(shofar blares)

- This week on Jerusalem Dateline.

A special Easter/Passover program

as Christians and Jews come to Jerusalem

to celebrate the Exodusof the Jewish people

and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We look at the UpperRoom, the Tomb of Jesus,

and retrace the steps ofthe children of Israel

as they leave the bondageof Egypt 3,000 years ago.

All this and more thisweek on Jerusalem Dateline.

(driving music)

Hello, and welcome to this special edition

of Jerusalem Dateline.

I'm Chris Mitchell coming to you this week

just outside the wallsof Jerusalem's Old City,

where Jews and Christiansare coming to celebrate

both Easter and Passover.

First, we retrace the stepsof the ministry of Jesus.

At the beginning of his ministry,

he was baptized by John the Baptist

not far from here in the River Jordan.

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For Christians, beingbaptized in the Jordan River

is a profound spiritual experience.

- Because it's my dreamand Jesus was baptized here

and we were blessed.

- I feel like I birth again

because Jesus was baptized here.

- [Chris] The site iscalled Qasr el Yahud.

Israel developed this sitefor Christian pilgrims,

and now, about three-quartersof a million people

visit here each year.

While there's no proofthis is the exact location

of the baptism of Jesus,it remains a special place.

- I read the Bible, I preach the Bible,

and for us to be here andactually experience it firsthand,

it sort of underscores and affirms

what they hear week after week

as we present God's Word to the people.

- This is the area wheresome people believe

the prophet Elijah ascended into heaven

in a fiery chariot andwhere the children of Israel

crossed over the River Jordaninto the Promised Land.

Tour guide Ben DavidKatriel gives two reasons

why this might be the areaJoshua brought the Israelites

on their way to Jericho.

- There are passages in the Jordan,

places that are easier to pass.

That never changes.

That's topographic.

But except that, we have Jericho.

There is no argument aboutthe location of Jericho.

- Actually, this is thefirst Aliyah that took place.

This is a combination where the Bible

or the stories of the Bible meet.

- [Chris] Retired General Uzi Dayan

says the Jewish peoplereturned here from Egypt

more than 3,000 years ago.

Three millennia later,Jews are still returning

to the land of Israel, whereyou can see biblical prophecies

come to life.

- This can happen only here.

You can't do that in anyother country in the world.

And if you believe in the Book,

so Israel is the best place for that.

- Come and make this part of your plans

'cause this will enrich your faith

and deepen your devotion to Jesus,

which is what it's all about.

- For many, it's especially meaningful

just before the celebration

of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As Christians celebrate Easter,

they remember the Passover meal

that Jesus had with his disciples.

Here in Jerusalem, the UpperRoom is the traditional site

of that Last Supper, andnow Israeli archaeologists

are finding more about this place

with state of the art technology.

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The Bible tells us Jesushad a final Passover meal

with his disciples beforegoing to the cross.

The Cenaculum on Mount Zionis the traditional site,

but is this where it really happened?

Christian pilgrims from all over the world

come here to the Upper Room

to remember the LastSupper of Jesus Christ.

Now, Israeli archaeologistsknow more about this site

than ever before.

- The Last Supper Room isone of the most holy places

in Jerusalem.

We couldn't conducthere clear and classical

archeological excavation.

- [Chris] So they turned tostate of the art technology

to uncover the Upper Room's secrets.

- Using laser measurement, laser scanning,

and an advanced photography technique,

we managed to create anaccurate 3-D model of the place.

We even managed to penetrateinside the entrance stones.

- [Chris] For years, many wondered

when was the room builtand is it the real place.

- Suddenly, we needed to decipher signs

and symbols from the wall.

Suddenly, we managed to date it,

and this wonderful structure

is dating to the Crusader Period.

- [Chris] Archeologist Amit Re'em said

they discovered two biblical symbols

never before seen in the Upper Room.

- [Amit] On the keystone, you could see

the Holy Lamb, the Agnus Dei.

- [Chris] On anotherkeystone, there's a lion.

- The lion actually isa symbol of King David.

Now we know according to the Bible

that Jesus is a descendantof the Davidic dynasty.

- [Chris] Underneath the12th century Crusader church,

there's evidence of a magnificent

4th century Byzantine church.

- And maybe the Byzantinebuilt their church

on much earlier and ancient, sacred site.

- [Chris] For many,visiting the Upper Room

is a moving experience.

- It's fantastic.

It's like this place hasthe power of the presence.

