of so many pilgrims over the years.

For two millennia we have been doing this

as a sign of our growth, as a sign of our spirituality.

We have pilgrims from all over the world coming to worship with us.

Not only Anglicans, but from other traditions as well, and this place

is a place of hospitality and welcome and friendship to all.

And do you join with the Jewish people and the Muslims as well

-and make a connection?

-Absolutely.

-That's so vital.

Absolutely, I think if we don't do that I think we will not be

faithful to our own faith.

We are to reach out for people everywhere and we all belong

to one human family and that is a gift that God has given to us

and we should appreciate it.

-Thank you and thank you for this morning.

-Thank you.

-I enjoyed it.

-Thank you very much.

'Experiencing Christian fellowship here, reminds me of the disciples

'and the collective devotion they felt towards Jesus.

'But that loyalty would falter

'because the grave predictions Jesus made at the Last Supper

'were about to come true.

'The gospels now lead me to a hill to the east of the city,

'the Mount of Olives,

'and a place known as Gethsemane.'

So, after the Last Supper, this is where Jesus came.

It was getting dark like this. He'd come from the city.

You can still see the old city walls all lit over there

and it's astonishing to me that we are experiencing or walking

in a place where he was.

'It's here, we're told in the gospels, in one of the most

'poignant and affecting passages, that Jesus makes a desperate plea.'

Jesus came up here to pray.

We're told his disciples were a stone's throw away from him.

He'd asked them keep watch on him.

He came here and his prayers were heartfelt.

"Father, if it is possible, do not give me this cup of suffering."

He went back to his disciples, but they'd fallen asleep.

He said, "Men, can you not look after me for one hour?"

For me, in this moment, Jesus is very human.

I feel that that he is frightened and afraid.

And how many of us have had those moments

when we are very, very afraid and we want comfort

and you think, "I'll ring somebody, I'll ring my friend,"

and you ring them and they are not there.

But Jesus has trust.

'Eventually he composes himself, submits to God's will,

'and accepts his fate.

'And now Jesus's prediction that his trusted disciples will betray

'and abandon him begins to unfold.'

Judas turns up.

He's tipped off the temple authorities and he betrays Jesus

in the cruellest and yet most tender of ways.

He kisses him.

There's an altercation.

The disciples put up a bit of a fight but soon they scatter.

Jesus is arrested and he's left to face his destiny alone.

'Following his arrest, Jesus was immediately taken

'to the High Priest, Caiaphas, for questioning.

'Caiaphas had legal responsibility in most cases

'but if Jesus was found to be a security threat,

'he faced being handed over to the Romans.'

You're in the basement of what used to be a palatial home,

probably belonged to one of the priests,

I can't say the High Priest, but belonged to a priest.

But you have to use your imagination because it would have been

this big beautiful home with mosaics and plastered walls and frescos,

lots of colour

and just beautiful, beautiful.

So Jesus has been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane

and now he's brought to Caiaphas's house. What's Caiaphas's agenda?

Caiaphas had already said that it was better for one man to die

for the country.

His intent is that, instead of letting there be an insurrection

or some type of revolt,

so that then Rome will come in and the Roman soldiers will come in

and take away any of their freedom,

so he's looking for a way to keep Jesus

and the people following him quiet,

so he wants to get rid of Jesus.

I see. So what was it that Jesus said that incriminated him?

Well they asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of God,

"the Son of the living God or the Son of the Blessed One?"

And he says, "It is as you say, I am."

And by confessing that he is the Messiah, then that makes him a king.

Now that's against Rome.

But why would calling him a king affect the Romans?

Because Caesar was the king.

So when they interpret that he's King of the Jews,

that is an attack against Rome, against Caesar.

'At some stage during the interrogation,

'Peter, the chief disciple, snuck into the courtyard.

'And, when recognised as a follower of Jesus,

'Peter denied it three times, just as Jesus had predicted.'

I wonder why Peter came back.

The Bible doesn't tell us but all I can do is try and put myself in his

shoes and think that maybe he was embarrassed that he'd run away in

the Garden of Gethsemane and left Jesus to be arrested by himself.

And so he came back, maybe with the idea

of trying to help Jesus and get close to him again.

But once again, his courage failed him and he ran away.

I don't blame him. I probably would have as well.

'Abandoned by his closest followers, intimidated by his enemies.

'Jesus now had to face the highest Roman official in the land -

'Governor Pontius Pilate.

'The location of Pilate's compound, where Jesus's trial took place,

'has been the subject of speculation for centuries.

'But archaeologists now believe they've found the actual spot.'

Shimon, what have we got here? Where are we?

Yes, we're in the Kishle,

which used to be a prison in the Ottoman period under the Turks.

