A researcher has pieced together the final moments leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The new map – based on Bible scripture and archaeological evidence – recounts Christ’s journey through Jerusalem in the week leading up to him dying on the cross.
The journey starts at a temple at the Temple Mount where Jesus was said to teach everyday and, according to the Book of Matthew 21:12-17, ‘cleansed at the temple’ of merchants and money changers seven days before his death.
According to the Bible, this happened when Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time before his crucifixion, signifying a symbolic cleansing of the ‘house of God’ right before his own sacrifice.
The map also highlights the journey to the Last Supper in the Upper Room, located southern part of the Old City of Jerusalem on Mount Zion, and Jesus’ arrest and trial where he was tried by the ancient Roman government north of Bethlehem.
It ends with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, claimed to be the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, and the Garden Tomb where his body was said to have been placed.
The map pulled information from the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, of the New Testament.
There is also archaeological evidence for some of the map’s location such as the temple and several structures where Jesus underwent trial for blasphemy and treason.
Researchers have pieced together Jesus’ final days using a map that plots out places he walked before dying on the cross
The map was created by theologian and author John Walsh who highlighted the first spot as at the Temple Mount located in the Old City of Jerusalem.
This site is considered one of the holiest sites in Judaism and Islam, and is central to the Christian Gospels.
It currently features a 35-acre platform built by King Herod, who was the Roman-appointed king of Judaea and ruled from 37 to 4BC.
The Temple Mount is now a walled compound with the Dome of the Rock to the north and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the south, but Islamic places of worship.
The Dome of the Rock is believed to be the location where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son Ismail.
And Muslims the Prophet Muhammad was transported from the Scared Mosque in Mecca to Al-Aqsa during the Night Journey, and then on to heaven.
The map, however, places a temple there that Jesus taught at everyday.
The Bible says Jesus entered the structure, seeing people betting, making loans and selling goods. He then flipped tables and drove them out of the temple.
Jesus’ journey begins at the the Temple Mount located in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Bible says he was there a week before his death
The Last Supper – Jesus’ final meal with his apostles before being crucified – is believed to have taken one to three days before the crucifixion
Within that same week, it was believed the Last Supper was held in the Upper Room in the southern part of the Old City of Jerusalem on Mount Zion.
Jesus and his disciples traveled about one mile from the temple to the Upper Room, which would have taken between 20 to 30 minutes.
The Last Supper – Jesus’ final meal with his apostles before being crucified – is believed to have taken one to three days before the crucifixion.
The Upper Room, also known as the Cenacle, was originally a prayer room that could house more than 120 people.
The room is briefly described in the Book of Luke 22:11-13 when Jesus requested a large, furnished upper room where he and his disciples could eat their Passover meal.
The Cenacle stands in the old city of Jerusalem on Mount Zion, which is located above the southern gate and was constructed with large, branching columns that supported a vaulted ceiling and a sloping red roof that is still there today.
The Cenacle stands in the old city of Jerusalem on Mount Zion, which is located above the southern gate
Archaeologists uncovered the remains of a ritual bath , dating back to the time of Jesus, at Gethsemane in 2020. The garden is said to have been where Jesus was arrest before being sentenced to death
The next stop was likely the Garden of Gethsemane, which researchers estimate is roughly half a mile from the location of the Upper Room.
The Garden of Gethsemane sits outside the city walls. Luke 22:39 states Jesus and his disciples walked the path following the Last Supper.
Experts speculated that if the group was looking to avoid guards in the city, ‘they would have skirted the southern wall which overlooks the valley of Hinnom, the garbage dump of the city where the fires were constantly burning the refuse from the populace of the urban area.’
Archaeologists uncovered the remains of a ritual bath, dating back to the time of Jesus, at Gethsemane in 2020.
They suggested the bath may have been used to cleanse workers before they operated an oil press in the garden, and by those climbing the hill to pray.
A church was built on the site believed to be where Jesus was crucified
The Bible states that it was in the garden where Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested.
According to the map, Roman soldiers took Jesus to the House of Caiaphas, which experts have estimated would have been a 40-minute walk from the garden.
Depending on the exact route and pace, the path would have involved ascending from the Kidron Valley up to Mount Zion.
The House of Caiaphas is a biblical site in Jerusalem that is believed to be the location where Jesus was accused of blasphemy against God.
From there, Jesus was brought to Herod’s Palace which once stood against the western city wall.
The journey would have likely taken about a 30-minute walk due to the hilly terrain of Jerusalem.
Herod’s Palace was also the site of the praetorium where Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, sentenced Jesus to death.
According to the Bible, Jesus was forced to carry a massive, wooden cross through the city to Golgotha, or Calvary, about 2,650 feet away.
There is a debate within Christianity as to where Jesus was buried. Some believe it was the Garden Tomb, while others suggest it was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (pictured)
The Bible does not specify how long Jesus carried the cross, by theologians have estimated it took him at least three hours to make the journey.
The site is now known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christians believe stands on the site of Jesus’ crucifixion. The church was built in 326AD.
Following the crucifixion, Jesus is said to have been laid to rest in a rock tom about 300 feet away from Calvary.
The Garden Tomb is outside the Old City walls, near the Damascus Gate.
Christian tradition says Jesus’ body was laid on a slab cut from a limestone cave after his crucifixion by the Romans more than two thousand years ago.
The burial slab was enclosed in a structure known as the Edicule – a word derived from the Latin term aedicule meaning ‘little house.’
There is a debate within Christianity as to where Jesus was buried. Some believe it was the Garden Tomb, while others suggest it was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