It's like a different note on the scale

of the song of God.

- Being in Israel during this season

and then being in placeslike the Upper Room

just make a huge difference in my faith.

- [Chris] Re'em saysit's too early to know

if this is the placeJesus had his Last Supper

with this disciples, but hesaid he's learned one thing

as an archaeologist about traditions.

- Hear these ancient tradition.

Explore there because insidethem is hidden some truths.

- These are busy days in Jerusalem

as the city marks bothPassover and Holy Week.

Inside the Old City walls,discoveries at Herod's Palace

have caught the attention of both Jewish

and Christian scholars.

More than 2,000 years of history

are recorded in one building,

where Pontius Pilatemay have sentenced Jesus

before his crucifixion.

John Waage explains.

- At the western edge of the Old City,

the Tower of David stands above the walls.

16 years ago, archaeologistsfound a building

while working on theTower of David Museum.

Records on its walls go backeven before the time of Jesus

and the Roman governor whosentenced him to the cross,

Pontius Pilate.

For years, experts suggested

that Pilate handed down his death sentence

from Antonia's Fortress onthe other side of the city

where the Roman soldiers were housed.

But recent evidence, uncovered here

at the site of King Herod's Palace,

indicates that the luxury-loving Pilate

was more likely to havepronounced judgment here.

Archaeologist Amit Re'em

helped discover the palace site in 1999.

He's familiar with thehistory on these walls

from Herod's time until theBritish put a prison on it

in the 1940s.

- Until now, those impressive walls

are the only remains from Herod's Palace.

We do not know what happenedto the superstructures,

to the palace itself.

Maybe it was destroyed in the big revolt.

Maybe it was destroyed by the Romans.

Maybe it was destroyed bythe Crusaders or the Ottoman.

- We don't know exactlywhere Jesus was tried,

where he had his interviewbefore Pontius Pilate,

but we know it's somewherein Herod's Palace.

- [John] David Pileggi ispastor of Christ Church,

just steps away from the site.

- We know that the palacehad Herod the Great,

eventually became Romanproperty after Herod's death,

and that every year PontiusPilate would come from Caesarea

to Jerusalem here duringthe time of Passover

to oversee the security ofthe city during the festival

that the Jews called the Feast of Freedom.

And it was at this time where,

if there was going tobe trouble in Jerusalem,

it would be during the Passover holiday.

- [John] Pileggi says that,in a way, the Tower of David

encompasses the entirelife story of Jesus.

- The scholars had beensaying for half a century

that the life of Jesusbegins at the Tower of David

or what was then Herod's Palace,

that's when the magicome to visit King Herod,

and his life ends basicallywhen Pontius Pilate

sentences him to death prettymuch in the same location.

So there's some veryinteresting irony in this story.

- [John] Israeli archaeologist Renee Sivan

is still struck by its power and opulence

even though she helped begin the digging.

- Jerusalem is like an onion.

You peel it, peel it, peelit, and it never ends.

But then you cry a bit, but not too much.

That is what happens here.

- [John] Pileggi calls the Tower of David

the best museum in the city

and says tourists would do wellto start their journey here.

- Now we have the extra bonusof having the very place

where Jesus was sent toexecution by Pontius Pilate,

and this will helpChristians better visualize

those monumentous events thathappened to Jesus the Messiah,

Jesus of Nazareth, in thelast week of his life.

- [John] And just a couple of miles away,

the Mount of Olives, wherescripture says he'll come again.

John Waage, CBN News, Jerusalem.

(driving music)

- [Chris] Up next, come withus as archaeologists uncover

what might be the tomb of Jesus Christ.

(upbeat music)

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(driving music)

- For the first time in centuries,

researchers have uncoveredwhat some believe

to be the tomb of Jesus

inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

It's in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City.

Here's a story we did whena major restoration was done

on the 4th century church.

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This National Geographic video

shows workmen uncovering the marble slab

over the tomb on October 26th.

As the video says, the modest tomb

has never before been photographedand no drawings exist.

It reported conservationalistswere surprised

to find something theirinstruments didn't detect,

a layer of debrisbeneath the marble cover.

Then underneath the debris,they found another marble slab

with a cross carved into its surface.

Then they saw the original burial bed.

Emperor Constantineordered the church built

in the 4th century.

His mother, Queen Helena, came here

to discover the tombwhere Jesus was buried.

The Roman Emperor Hadrian,in the 2nd century,

built a temple here tothe goddess Aphrodite.

