{"id":5266,"date":"2019-04-01T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T00:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5266"},"modified":"2021-11-02T21:20:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T13:20:21","slug":"221-caiaphas-house-gallicantu-and-dungeon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5266","title":{"rendered":"221. Caiaphas\u2019 House: Gallicantu and Dungeon"},"content":{"rendered":"

57\u00a0<\/sup>Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered.\u00a058\u00a0<\/sup>But Peter was following him at a\u00a0distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end.\u00a059\u00a0<\/sup>Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death,\u00a060\u00a0<\/sup>but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward\u00a061\u00a0<\/sup>and said, \u201cThis fellow said, \u2018I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.\u2019\u201d\u00a062\u00a0<\/sup>The high priest stood up and said, \u201cHave you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?\u201d\u00a063\u00a0<\/sup>But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, \u201cI put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah,\u00a0the Son of God.\u201d\u00a064\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus said to him, \u201cYou have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

65\u00a0<\/sup>Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, \u201cHe has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy.\u00a066\u00a0<\/sup>What is your verdict?\u201d They answered, \u201cHe deserves death.\u201d\u00a067\u00a0<\/sup>Then they spat in his face and struck him; and some slapped him,\u00a068\u00a0<\/sup>saying, \u201cProphesy to us, you Messiah!\u00a0Who is it that struck you?\u201d<\/span><\/strong> [Matthew 26:57-75<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a>[1] Engraved art work on door of Church of St Peter in Gallicantu; [2] shaft through which prisoner was lowered to dungeon (Wikimedia Commons); [3] our group gathered in the dungeon at the house of Caiaphas [Photo credit: Dr. LL Chan].<\/span><\/p>\n

A visit to the site of Caiaphas\u2019s house always includes two very different and yet closely related parts.<\/span><\/p>\n

One is the church of St. Peter in Gallicantu<\/strong> (gallicantu is Latin for cock\u2019s-crow), constructed on top of the site of the house of Caiaphas the high priest. The church commemorates St. Peter\u2019s triple denial of Jesus, his immediate repentance and his reconciliation with Christ after the Resurrection. It is one of the most striking churches in Jerusalem, on the eastern side of Mount Zion. On its roof a golden rooster stands atop a black cross which recalls Christ\u2019s prophesy that Peter would deny him three times \u201cbefore the cock crows\u201d. The scene of\u00a0Peter\u2019s disgrace\u00a0was the courtyard of the house of the high priest Caiaphas to which Jesus was directly brought after his arrest at the Garden of Gethsemane. St Peter in Gallicantu was built by the Assumptionist congregation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The other is the dungeon<\/strong> beneath the house of Caiaphas, now the lower level of the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu. This dungeon and a guardroom next to it were both hewn out of a bedrock. A small window from the guardroom served as a\u00a0peephole\u00a0for a guard standing on a stone block. The only access to the dungeon was through a shaft from above, so the prisoner would have been lowered and raised by means of a\u00a0rope\u00a0harness. A mosaic depicting Jesus in such a harness is outside on the south wall of the church. In this dungeon Jesus was held for the night after enduring the mock trial before the Sanhedrin headed by the high priest, and before being led in chains to Pilate the next day. Today, the church is located above this dug-out, dark and gloomy place where Jesus spent the night before he was crucified. This sobering place has become known as \u201cChrist\u2019s Prison\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/u><\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

It was on his way to this dungeon that Jesus turned and looked at Peter after the cock crow (Luke 22:61). Imagine the Master looking at Peter with love and forgiveness and how that must have pierced Peter\u2019s heart. Severely troubled by his weakness, and with his thrice repeated \u201cI do not know the man\u201d still fresh in his mind, Peter went out and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:69-72).<\/span><\/p>\n

The three pictures above show from left, the copper door to the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu; the shaft through which the prisoner was lowered to the dungeon below; and our group in the tiny space of the dungeon where a member read from a lectern with Psalm 88 on display.<\/span><\/p>\n

It took quite a while for us to get to the dungeon, as tour groups took turns to access the place of limited space down a narrow staircase, not originally there but recently built for pilgrims.<\/span><\/p>\n

