The Western Wall
O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple, they have
reduced Jerusalem to rubble... We are objects of reproach to our neighbours, of
scorn and derision to those around us. How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire? (Psalm 79:1, 4-5)
David's lament has epitomised the deep feelings and
aspirations of Jews down the centuries who have come to the Western or "Wailing"
Wall to pray (Psalm 79:1,4-5). When the Temple was destroyed in July 70 A.D. the
Western Wall became the focus of Jewish religious life in Jerusalem. The Hebrew
prophets themselves gave an answer to this lament, although their message has
not always been welcomed or heeded. "Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger
and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may
turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing..." (Joel 2:13-14)
The lowest seven courses of stone visible in the Western
Wall date back to the Jewish Temple built by Herod the Great between 18 B.C. and
A.D. 28. Below the pavement level a further 19 courses reach a depth of 21 metres.
Some of these stones which make up the retaining wall of the Temple Mount measure
more than 12 metres in length and one is known to weigh 400 tons. The Temple walls
were constructed so precisely that there was no need for mortar or cement, the
stones simply resting one on top of the other. The entire Western Wall of the
Temple Mount is 485 metres long although only 57 metres is accessible today. Above
the Herodian foundations, the stone work is made up of progressively smaller and
smaller stones which date back to the Roman, Muslim and Ottoman periods.
It is possible that the open area adjacent to the Wall
today was at the time of Christ an open porticoed plaza used for public gatherings,
described by Josephus as the Xystos. It lies on top of some 21 metres of debris
built up during the Hellenistic and Roman periods filling in and levelling what
was once the Tyropoeon Valley. Archaeology has also revealed that this area was
previously the site of a Hellenistic gymnasium built by Jason (2 Maccabees 4:12).
Even earlier burial remains discovered here indicate that this area was outside
Solomon's walls in the 8th Century B.C. before the city expanded west.
Jews were prohibited from entering Jerusalem following
the destruction of the city in A.D. 70 and it was not until sometime after the
death of Hadrian in 138 that they were allowed to return annually on the 9th July
to lament the destruction of the Temple. Gradually as the prohibition was relaxed
Jews began to settle in Jerusalem in small numbers and come to pray near the Temple
Mount on other occasions. With the capture of Jerusalem by the Muslims and the
construction of shrines on the Temple Mount area, Jews were again denied access
and the Western Wall became the nearest location for pilgrimage. For many centuries
Jews came here to pray, especially on Friday evenings at the beginning of their
Sabbath, to lament the downfall of Jerusalem and the Temple. In 1930 the League
of Nations declared the area around the Western Wall, known as the Moors' Quarter,
to be a Moslem holy place, although the narrow ally adjacent to the Wall remained
accessible to Jews for prayer. However, when Israel occupied the city in 1967
they demolished Arab homes and mosques next to the Wall to create the wide plaza
now utilised by Jews as a synagogue for prayer, celebrations and Barmitzvah ceremonies.
Today the Western Wall is a vivid reminder that God
no longer dwells in temples made by hands (Acts 17:24). Jesus fulfilled and annulled
the role of the Temple in the purposes of God. Jesus cleansed the Temple which
was originally intended to be for all nations (John 2:13-17; Malachi 3:1). He
also predicted the destruction of the Temple because the Jews rejected their Messiah
(Matthew 23:37-24:2). Jesus taught that He Himself was greater than the Temple
(Matthew 12:6) and when His authority was questioned described His body as the
Temple that mattered (John 2:19). Jesus also taught that the Church would be the
new eschatological Temple (Matthew 18:19-20; John 14:23) a theme developed by
the Apostles (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16). By His death Jesus
has opened a new way into the presence of God making the Jewish Temple unnecessary,
a mere fading shadow of the true reality in heaven (Ephesians 2:14-22; Hebrews
8:1-10:18). The New Jerusalem which will one day come down from heaven needs no
Temple for we shall see God face to face (Revelation 21:22; 22:4). God's answer
therefore to those who still seek Him at the Western Wall or even a rebuilt Temple
may be summarised in Jesus reply to the Samaritan woman, "Believe me,
woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain
nor in Jerusalem... Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers
the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and
in truth." (John 4:21-24).