They dug beneath the floors

and they came across the remnants of Herod's palace

which actually was also the house of Pontius Pilate

whenever he came up from Caesarea.

-Really?

-I mean, you can see there's a tunnel there.

-Do you see the tunnel right at the bottom?

-I do.

It's a monumental tunnel, which was built by Herod the Great

but it's for sewage and I know that because I excavated down there.

So while you were digging around it,

I mean, presumably the sewage dregs were still there?

Yes, right at the bottom we founds lots of bits of metal and pieces

-and jewellery and...

-Oh, how lovely!

-..the things that people sort of...

-Lost?

-..lost.

-Came out of their pockets as they were sitting down.

-Yes.

How extraordinary! Tell me about Pilate.

What sort of man was he, because the Bible paints him as a just man?

Was he a compassionate man?

-Absolutely not.

-Ah!

I think when the gospels were disseminated, it was very important

for early Christians to be able to make them palatable, the gospels,

to the Roman public.

The reality is somewhat different because the other written sources

depict him as a ruthless, barbaric man,

somebody who would have no hesitation at slitting your throat

and just getting rid of you.

-He wouldn't have been blinked twice. That's it.

-How extraordinary.

There an awful lot of climbing.

-Well, Jerusalem's a city of steps and stones.

-Yes.

'But Shimon has another surprise for me.

'He believes he's found the exact part of the palace

'where Jesus was tried

'and it's a place that pilgrims seem blissfully unaware of.'

So where are we walking now? What's this?

So we're now approaching the side of the palace.

These are the original steps dating back to the time of Jesus

and it's amazing to be able to touch steps that Jesus probably walked up.

Really?

When we come through here, this is an archway?

-Yes, you've got to sort of imagine a gate here...

-A gateway.

..zooming up into the sky and we're now walking through that gateway.

-Yes.

-Let's go and have a look at the steps.

OK, so these steps would have gone through the gate?

-So this is the level. This is the level of the pavement.

-OK.

You've got the crowds coming in here.

You have Pontius Pilate up there

and it's through this gate, which has been blocked up,

that Jesus would have been led to the trial from the barracks.

This is astounding stuff. I can't believe it.

You really do think these were the steps he was standing on?

I think so. Look, it's not about a belief.

It's a matter of archaeology and science

and this seems the most likely spot.

Gosh.

Would it be very disrespectful to climb up and sit on those steps?

Not at all, cos this is an archaeological site.

It's not a holy site, so, no, go ahead.

-OK, come and join me.

-Yeah, I'll join you.

-So now I'm on the actual rock of the rocky outcrop...

-Yes.

..which would have been covered with a pavement?

Below ground, exactly. The pavement would have been at this level.

-And then the archway gate is here

-Yes.

-..and he'd come out?

So where do you want to sit, this side or that side?

-I'm just taking in that sense of him being here?

-Yes, this is it.

This is the judgment gate.

Beaten almost senseless, he'd lost a lot of blood, I think,

and standing here, my goodness.

Wow!

I, obviously, as a Christian, I have a belief

and also I understand people who say to me,

"Totally irrational, nonsense, none of it happened."

And yet sitting here, and it may be my brain playing a trick, whatever,

but in me I can feel something.

It may just be that you drew that picture so beautifully,

but I could believe that this is where that was.

-In fact, it's quite moving.

-I can see you're tearing up.

No, no, no, no, and it's not just, you know, acting.

It just is something. It's something even if it's just connecting with

that horror that he was facing with courage and his human side.

Yeah.

It is truly amazing when you think that that person who is so important

-for millions of people across the world...

-Yeah.

-..that he was actually at this spot.

-Yes.

-He would have known this place?

-Yes.

-Yes.

And recognised the features that you see around you.

Oh, Shimon, what a story.

-I'm not given to tears, but this is a meaningful moment.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Thank you.

-I'm glad I could bring you here.

Yeah. I'm thrilled to be here.

'My trip to Jerusalem is affecting me more deeply than I anticipated

'and for other pilgrims seeking ways to mark their personal journeys,

'a surprising custom is on offer.'

-Hello, I'm Fern.

-Hi, I'm Wasim.

-Oh, you're Wasim.

-I'm so glad to meet you. Can I sit down here?

-Please.

I want to hear all about your family tattoo parlour.

How many years have you been here?

We've been in the Holy Land for about 500 years.

-Oh, not long then(!)

-No, not so long.

I had no idea that it was a thing for pilgrims to be tattooed.

Why would they do that?

Well, as you know, in the past it wasn't such an easy thing

to come to the Holy Land.

It was maybe a once-in-a-lifetime event

and once you've done your pilgrimage you really wanted to take something

back from here to prove that you have done your...

-Like a passport stamp?