The historian Eusebius said he did it

to cover the tomb where Jesus was buried.

The examination of the tomb

is part of a restoration project.

Workers are preparing thestructure known as the Edicule,

which means little house.

It was built to protect the tomb.

The last repair work done on the Edicule

took place over 200 years ago.

Professor Antonia Moropoulouleads the restoration

and told CBN News earlierthis year about the project.

- We will remove the marbleslabs, the stone slabs.

- [Chris] For the workers,it's more than a job.

Vasyleyos Zafeylys isa Greek civil engineer.

(driving music)

- [Chris] Coming up, thestory of Exodus from Egypt

in the Bible.

Did it really happen?

- The historic bondsbetween the Jewish people

and the land of Israel cannot be broken.

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(driving music)

- All over the world, the Jewish people

celebrate the Exodus ofthe children of Israel

from the land of Egypt.

But is the biblical story true?

More than a decade ago,

filmmaker Tim Mahoney beganto investigate the Exodus,

one of the Bible's biggest stories.

His journey led to a personal faith crisis

and an award-winning documentary

that some people call a game changer.

This is from the film Patternsof Evidence: The Exodus.

According to the book of Exodus,

Moses led the childrenof Israel out of Egypt

and into the wilderness for 40 years.

Then Joshua led themacross the Jordan River

over here near Jerichointo the Promised Land.

Some say it's just a fable,

but others say this newdocumentary provides evidence

that demands a verdict.

- I actually went to the location

where the events weresupposed to happen in Goshen,

in the eastern delta, and wentto the archaeological sites,

and that's when I was told

that there was no evidence for the Exodus.

- [Chris] Filmmaker Tim Mahoney's research

into the Exodus and theodyssey that followed

produced startling results.

- In six steps in the right sequence,

and we matched the story ofthe Bible, in all the steps,

and shows evidence for the Bible

that people have never seen before.

- [Chris] The film proposes

that, when you get the timing right,

archaeology matches history.

- The whole thing, fromthe beginning of Mesogenan

in Egypt, the slavery,Moses in the Exodus,

the conquest of the Promised Land,

it's all there in one nice, neat line,

but it's way too early.

You look for a collapsein Egyptian civilization

and that's where you'llfind Moses and the Exodus.

- When you put those cities side by side,

the biblical account and the archaeology

match extremely well.

- There's this idea that Rameses

is the pharaoh of the Exodus,

and I think that happens ina particular time of history.

And when everyone looksat that particular time,

they're actually correct

that there is no evidence for the Exodus.

But other archaeologists andEgyptologists were saying,

but wait a minute, there are evidences

that are earlier than Ramesesthat match this story.

Mahoney presents both sides ofthe archaeological argument.

Did the Exodus really happen?

- I hate to disappoint people,

but we have no evidencefor a single mass migration

of people from one countrycoming into another country.

I don't believe there was a single event

that we can call the Exodus.

This person couldn't have seen all this.

He imagined it.

- I'm very much againstchronological revisionism.

- So far, there's no documentedevidence about the Exodus.

- Exodus did not happen in the way

that it is described in the text.

- How can we prove that?

- The film is very, very convincing

because we give both sides of it.

We let you hear fromarchaeologists who say

there is no evidence, and why,

and then we let youhear from archaeologists

and Egyptologists who say there is.

- [Chris] Using stateof the art animation,

groundbreaking archaeology,and new interpretation,

it's already made a profound impact.

- And we would show these films to people

who had no understandingor interest in the story.

Even atheists saw it.

And what they said was,wow, I love this film.

I love this approach.

One atheist wrote I guess you did prove

that this event might have happened,

but it doesn't mean thatthere were any miracles.

(speaking foreign language)

Israel.

- [Chris] Mahoney saysit's a powerful tool

to reach the skeptic.

- If you've got family membersthat don't believe in God

or if you have people that are suspicious

or want a scientific approach,

this film gives youthat type of opportunity

to have those kinds of conversations.

It's one of the mostneutral and most intriguing

types of films that allowyou to have that opportunity.

- [Chris] The filmchallenges a powerful notion

that the Bible isn't true.

- For the last 50, 60, 70 years,

people have been verycritical of the Bible.

If the story of the Exodus isn't true,

then what Jesus Christsaid, and the apostles,

about Moses and the Exodus,

then those statements are false.

The whole Bible has a foundation

within the story of the Exodus.

What this film does isthat it actually shows

where the pattern of evidenceis and that, I think,

has never been done before.

