Answer: According to Luke (3:1), John the Baptist began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius� reign (A.D. 29). Jesus began His ministry shortly thereafter at the age of thirty (3:23). Incidentally, this indicates that Jesus was probably born around 1 B.C. (please note: there was no year 0 � A.D. 1 immediately following 1 B.C.). This contradicts the popular date of 4 B.C. for Herod the Great�s death, since Jesus was born while Herod was still alive. Recent scholarship, however, has discredited the popular view in favor of 1 B.C.; or, more specifically, sometime between the January 9 lunar eclipse of 1 B.C. and the Feast of Passover a few months later. This tentatively corroborates Luke�s account.
Regardless of the questions surrounding the date of Herod�s death, the dates of Tiberius� reign have been confidently established. They give us a firm basis upon which we can approximate what year Jesus began His public ministry: around A.D. 29. As for the end of His ministry, we know that it culminated with His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension.
According to the Gospel accounts, Christ was crucified the day before Passover, was �three days and three nights in the heart of the earth� (Matthew 12:38-40), and was resurrected before sunrise on a Sunday. In order for Christ to have been crucified the day before Passover and resurrected on a Sunday three days and three nights later, Passover would have had to fall on a Friday, whereby Christ was crucified on a Thursday.
For example, Passover of A.D. 30 fell on a Thursday (April 6). To be crucified the day before Passover (Wednesday) and resurrected on Sunday, Jesus would have been in the grave Wednesday afternoon, Wednesday night, Thursday day, Thursday night, Friday day, Friday night, Saturday day, Saturday night, and Sunday morning before sunrise. That is four nights�one too many. So A.D. 30 doesn�t work. Plus, according to John�s Gospel, Jesus attended at least three annual Feasts of Passover throughout the course of His ministry: one in John 2:23, another in 6:4 and the Passover of His crucifixion in 11:55-57. So, one year (A.D. 29 to 30) just isn�t enough time.
Based on the dates provided by Sir Robert Anderson in his The Coming Prince (Kregel: Grand Rapids, p. 104), we used the Rosetta Calendar online calendar conversion service to establish which days of the week Passover fell on between the years A.D. 29 (our starting point) and A.D. 37. Here are Anderson�s dates and their respective days of the week (please note that these are Julian rather than Gregorian dates):
Passover of A.D. 29 fell on a Saturday (April 16)
Passover of A.D. 30 fell on a Wednesday (April 5)
Passover of A.D. 31 fell on a Monday (March 26)
Passover of A.D. 32 fell on a Monday (April 14)
Passover of A.D. 33 fell on a Friday (April 3)
Passover of A.D. 34 fell on a Monday (March 22)
Passover of A.D. 35 fell on a Monday (April 11)
Passover of A.D. 36 fell on a Friday (March 30)
Passover of A.D. 37 fell on a Wednesday (March 20)
Using this range of dates and assuming that Christ was in the grave for three days and three nights and resurrected on Sunday, we can narrow down the year of Christ�s crucifixion to one of two possibilities: A.D. 33 or 36. A prophecy from the book of Daniel seems to favor the earlier date of A.D. 33.
In Daniel 9, Gabriel tells Daniel that �Seventy sevens have been decreed for your people� From the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary and its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.� (9:24-26)
Seven sevens + 62 sevens = 69 sevens. 69 seven-year periods would pass from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah would be �cut off,� and the city and temple would be destroyed again. A 70th seven-year period would follow.
While the prophecy does not specify what the sevens are, the immediate context implies that they are years. Daniel�s prayer in verses 3-19 focuses on the fulfillment of a 70-year period � the 70 years of Babylonian captivity as prophesied by Jeremiah (25:11). The 70 sevens prophecy was delivered to Daniel in response to this prayer. Seventy years fulfilled; 7 times 70 still to come.
Scholars generally agree that this prophecy is according to the ancient 360-day calendar employed by both the Hebrews and the Babylonians (the book of Daniel being written in Babylon during the Babylonian captivity after the fall and decimation of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar). 69 x 7 years = 483 years. 483 years x 360 days = 173,880 days.
Persian Emperor Artaxerxes Longimanus (who ruled Persia from 464-424 B.C.) issued the edict to rebuild Jerusalem on the 1st of Nissan in the 20th year of his reign (that is, March 5, 444 B.C.; see Nehemiah 2:1-8). 173,880 days from March 5, 444 B.C., ends at March 30, 33 A.D. Here�s the math:
March 5, 444 B.C., to March 5, A.D. 33 = 476 years (1 B.C. to A.D. 1 is one year; there is no year 0). 476 x 365.24219879 days (which is the length of one year according to our modern calendar) = 173,855 days. March 5 to March 30 is another 25 days. 173,855 days + 25 days = 173,880 days.