-Yes, it's exactly like that.

-Really?

-Can you show me some examples?

-Yes, of course.

-What have you got?

Those are stamps that are carved in olive wood.

So you would, or the tattooist at the time, would ink that,

put it wherever, and then come off and there's the trace for you to...

-Tattoo it, that's right.

-Are these very old?

-Yes.

-We believe that this is 500 years old...

-No?

-..and we have proof of it.

-500 years old, that's incredible.

-Yes.

Oh, you see, now you're giving me the thought that I would like one.

I know that's crazy, but, I don't know,

it's something you have to think about.

'Whilst I'm talking to Wasim,

'he's suddenly inundated by a group of American pilgrims.'

We all know those three are first cos it's two daughters and a mother.

-We want a little cross.

-OK. You want crosses, just thin crosses?

Thin crosses, yes.

'Mother, Sharon, and her daughters are being tattooed

'for the first time and with matching cross designs.'

Did you know you were going to have a tattoo when you came here?

-I did.

-And you brought your mum as well?

-Yes. She's very conservative.

-This is so exciting. Are you getting one?

-I might. I might.

-You have to.

-Well, we'll see.

-Do you like it?

-I love it.

He's been doing it for 500 years.

-Is it you next?

-If you're ready, go, Mom.

-OK.

'For mum, Sharon, this is a particularly significant moment.

'Her husband, who passed away only a year ago,

'gave her a cross necklace just months before he died.'

He gave it to me at Christmas last year.

He had acute myeloid leukaemia

-and he said, "This is the last..."

-Can I see it?

"..the last Christmas gift I'm going to be able to give you,"

and we both knew that it was true,

and then we got it for each of the girls as well

so we could all have it.

Wow.

So this is very meaningful.

It's very meaningful.

It's just beautiful, it's just perfect.

Oh.

Now YOU'RE starting to cry!

And you haven't even had yours done yet.

Exactly. I'm going to come out there

and they're going to say, "What happened?"

Don't faint. Don't do anything like that.

According to the gospels, Jesus's trial and conviction

took place in just a matter of hours.

By Friday morning, he was facing imminent death.

Goodness! Look at this.

A crown of thorns actually made of thorns.

It's a bit of a funny day today, really.

It's my last day here in Jerusalem

and it's the last day that Jesus was alive on earth.

And after all I've learned over the last few days, it's a funny feeling.

I feel... I don't know why but I feel a little bit nervous,

apprehensive about what I'm going to see and what I'll experience.

Jesus's punishment for claiming to be a king was crucifixion.

Following the trial, he had to carry his cross through the city

to his place of execution.

For Christians, it's a crucial final stage in the story of Jesus.

This is the parade held every Friday

and these people, pilgrims, monks, tourists, every...

nuns, they all come to follow in the footsteps of Jesus

and today we're going to join them.

CHORAL SINGING

Since medieval times, the Via Dolorosa

has been considered the route Jesus took to his crucifixion.

It's divided into what's called The 14 Stations of the Cross,

with each one telling a different part of his journey.

The Third Station. Here Jesus paused for the first time,

and yet ours was the suffering he bore.

However, this path is at odds with recent archaeology

because it starts from the remains of the wrong governor's palace.

Yet this tradition still evokes

the universal relevance of Jesus's suffering.

This is the Fifth Station of the Cross, right here,

and this is where Jesus, so exhausted,

so tired from loss of blood, from being flayed and whipped,

couldn't carry the cross any longer and he dropped it,

and the Roman soldiers who were with him dragged a man from the crowd

who was just watching, a man called Simon of Cyrene,

and said to him, "Right, you pick up this cross up, please.

"You carry it for him," and he did.

And for a moment, Jesus had respite from this dreadful burden,

and Simon carried that burden for him.

Swept along through the bustling quarters of the old city,

I can really imagine the chaos and intensity of that day.

You get such a sense here of the crowds.

And the people knew there was a crucifixion.

They couldn't wait to see something exciting happening.

It must have been like this...

without the singing and the praises, of course.

The Eighth Station.

Here, Jesus meets the holy women of Jerusalem.

A great crowd of people...

The Via Dolorosa ends at my final destination -

the site of Jesus's crucifixion.

In my mind, I've always pictured a small, idyllic, green hill,

not a busy crowded square with its ancient church.

Happily, I've arranged to meet an old friend here.

Ah, Gregory.

-Good morning, Fern. How are you doing?

-I'm good.

-How are you?

-Great. Thank you. How are you doing?

-I'm fine.

-So this is it.

-Yes, here we are at the Holy Sepulchre.

It is one of holiest shrines of all of Christianity.

Millions of pilgrims come each year.

Look, already.

I'm a bit..