- The patterns of evidencethat Mahoney found

are compelling.

Well, at each Passover,Jewish people around the world

celebrate the Exodus fromEgypt with a Passover seder.

One of the key elements isunleavened bread, or matzah.

Here's a look at how theymake matzah here in Israel.

The Bible calls it thebread of affliction,

unleavened bread, or matzah.

Every year, the Jewishpeople are commanded

to retell the story oftheir Exodus from Egypt

and to eat unleavenedbread for seven days.

- Because the Lord madethem leave very fast,

they had to make bread thatdidn't have time to rise

and they ate this flatbread, which is matzah.

- Most Israelis take the commandment

to eat unleavened bread very seriously,

and many actually like it.

Grocery stores like this onedevote whole sections to it.

And besides regular matzah,

you can get egg, wholewheat, and even chocomatzah.

- The regular matzah must bemade of flour and water only.

The flour would look toyou like regular flour,

but it's not regular flour.

- [Chris] Roy Wolf is vicepresident of Matzot Aviv.

He told CBN News the whole process,

from mixing to rollingto shaping to baking,

must be finished in 18 minutes

because the momentwater touches the flour,

it starts rising.

- In reality, our processis much, much faster.

We want to be as efficient as possible

and the whole process takes no longer

than three, four minutes.

But every 15 minutes, in order to avoid,

to have any leftovers of leavened dough,

we have to clean the mixer system.

- [Chris] Wolf is the sixth generation

to work in his family'sbusiness, which started in 1887.

They've been in thecurrent factory since 1946.

- And the basements here,

where we have the flour silos today,

the Haganah, the first defense forces,

used to hide weaponsfrom the British mandate.

Since 1946, we've been here making matzah.

Of course, the factory wasrefurbished several times.

- [Chris] At Matzot Aviv,

they make about 20 tons of matzah per day.

They start in Octoberand work around the clock

for the last month, except on the Sabbath,

to provide matzah to Jewishcommunities in Israel

and around the world.

- We are exporting it to over 35 countries

to all Jewish communitiesaround the world,

from the large communitiesin North America

to even the smallest community,

there's one personthat's in Wallis Island,

he's the doctor of the island,

and we are sending him matzah every year

so he will be able to have a seder

with matzah from Israel.

But we also have Christiancommunities buying matzah

in countries like Korea and Singapore,

where it's, I've been toldthat, in some churches,

it's been used as the holy bread.

- [Chris] The Last Supper wouldhave been a Passover seder

with unleavened bread.

Because of that, many Christians

like to take communion with matzah.

Some even say that thedesign of the matzah,

striped and pierced, issymbolic of the Messiah himself.

You might think withall this matzah making

that the Wolf family wouldget tired of Passover,

but not so.

- We're waiting for the seder.

I usually come very tired to the seder

because I'm working until thesame day in the afternoon,

but it means a lot.

This holiday, of course,means a lot to us.

- [Chris] One Israeli comparedmatzah to a data drive,

passing along informationfrom generation to generation.

(driving music)

Coming up, what Christian pilgrims

feel about being in Jerusalem

to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

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(driving music)

- It's a special time of the year

to be here in Jerusalem.

Here's what some had tosay about the experience.

- Just being here in the Old City

and being where all these rocksare, the stones and things,

knowing this is where Jesuswalked and ministered.

We just love being here.

The atmosphere is awesome.

- I just love the feastdays and just all the people

and, you know, it'sResurrection Sunday right.

- [Chris] Is it specialfor Easter to be here?

- Yes, it's very specialbecause I know, from us,

because we're Armenians.

It's like a blessing to be here,

but it's not about the place where I am.

Wherever I am, Jesus is my Savior.

He is the one who's with me all the time.

- Jesus Christ is not a religion

Jesus Christ, it's God.

He came to save us and we believe in him.

The history is Jesus Christ here

and the people, the Bible history.

- [Chris] What is itlike for you to be here

during Easter week?

- Oh, it's marvelous (laughs).

It was the best place we ever can be.

(driving music)

- Well it is an excitingtime to be here in Jerusalem.

Well, to all our Jewish friends,

(speaking foreignlanguage), Happy Passover.

And to our Christian friends,

Happy Easter, Resurrection Day.

That's all for this edition.

Remember, you can followus on Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, and YouTube.

I'm Chris Mitchell.

We'll see you next timeon Jerusalem Dateline.

(driving music)