The experience at the dungeon left not a single dry eye amongst members of our group.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. We heard the American pilgrims singing \u201cWere You There\u201d.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The way down to the dungeon and the dungeon itself were both very tight in space. The queue was long and the turn for our group took quite a while. Even as we waited our turn, it was already a losing battle fighting back our tears while the American group ahead of us sang the heart-wrenching American spiritual \u201cWere You There?\u201d The talented male and female voices synchronizing in perfection, it was a sheer gift from the Lord at the right place and at the right time. We just \u201cknew\u201d it; the Lord has staged a \u201cprofessional\u201d choir for this<\/em> audience, us.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?\u00a0(Were you there?)<\/span>
    \n Were you there when they crucified my Lord?\u00a0<\/span>
    \n O, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.\u00a0<\/span>
    \n Were you there when they crucified my Lord?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Were you there when they nail’d him to the cross? (Were you there?)<\/span>
    \n Were you there when they nail’d him to the cross?<\/span>
    \n O sometimes it causes me to tremble! tremble! tremble!<\/span>
    \n Were you there when they nail’d him to the cross?<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Were you there when they pierced him in the side? (Were you there?)<\/span>
    \n Were you there when they pierced him in the side?<\/span>
    \n O sometimes it causes me to tremble! tremble! tremble!<\/span>
    \n Were you there when they pierced him in the side?<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Were you there when the sun refused to shine? (Were you there?)<\/span>
    \n Were you there when the sun refused to shine?<\/span>
    \n O sometimes it causes me to tremble! tremble! tremble!<\/span>
    \n Were you there when the sun refused to shine? \u2026.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    2. We read from Psalm 88<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    In the dungeon, where all 32 of us just managed to locate ourselves with standing room only, a group member read from Psalm 88 at the lectern. It is titled “Prayer for Help in Despondency”. There was total silence. It was as if the psalm was a divine design to quietly pierce every heart that day.<\/span><\/p>\n

    1<\/sup>O\u00a0Lord, God of my salvation,<\/span>
    \nwhen, at night, I cry out in your presence,<\/span>
    \n2\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>let my prayer come before you;<\/span>
    \nincline your ear to my cry.<\/span><\/p>\n

    3\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For my soul is full of troubles,<\/span>
    \nand my life draws near to Sheol.<\/span>
    \n4\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;<\/span>
    \n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I am like those who have no help,<\/span>
    \n 5\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>like those forsaken among the dead,<\/span>
    \n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0like the slain that lie in the grave,<\/span>
    \n like those whom you remember no more,<\/span>
    \n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for they are cut off from your hand.<\/span>
    \n 6\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>You have put me in the depths of the Pit,<\/span>
    \n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in the regions dark and deep.<\/span>
    \n7\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Your wrath lies heavy upon me,<\/span>
    \nand you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    8\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>You have caused my companions to shun me;<\/span>
    \nyou have made me a thing of horror to them.<\/span>
    \nI am shut in so that I cannot escape;<\/span>
    \n9\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0my eye grows dim through sorrow.<\/span>
    \nEvery day I call on you, O\u00a0Lord;<\/span>
    \nI spread out my hands to you.<\/span>
    \n10\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Do you work wonders for the dead?<\/span>
    \nDo the shades rise up to praise you? Selah<\/em><\/span>
    \n11\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,<\/span>
    \nor your faithfulness in Abaddon?<\/span>
    \n12\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Are your wonders known in the darkness,<\/span>
    \nor your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?<\/span><\/p>\n

    13\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>But I, O\u00a0Lord, cry out to you;<\/span>
    \nin the morning my prayer comes before you.<\/span>
    \n14\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>O\u00a0Lord, why do you cast me off?<\/span>
    \nWhy do you hide your face from me?<\/span>
    \n15\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Wretched and close to death from my youth up,<\/span>
    \nI suffer your terrors; I am desperate.[    a<\/a>]<\/sup><\/span>
    \n16\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Your wrath has swept over me;<\/span>
    \nyour dread assaults destroy me.<\/span>
    \n17\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>They surround me like a flood all day long;<\/span>
    \nfrom all sides they close in on me.<\/span>
    \n18\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;<\/span>
    \nmy companions are in darkness.<\/span><\/p>\n

    3. We were overcome by what we saw<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    Greatly adding to our imagination was the guide\u2019s explanation as to how Jesus was tied by ropes and lowered from the ground floor, through the shaft<\/em>, to the subterranean dungeon. It was not a proper prison cell, but a deep hole through the ground and so a dungeon, and a seriously polluted place..<\/span><\/p>\n

    The dungeon would have been pitch black at the time of Jesus who had to be hung on ropes throughout the night so he could be hoisted up the next morning. Just as the Psalmist had written: You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep<\/em>. It was easy for us to appreciate how horrid Jesus\u2019 incarceration was from the vision revealed to holy Mystics. This is how Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich describes this polluted subterranean dungeon in her revelations in\u00a0The Dolorous Passion<\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n