Would you come and be my spiritual guide?

Because I really don't quite know what to expect and what to see.

-Would you come with me?

-Certainly.

No-one knows just exactly where Jesus was crucified

but this is where many pilgrims come, believing it to be the place.

The church has been built over a rocky area

that I have always known as Calvary.

Amazingly, you can see the original stone surface

through a glass wall inside.

-This is the Rock of Calvary?

-This is the Rock of Calvary.

Oh, my goodness!

How would you fix a cross into stone?

I imagined it was earth of some kind.

You'd would have to make a hole, put the cross in, then fill up the hole

with the stones to make it stable.

It's an awful lot to take in and to imagine we are now actually

in a wild and open and windy space on a rock.

-None of this beautiful architecture is here.

-Right.

-Where are you going to take me now?

-We'll go up to Calvary.

Yeah. Wow.

Gregory, this is such a privilege to come with you.

-Well, thank you.

-I couldn't think of a nicer person to come with.

-I'm going to hang on to you. Shall I go up?

-Yeah.

Gregory takes me to the top of the Rock,

where it's believed Jesus's cross stood.

Right.

Just walk through?

(Oh, my goodness.)

This is it. This is the Stone of the Rock...

and through here I'm allowed to go under the altar and touch it.

You put your hand through a hole

and, quite a long way down, you feel the smoothness of the rock,

from all these 2,000 years of pilgrims reaching and touching it,

and this is supposed to be the place where -

you can see him on the cross here -

Jesus's crucifix was...

and where he died.

I really thought that perhaps this would be

so busy and such an attraction

that I wouldn't feel it,

but there is something, don't you think?

My experience is that the chaos that goes on in the Holy Sepulchre

is what Christ himself would have experienced

-on the day of the crucifixion.

-Yes.

There would have been absolute chaos - people running around

their business, doing a thousand different things.

It's fascinating.

Father Gregory has one more surprise for me.

This church also claims to contain

the actual tomb where Jesus was buried.

I'll let you now wait in line and go into the tomb by yourself

because I don't want to intrude on the experience.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

-OK, here we go. Bye.

-Bye-bye.

And this is the inner chamber.

This would be where they would have lain the body of Christ.

Apparently these stones are put here to protect

actually the ones under here, which are the real ones.

I'm going to light a candle.

Light into darkness.

Wonderful. Wonderful. Thank you.

Oh!

That was so peaceful. The deep peace inside there was something,

and now we're outside again in the hubbub of people taking selfies

and tour groups and everything

but, after an incredible few days of following him,

walking in the places he saw, he smelt, he experienced, it was...

it was...

It's a bit too soon to process what I'm feeling

but there was something really there and, for me, that was amazing.

Amazing.

Jesus's death looks like a humiliating, shameful defeat

but his followers made an astonishing claim...

..that God raised Jesus from the tomb

and that he had appeared to them, alive again.

The resurrection of Jesus changed everything.

It gave a meaning and a purpose to his life and his death,

and it kind of gave a confirmation of his unique, divine role.

Jesus became an object of veneration in his own right.

The risen Christ.

The Christ of faith.

Wow. What a long and incredible journey I've had this week

and now we've come to the end.

It's been amazing and it's going to take me some time

to really process what's happened this week...

and I think there's just one more thing I need to do.

Wasim, I'm back.

-Nice to see you.

-Nice to see you, too.

-I've made a decision.

-Finally.

-Yes. Can I sit down here?

-Please.

-Remember the mum and the two daughters?

-Yeah.

-I'd like that,

the very slim cross.

OK, let's do it.

Won't take long, will it?

No, it won't, and it's not painful, don't worry.

Already I'm scared.

First, the ball point pen.

'The story of Jesus's crucifixion in this city 2,000 years ago

'has been with me since childhood...'

-That's going to be nice, isn't it?

-Yeah. Beautiful.

-OK. OK.

-OK.

-I might have to close my eyes.

'..but coming here has truly transformed these ancient events

'into something vivid and real.'

And we will make it very thin.

Yes, please. Very thin.

'Experiencing the city he walked in

'and the traditions that have flourished here

'has brought me closer to Jesus and his sacrifice.'

Perfect.

I'm a real pilgrim.

You are a real pilgrim. Congratulations.

I'm a proper... Thank you very much.

'This tattoo is not just a souvenir of an unforgettable trip

'but a sign that, struggling Christian though I am,

'I have faith in him.'

That's lovely. Want to see it?

Isn't that nice?

Simple. Meaningful.

-Perfect.

-Traditional.

-Traditional.

I'm thrilled with that.

Thank you, Wasim. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much.

Gosh.

-Well, I won't forget this trip ever, will I?

-No.

-And that's the point.