The principal tenets of Christianity originate from the story of the trial, crucifixion, and death of Jesus Christ. Those events, which occurred over two thousand years ago, cover the time when Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem for Passover to Sunday morning when his followers proclaimed that he had risen from the dead. The day of Jesus’s crucifixion has become known as “Good Friday,” and many of the events of that time are the basis of a number of idioms in our language. 

Whether one is a Christian, Muslim, Jew, atheist, or of any other belief, Jesus was a real person and the events that unfolded are part of history, which can’t be denied. The story of his suffering and death is a part of our history and has shaped the way Christians and other religions have interacted for the past two thousand years. 

As part of their Christian beliefs, every year, thousands of Christians descend on the Holy Land, and in the old city of Jerusalem. They trace the footsteps of Jesus along a street in Jerusalem known as the Via Dolorosa, “the way of suffering.” The actual cobblestone streets from the time of Rome and Jesus still exist and pilgrims can walk on the same cobblestone streets as he did so many centuries ago. 

All along the Via Dolorosa are places known as Stations of the Cross. The route begins on the site where Jesus was condemned by Pontius Pilate and ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (the site claimed to house the tomb of Jesus by Catholics and Orthodox.)

When Jesus and his disciples arrived in Jerusalem, he went to the temple and seeing the money-lenders and animal sellers turned over their tables reportedly saying that they had turned the temple into a “den of thieves.”

On the night of the Last Supper, he tells his disciples that one of them will betray him. And Judas Iscariot then did exactly that, telling Jewish authorities where he can be found and arrested… The idiom “30 pieces of silver,” refers to that event. Jesus also told to Peter he would deny him, which also turned out to be true. 

That last night, Jesus hid on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives which was and is known as Gethsemane. Today, olive trees, which are over two thousand years old, still grow in the same ground. 

The next morning he was arrested either by Roman auxiliary or temple guards — it is uncertain who exactly arrested him. Judas tells the guards that whomever he kisses would be the one to arrest, hence “Judas Kiss,” an idiom that has also been part of our vocabulary.