this important part of their faith. for a religion that had been illegal for over 200 years, it s a defining moment. she makes the holy land holy, and the churches that she built are ways of literally cementing in the ground christianity in the holy land. it reinstates it as the place where people want to go and remember jesus passion. arguably, helena and constantine s biggest contribution to jerusalem is the church of the holy sepulchre, said to be built on the site they believed was golgotha, the place where jesus was executed, but did they get the location right?
jerusalem, the location in the bible for the ultimate act in the life of jesus. golgotha, this place was the defining event of jesus ministry. it s where he was crucified by the romans. millions of pilgrims have come here to follow in the footsteps of jesus, but his passion would never have reached its climax were it not for one man pontius pilate. the question of pilate s culpability and his desire to execute jesus is a very complicated one. but it needs to be remembered that only pontius pilate had the authority to crucify jesus. in the bible, the way to the crucifixion begins on palm sunday, when jesus enters jerusalem. i think he had resolved, well
here, that he talked here where she s standing. you realize that this is not just a myth. jerusalem is not a made-up city. jesus is not a made-up person. it s an incredibly powerful experience. according to all four gospels, roman soldiers marched jesus of nazareth to a hill called golgotha, the place of
true god standing right in front of him. golgotha, this place was the defining event of jesus ministry. it s where he was crucified by the romans. it s where he was said to have raised from the dead. if you think of the impact that christianity has had on the world, it all comes back to one spot: golgotha, the church of the holy sepulchre. we often interpret the death of jesus as a saving act, and yet the paradox here is that without pilate, there is no saving act. without the death of jesus, there is no christianity.
who come each year, this is believed to be the site of golgotha, location of the climactic event in the life of jesus. but the archaeology is not conclusive. we don t have the evidence that tells us definitively that this is the place that jesus was crucified. this is merely our best guess. this fits what we know, what we know from the story of jesus. in the bible, there s no doubt who sends him to the cross: pontius pilate, prefect of judaea. you brought me this man as one who was perverting the people. there s only two crimes under roman law that could lead to