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Heavenly City · 8. The cross and the empty tomb

Sky bridge

Read it in the Bible: Luke 23:32–47

A golden bridge across the sky. Jesus died on a cross, and the Bible says his death opened the way between God and people.

Read it
Luke 23:32–49 and John 19:28–30
Where
The Skull, also called Golgotha, near Jerusalem
Key words
"It is finished"
Real world
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

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Part 28 of 35 The cross

The soldiers led Jesus to a place called The Skull, and there they crucified him between two criminals. Jesus prayed: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). One of the criminals said, "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!" Jesus answered: "Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:42–43).

At noon, darkness came over the land for three hours. Then Jesus said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), and gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The Roman officer on guard said: "Truly this was the Son of God" (Matthew 27:51–54).

The Bible explains why Jesus died: "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18). "God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

The entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Photo: Berthold Werner, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bible The way is open

Jesus had said: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep" (John 10:11). Long before, Jacob dreamed of a stairway between earth and heaven (Genesis 28:12), and Jesus told his first followers that they would "see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man" (John 1:51). Like a bridge, Jesus joins people to God.

Imagined The bridge

White marble arches carry a golden walkway between the floating islands, so no part of the city is ever cut off from another.

Real world The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

In Jerusalem's Old City, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was first built in the 300s over the places where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried. In Jesus's time the spot was just outside the city wall, as the Bible describes. Pilgrims from all over the world visit it.

Art In this artwork

The illustration shows one section of a sky bridge: two white marble arches with a walkway on top, gold railings, small gold spires and flowering vines.

Look closer

  • Count the arches.
  • Find the flowering vines.

Think about it

  1. What did Jesus pray for the people who hurt him?
  2. What did Jesus promise the criminal who asked to be remembered?
  3. Why does the Bible say Jesus died?

Key words

Cross
Wooden beams on which the Romans put people to death.
Forgive
To let go of a wrong someone has done.
Paradise
A word for heaven, the garden of God.

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Sources

Bible quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is in the public domain. The other facts on this page come from these sources:

  • The Bible, Gospel of Luke
  • The Bible, Gospel of John
  • The Bible, Gospel of Matthew
  • The Bible, First Letter of Peter
  • The Bible, Letter to the Romans
  • The Bible, Genesis
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Church of the Holy Sepulchre"

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