History of Good Friday: the Crucifixion of Jesus

Via-Dolorosa

Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF GOOD FRIDAY Podcast version   or centuries, pilgrims have walked the Via Dolorosa, “the way of sorrow” in Jerusalem, following Jesus’s path on Good Friday. Starting at the judgment seat of Pilate at the Antonia Fortress in the eastern part of the city, immediately north of the Temple, the path follows fourteen “Stations…

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History of the Trial: How many did Jesus have?

Via Crusis

Reading Time: 6 minutesTHE TRIAL OF JESUS Podcast version   eginning Thursday night and extending into Friday morning of Holy Week, Jesus’s trial, which led to his crucifixion, was, in reality, a series of about half a dozen trials distributed across several locations in Jerusalem. Some of these locations are captured in the tradition of the Via Dolorosa, the…

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History of Passover: the Jewish Pesach Holiday

Passover Seder

Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF PASSOVER Podcast version   unset tonight, April 1, marks the beginning of Passover. Exodus 12 in the Hebrew Bible tells the story of Passover from the life of Moses. Ten plagues were visited upon the Egyptian pharaoh (starring Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments, though he was better in The King and I)…

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History of Easter: The Sanhedrin – Who Was This Council?

Jerusalem Second Temple

Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF THE SANHEDRIN Podcast version   he Greek word Συνέδριον, sunedrion, means literally “sitting together” and is usually translated as “council.” The New Testament refers to it alternately as “the Great Law-Court,” “the Court of Seventy-One,” and “the rulers and elders and scribes.” It was the supreme theocratic court of the Jews. The Sanhedrin…

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History of Easter: Historical Climate

Historical Context Jerusalem

Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORICAL CLIMATE OF EASTER Podcast   s Passion Week begins this weekend, what was the historical climate of Easter Week almost 2,000 years ago surrounding the last week of the life of Jesus of Nazareth? All men die; Jesus was a man destined to die, not merely in the conventional sense but in a distinct…

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History of Good Friday

Reading Time: 2 minutesGOOD FRIDAY For centuries, pilgrims have walked the Via Dolorosa, “the way of sorrow” in Jerusalem, following the path Jesus took from the judgment seat of Pilate at the Antonia in the eastern part of the city immediately north of the Temple through several “stations of the Cross” to the ultimate location at the Church…

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History of the Trial

Reading Time: 4 minutesTHE TRIAL OF JESUS The trial of Jesus leading up to his crucifixion was actually a series of perhaps half a dozen trials, across several locations in Jerusalem, some of which are captured in the tradition of the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrow, a series of locations that pilgrims take through the streets of…

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History of Passover

Reading Time: < 1 minutePASSOVER This year, the evening at sunset April 8 marks the beginning of Passover. Exodus 12 in the Bible tells the story of Passover from the life of Moses. Ten plagues were visited upon the Egyptian pharaoh (starring Yul Brenner, but he was much better in “The King and I”) to get his attention to…

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History of the Sanhedrin

Reading Time: 3 minutesSANHEDRIN The Greek word sunedrion, translated “council” is referred to in the New Testament as “the Great Law-Court”, “the Court of Seventy-One”, and “the rulers and elders and scribes”. It was the supreme theocratic court of the Jews and reflected the local autonomy which the Greek and Roman powers granted the Jewish nation. Its origin…

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History of Passover

Reading Time: < 1 minutePASSOVER This year, the evening at sunset April 19 marks the beginning of Passover. Exodus 12 in the Bible tells the story of Passover from the life of Moses. Ten plagues were visited upon the Egyptian pharaoh (starring Yul Brenner, but he was much better in “The King and I”) to get his attention to…

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History of Good Friday

Reading Time: 2 minutesGOOD FRIDAY For centuries, pilgrims have walked the Via Dolorosa, “the way of sorrow” in Jerusalem, following the path Jesus took from the judgment seat of Pilate at the Antonia in the eastern part of the city immediately north of the Temple through several “stations of the Cross” to the ultimate location at the Church…

Read More

History of the Trial

Reading Time: 4 minutesTHE TRIAL OF JESUS The trial of Jesus leading up to his crucifixion was actually a series of perhaps half a dozen trials, across several locations in Jerusalem, some of which are captured in the tradition of the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrow, a series of locations that pilgrims take through the streets of…

Read More