of meaning changed from the content of the pod, or envelope containing the grain, to the
empty husk or hull cavity henceforth styled a “grotto.”
Christian religious writers generally concede the spiritual import of the Grotto to be
the chamber or tomb of Jesus’ death, thus considering the term “grotto” in the sense of a
burial vault, or crypt. To the contrary, however, the Grotto represents the place of Jesus’
birth, not his death; it is a nativity grotto, for it bears no resemblance to, nor does it
suggest, the sepulchre in which the Lord Jesus was laid after his crucifixion on
Golgotha’s hill.
The grave in which the body of the Savior was placed is scripturally described as a
“new tomb, which he [Joseph of Arimathea] had hewn out in the [solid] rock” (Matt.
27:59,60; Luke 23:53; John 19:41). Apparently, one of the reasons Divine Purpose
provided a burial chamber hewn out of solid rock, and arranged to have a great stone
placed and a guard set before the entrance, was to contradict the argument of those who
would later belittle the testimony of Jesus’ resurrection and claim his body had been
stolen or spirited away by his disciples through a secret passage. Another factor to be
considered is that since Joseph of Arimathea was a man of wealth and an honorable
counselor (Matt. 27:57; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50), it is reasonable to assume that the
facing of the interior walls of this burial chamber was artificially dressed or finished
into a compartment befitting the dignity of a person of his rank. Certainly, then, the
tomb in which Jesus’ body was placed was not of crustaceous stone composition
(resembling the interior of a geode), as is found in the Grotto in the Pyramid.
The key to the mystery of the meaning of the Pyramid Grotto is its appearance.
Many will be surprised to learn that Jesus was not born in a wooden stable. Such a
tradition is entirely unrecognized by Christians living in the Middle East, where it has
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