1 Time And Distance Trouble
2 No Time And Distance Trouble
 
 

An ad before Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" exhorted people to read the New Testament and then the bishops said "that's exactly what happened."

Would the bishops agree that Jesus was arrested in the Gethsemane garden about 3 a.m. (Mark 14:37, 14:41) and put on the cross at 9 a.m.? (Mark 16:25)

Hence in those six hours He was marched from this garden back to the other side of Jerusalem to be examined first by the ex High priest Annas, then by the Sanhedrin presided over by the High priest Caiaphas (Matt. 26:57, Mark 14:55) at night (when normally Sanhedrin trials were only permitted in daylight and not on the Sabbath), then taken to Pilate (Luke 23:1), then to Herod Antipas (Luke 23:7), then back to Pilate (Luke 23:11), sentenced, handed over to the soldiers to be dressed up as a mock-king, then dragged his cross to Golgotha to be crucified – all this in 6 hours?

Look the map of 30 A.D. Jerusalem in the Revised Standard Version for the distances that were needed to be travelled in six hours.

How was it done? A miracle?

Research shows that it was a Roman political trial and crucifixion, but when Paul went on his four tours of the Mediterranean ending in Rome in 59 A.D. to convert the Romans to Christianity, he shifted the blame for killing the Messiah from the Romans to the Jews for obvious reasons.

Dean R Dowling
 

Dean Dowling (#117) wonders whether the events and distances when Jesus was crucified could fit into six hours:
 

Annas and Caiaphas either occupied separate apartments in one building or had separate houses that shared one courtyard. (Compare John 18:12-27; Mark 14:53-72; Luke 22:54-71) Assuming this was near the Temple it was about 500 metres or five minutes walk from Gethsemene.

Luke mentions 1 hour at the Annas/Caiaphas location (22:59) as only part of the time spent there. The Sanhedrin gathered at Caiaphas' house (Mark 14:53) and met formally to try Jesus "when day came" (Luke 22:66) "early in the morning" (Mark 15:1).

Governor Pontius Pilate lived at Caesarea on the coast but went to Jerusalem during major festivals. The Antonia Fortress stood next to the Temple. But Pilate probably did not stay there but rather in the palace of Herod Antipas. (John 18:28) Herod was ruler of Galilee and had a palace in Jerusalem and was there at the time.

Herod's palace was about 400 metres or 4 minutes walk from the Temple.

The questioning of Jesus by Pilate could fit into half an hour, and by Herod less. Time is saved if messengers went ahead to announce Jesus was being brought.

Whipping and mocking Jesus would require only minutes, perhaps 20. The cross or "tree" would have been ready-made rather than require felling while everyone waited.

Jesus was crucified outside the city walls, probably outside the northern wall – several hundred metres from the Temple and perhaps 600 metres from Herod’s palace.

The total distance from Gethsemane to the Crucifixion was about 1½ kilometres.