God's promise

If you travel to Jesus’ birthplace in Bethlehem, you’ll discover that it is now surrounded by an Orthodox cathedral. The spot on which he was laid is way down in the bowels of the building. To get to it, you must descend a narrow, steep, cramped and dark stairwell made out of stone into a tight, silent, and dark room about the size of a small living room. This small sanctuary is usually ablaze with candlelight from numerous votives.

His tomb isn’t much different. To get into it, first you have to descend a slippery, dark and wet slope down into a small unlit cavern about the same size. The tom...