March 30, A.D. 33, was exactly 5 days before Passover on April 3, A.D. 33. According to John�s Gospel, the Triumphal Entry took place 5 days before Passover: �Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. � Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: �Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! The King of Israel!�" (John 12:1, 9-13)
The day after six days before the Passover equals five days before the Passover. March 30th was the Triumphal Entry, the day upon which Christ presented Himself to the nation of Israel as their Messiah, the first time in His entire ministry that He allowed Himself to be publicly proclaimed as the Messiah (Matthew 21:8-16; Luke 19:37-40; cf. Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; 9:9-10; Luke 9:18-21; John 6:14-15). He was crucified four days later, the day before Passover. Within one generation the future Emperor Titus razed Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.
Based on these points, we believe that Jesus� ministry lasted about three and a half years, from sometime around A.D. 29 until the spring of A.D. 33.
Sourced ~ gotquestions.com
*** I will be reading ALL the Scriptures listed here as I never take for Truth what another Person says or posts until Researched...:rolleyes:...that would be Contempt Prior to Investigation...:winksmile:...Study to Show thy self Approved...Rightly Dividing ( OT / NT ) the Word of GOD...:peace:...Be Blessed Yall...xo
I just completed a 100 qritten question test on this, which came to about most 20 pages of writing, so it was fresh in my mind after all those questions and writing on that tests:laugh:
Now, if Agapheton has anymore questions, let him go read the chpaters and the Bible and find answers for himself.:rocknroll:... like I had to do, and you went in seacrh.:yay:
Ha ! Ha ! Ha !...Amazing !!!...I posted this so Everyone can have Scripture to Research and Study...Not so some People can TELL them their Own take on it...Dates are Important Georgy Porgy...and just becuz you disagree with this...Its up to the Brothers and Sisters to do their Research...Be Blessed Yall...xo
P.S....Georgy Porgy...ya didnt even read the Article or you would have "read this...
[[[ Scholars generally agree that this prophecy is according to the ancient 360-day calendar employed by both the Hebrews and the Babylonians ]]] (the book of Daniel being written in Babylon during the Babylonian captivity after the fall and decimation of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar). 69 x 7 years = 483 years. 483 years x 360 days = 173,880 days.
*** I know Prophet Richard will Appreciate this posting...He is into Prophecy of Daniel and Revelations...Be Blessed Yall...xo
Yo, George, you are funneee... listen, I have an extra pair of $store reading eyeglasses for you, I will put in the mail to you to morrow... 2.50, or is that too weak?:excited:
Btw, I also pasted this in SirJames topic since you both seemed to get the same page from google. I googled this question and got this out of it from this web site. Care to research this stuff on it too?
http://historical-jesus.info/appb.html
APPENDIX B: 28C.E.
Justifying one year ministry and dating Jesus' crucifixion, Paul's three missionary journeys & council of Jerusalem
Front page: Jesus, a historical reconstruction
You may email the author, and learn more about him here
Note: all emphasese are mine
1. The synoptic gospels evidence:
According to the gospels of "Mark", "Matthew" and "Luke" (the synoptic gospels), many biblical critical scholars would agree Jesus' public life seems no longer than one year. And looking at Mark's gospel (the least elaborated and the earliest), some postulate all the major events in Jesus' ministry happened within a few months:
"While I used to toy with the idea that GJohn might justify the idea that HJ [Historical Jesus] had an extended public career, I have long since abandoned that notion. I now think that Crossan is correct. HJ was a flash in the pan, with his public career ... lasting less than a year, perhaps only a couple of months." Malhon H.Smith, on Crosstalk
Many prominent 2nd, 3rd & 4th century Christians (such as St Clement of Alexandria, 150-211/216) also called for an one-year "ministry".
Notes:
a) "Luke" thought Jesus had an one-year "ministry", because in GLuke (and only here), Jesus, at the beginning of his public life, is quoting a passage of 'Isaiah', which includes a reference to an one-year period:
Lk4:17-21 "... And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; ... to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." ... And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.""
b) MSN Encarta, for "Jesus Christ": "All three Synoptic Gospels ... record Jesus' public ministry as beginning after the imprisonment of John the Baptist, and as lasting for about one year ..."
c) Eusebius of Cesarea, 'History of the Church' (published c.316), III, 24, 8: "For it is evident that the three [synoptic] evangelists recorded only the deeds done by the Saviour for one year after the imprisonment of John the Baptist"
d) From "Chronology of the Life of Jesus Christ", Catholic Encyclopedia: "the year of my redemption" (Isaiah 34:8; 63:4), appear to have induced Clement of Alexandria ['Stromata', I, 21, 145], Julius Africanus [160-240], St Philastrius [4th cent., died before 397], St Hilarion [291-371], and two or three other patristic writers to allow only one year for the public life."
