Thoughts about Rome, the Sistene Chapel and St. Peter's

Standing inside the Sistene Chapel is like standing inside the Bible. This is the room in which the cardinals are sequestered when a new pope is elected. The first observation is that it is not very large.  In  fact, tradition says it is the exact dimension of Solomon's Temple.  So here's what struck me (Pr Dave).  As the pope is being elected, the cardinals are literally sitting inside the Bible...facing the altar on which they place their ballots, the left side of the room features key stories from the Old Testament. The right side has an equal number of key stories in floor to ceiling paintings from the New Testament.  The ceiling, painted by Michaelangelo, depicts the creation through Noah, with the most famous painting of God's finger reaching out to touch Adam's finger smack dab in the middle.  Behind the altar on the front wall is Michaelangelo's famous painting of the Judgement and the end of the world.  This is called the pope's personal chapel and his apartment is literally a door or two away (though the present pope, Francis, has chosen to live in a humbler apartment). Imagine being called to make a prayerful decision on the new vicar of Christ being immersed fully in Gods word...awesome!
St. Peter's Basilica is literally the largest church in the world.  It took 1500 years to build, which kind of puts our New Song adventure of 10 years into perspective.  When you walk in you discover that the architecture is the message...it literally draws your eyes and spirit into an awareness of God's majesty and glory.  For us Lutherans, it carries a double edge...for this is the church that sparked Luther's resistance and the Reformation. Recall what ticked Luther off was the selling of indulgences, which were a scheme to raise funds to build St Peters.  Here are a few thoughts about Rome.  It is a place of deep meaning fir Christians. Paul's letter to the Romans was written to the Christians several years before he was brought here to die in captivity. It contains Paul's core theology and is what Luther was translating and teaching when he had his significant theological breakthrough (word alone, grace alone, faith alone, etc). Paul died here after spending three years under house arrest after appealing to Caesar.  Recall, Rome was also in charge at the time of Jesus' life and death.  And finally, this the place where the disciple Peter was crucified, upside down, because he felt he was not worthy to die as Jesus did.  In fact, tradition claims Peter's bones are buried under St Peter's dome.  Jesus said: "on this rock I will build my church"...and such is the case...for this is the main church of the pope, Christendom, and the world.  We are planning to attend mass there on Sunday.