Glorious! Christ Is Risen, Risen Indeed!

Founded in 1890, the  École biblique is the French School of Archaeology
located a quarter of a mile away from the walls of old Jersualem, Israel
Photo credit: google images

Blessings on this glorious Easter Sunday! Soon, I will be leaving for Israel to begin post-doctoral studies at the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem for the entire month of April. If I don't get totally enamored by the sites of old Jerusalem, I will try to post on my adventures in the holy city (daily, weekly, randomly?... no promises here) on the blog. The École biblique happens to located right across the street from the Garden Tomb, one of two possible sites for where Jesus was buried. 

The Garden Tomb, the alternative location for the burial of Jesus
beyond the traditional site at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons © 2008

Roughly within a two-mile, well-within-walking-distance radius are the Temple Mount, the tower of David, the church of the Holy Sepulchre, and a dozen of other historic and archaeological sites. I'm planning on using the mornings to explore the old Jerusalem and leave the afternoons, evenings, and late nights to intensive study, research and writing. I'll have to be disciplined to keep on my writing schedule and not get lost in the sites and beauty of Jerusalem and beyond.
    Interesting enough, the campus of the École biblique has its own rich history. It is located within St. Stephen's monastery of the Dominican order, which was rededicated in 1900 over the remains of the much older Byzantine church built by Empress Eudocia in the 5th century A.D. to house the relics of St. Stephen. 

Statue of St. Stephen (1st Christian martyr of Acts 6:8-8:2) in the atrium
of the Dominican monastery and home to the École biblique
Photo credit: google images

I will be living on campus, have 24-hour library access, and employ to the best of my ability the resources of this first-class research facility. I'm also very much looking forward to the meal times for conversation with other scholars and the Dominican residents. I'm sure I'll learn much from them!
   On this Easter Sunday, I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 6:14: "By his power, God raised the Lord and will also raise us." May the power of God which raised his Son two-thousand years ago, and with His resurrection, crushed sin's grip on our world and death's reign, strengthen your witness to, service for, and life in Christ this day until the Lord himself calls us to our own resurrection. Amen!