Other early Christians believing an one-year ministry include the followers of (gnostic) Basilides (active 120-140) (according to Clement's 'Stromata', I, 21, 146) and the ones of (gnostic) Valentinus (active 120-160) (according to Irenaeus 'Against Heresies', I, 3, 3), Origen (185-254) (De Principiis, IV, 1, 5 "[Christ] taught about a year and a few months"), Tertullian (160-220?), Lactantius (late 3rd to early 4th cent.), St Gaudentius (died c. 410), Evagrius (4th cent.), Orosius (375?-418?) and St Ephraem (306?-373).
e) In 'Against Heresies', II, 22, 4-6, the very influential St Irenaeus (130?-200?) "demonstrated" that the public life of Jesus lasted twenty years!
"... He did not therefore preach only for one year, nor did He suffer in the twelfth month of the year. For the period included between the thirtieth and the fiftieth year can never be regarded as one year, ..."
Remarks: Irenaeus' comment, based of John's gospel (8:57), shows that there was no significant acceptance then (around 180) about a three (or two) years ministry: that will come later.
The first one to mention a three-year ministry might have been Origen (changing his mind!) in 'Commentary on Matthew' (Book XXIV), written late in his life, but Eusebius (early 4th cent.) was the first to argue for it.
In his 'Demonstratio Evangelica' (published before 311) VIII, 106, 8, Eusebius stated, "the whole period of our Savior's teaching and marvel-working is recorded to have been three years and a half, which is half of a week [reference to the book of Daniel, seen here as containing prophecies about Jesus! Look here in order to understand it is not the case!]. This, I take it, John the Evangelist accurately establishes by his presentation in the gospel."
He then erroneously stated (in order to demonstrate the ministry was less than four years!), "Since, then, he (Jesus) began in the high priesthood of Annas [!!! Annas was high priest during 7-13/14C.E.] and continued to the reign of Caiaphas the intervening time does not extend to a full four years [WRONG: this time can be as long as 29 years (7-35C.E.) and cannot be shorter than 12 years (14-26C.E.)]." ('History of the Church' (published 311-325) I, 10, 2)
Later in the same book (III, 24, 11) Eusebius explained John's gospel covers a longer period than the others, but did not mention three years.
Finally, in his 'Chronicles' (published 325) he ascribed the crucifixion to the eighteenth year of Tiberius, basing himself on an eclipse and the false claim that, "It is written [in John's gospel] that after the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar the Lord preached three years."
Note: Eusebius repeatedly claimed that John's gospel represents a three-year ministry, but he offered no specific arguments. It seems the three-years came from the O.T, that is the book of Daniel.
Normally, a pious Jesus, with no obligation (and having high regard for the temple -- his most direct followers, the "Nazarenes" certainly did) would be expected to go to Jerusalem for each Passover; but during his public life, only one trip for Passover is reported in GMark.
And, if ever the "ministry" would have lasted for two or three years, why wasn't it written in the synoptic gospels? Evidently, it would have been beneficial to say it.
But then, if three gospels imply one year, and the fourth gospel suggests more, why choose the one (GJohn, the last one) in the minority (one against three)? Like I said, it is more beneficial to invoke a long "ministry" rather than a short one.
2. John's gospel evidence:
We have to pay close attention to GJohn, because it is here (and only here) that a longer "ministry" is implied, because of the three Passovers reported in Jesus' public life: one at the start (Jn2:13), one in the middle (Jn6:4), and one at the very end (Jn12:1).
The author of GJohn does not say that Jesus "ministry" lasted two or three years. But the extension from one year (synoptic gospels) to (a minimum of) two years & about one month (GJohn) is implied indirectly by the mention of the two additional Passovers.
There are many differences between GJohn and the synoptic gospels. John's gospel is considered by most biblical critical scholars to be the least credible (by far!). They are many signs of editing, cut and paste operations, latter additions and so forth. Major stories like the (very public) resurrection of Lazarus (here the main cause for Jesus' crucifixion, not any "disturbance") and Jesus' several extended visits (with preaching) in Jerusalem are not even mentioned in the synoptic gospels!
In conclusion, this gospel, at least in its final form, cannot be relied upon concerning the duration of Jesus' ministry.
Note: anyone who read this Section before April 3rd/2001 will notice I considerably reduced its content. This is the result of my on-going research on the making of GJohn. I am now confident about the validity of my reconstruction, verse by verse, of the original gospel and its later alterations. I hope to write a page about it (with arguments for justification on each item) within the next months. A preview: the original version came with only two Passovers, the middle one (Jn6:4), and the last one (Jn12:1). But the first one (Jn2:13) was added later (when relocating 2:14-3:21 from 12:19^20).
Done! as of September 2001:
K. Last post. Let the truth be researched now. :peace:
