Arrest, trials, crucifixion, and burial

The passion, the empty tomb and the ascension

Mark 14:43 to 16:20; John 18 to 21 · 14 stops · 19 readings

Arrest to ascension, measured in a few hundred metres of Jerusalem — then Emmaus, the lake in Galilee, and the Mount of Olives one last time.

Everything from the arrest to the burial happens inside the walls of one city, most of it within a few hundred metres. Jesus is taken in the olive grove and marched to the high priest's residence, where Annas questions him, Caiaphas and the council condemn him before dawn, and Peter denies him three times in the courtyard below. The Roman trial shuttles him across the city: Pilate at the praetorium, Herod Antipas, Pilate again, and finally the sentence. The way out to Golgotha is short, the crucifixion lasts six hours, three of them in darkness, and the body is buried nearby in a new tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea before the Sabbath begins. The women come back at sunrise on the first day of the week to find the stone moved and the tomb empty. What follows spreads out across the country again: seven miles to Emmaus with two disciples who do not recognise him until he breaks bread, a locked room in Jerusalem where Thomas is absent and then a week later is not, a charcoal fire on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where Peter is asked three times whether he loves him, a mountain in Galilee where the commission is given to more than five hundred, and the Mount of Olives one last time.

The stops

1. 1

   Gethsemane

   ProbableTraditional Garden of Gethsemane · Jerusalem

   • Jesus is betrayed, arrested and forsakenMark 14:43-52; Matthew 26:47-56; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12
2. 2

   High priest's residence

   DebatedJerusalem representative point near traditional Gallicantu site · Jerusalem

   • Jesus first examined by Annas, the ex-high-priestJohn 18:12-14, 19-23
   • Jesus hurriedly tried and condemned by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, who mock and buffet himMark 14:53, 55-65; Matthew 26:57, 59-68; Luke 22:54, 63-65; John 18:24
   • Peter thrice denies his lordMark 14:54, 66-72; Matthew 26:58, 69-75; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27
3. 3

   Pilate's praetorium

   DebatedJerusalem city representative point · Jerusalem

   • Jesus before Pilate the first timeMark 15:1-5; Matthew 27:2, 11-14; Luke 23:1-5; John 18:28-38
4. 4

   Jerusalem

   High confidenceJerusalem settlement centroid · Jerusalem area

   • Jesus before Herod antipas the tetrarchLuke 23:6-12
5. 5

   Pilate's praetorium

   DebatedJerusalem city representative point · Jerusalem

   • Jesus the second time before PilateMark 15:6-15; Matthew 27:15-26; Luke 23:13-25; John 18:39-19:16
6. 6

   Route to Golgotha

   DebatedTraditional Via Dolorosa representative point · Jerusalem Old City

   • Jesus on the way to the cross (via dolorosa) on GolgothaMark 15:20-23; Matthew 27:31-34; Luke 23:26-33; John 19:16-17
7. 7

   Golgotha

   ProbableChurch of the Holy Sepulchre complex · Jerusalem Old City

   • The first three hours on the crossMark 15:24-32; Matthew 27:35-44; Luke 23:33-43; John 19:18-27
   • The three hours of darkness from noon to three p.m.Mark 15:33-37; Matthew 27:45-50; Luke 23:44-46; John 19:28-30
   • The phenomena accompanying the death of ChristMark 15:38-41; Matthew 27:51-56; Luke 23:45, 47-49
8. 8

   Tomb of Jesus

   ProbableEdicule/rock-cut tomb area, Holy Sepulchre · Jerusalem Old City

   • The burial of the body of Jesus in the tomb of Joseph of arimathea after proof of his deathMark 15:42-46; Matthew 27:57-60; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-42
   • The visit of the women to the tomb of Jesus about sunrise sunday morning and the message of the angels about the empty tombMark 16:2-8; Matthew 28:5-8; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:1
9. 9

   Emmaus

   DebatedEl-Qubeibeh candidate · West Bank

   • The appearance to two disciples (cleopas and another) on the way to EmmausMark 16:12, 13; Luke 24:13-32
10. 10

    Jerusalem

    High confidenceJerusalem settlement centroid · Jerusalem area

    • The appearance to the astonished disciples (Thomas absent) with a commission and their failure to convince ThomasMark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25
11. 11

    Sea of Galilee shore

    DebatedTabgha traditional appearance site · Northwest Sea of Galilee

    • The appearance to seven disciples beside the sea of Galilee. The miraculous draught of fishesJohn 21
12. 12

    Appointed mountain in Galilee

    DebatedRepresentative point in Galilean highlands · Galilee

    • The appearance to above five hundred on an appointed mountain in Galilee, and a commission givenMark 16:15-18; Matthew 28:16-20; 1 Corinthians 15:6
13. 13

    Jerusalem

    High confidenceJerusalem settlement centroid · Jerusalem area

    • The appearance to the disciples with another commissionLuke 24:44-49; Acts 1:3-8
14. 14

    Ascension area on the Mount of Olives

    ProbableChapel of the Ascension traditional site · Jerusalem

    • The last appearance and the ascensionMark 16:19, 20; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:9-12

The line drawn on the map connects these stops in narrative order. It is schematic: it does not claim to trace the exact road between them, and each place carries its own confidence rating.

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