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
For Agapeton: Jesus' Public Ministry was about three and a half years..
Posted : 2 Jan, 2012 09:32 PM
How many times did Jesus' disciples tell jesus about the spices and the woman washing his feet?
You think they would have remembered it if it happened one more time during the three years?
Joh 12:1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
Joh 12:2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
Joh 12:3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
Joh 12:4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him,
Joh 12:5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
Joh 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
Joh 12:7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
Joh 12:8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
Mat 26:10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
Mat 26:11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
Mat 26:12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
Did that happen once or twice?
So can we conclude that event happened before ONE passover?
What do you think?
Joh 2:13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Joh 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
Joh 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
Joh 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
How many times did this event happen in Jesus' ministry? ONCE or TWICE?
Could it be possible that the Jews would have expected this to happen AGAIN AND BEEFED UP THE GUARDS ONE OF THOSE THREE YEARS?
Mat 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
Mat 21:13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Or could we possibly conclude that it was one event at one specific passover?
What do you think?
How many times did Jesus feed people from the small rations of food?
Joh 6:2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
Joh 6:3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
Joh 6:4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
Joh 6:5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
Joh 6:6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
Joh 6:7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
Joh 6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,
Joh 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
Joh 6:10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Joh 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
Joh 6:12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
Joh 6:13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
Do you notice ANY SIMILARITIES WITHIN THIS NARRATIVE OF THE GOSPELS? DO YOU NOTICE THAT JOHN'S GOSPEL IS NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER YET?
Mat 14:15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
Mat 14:16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
Mat 14:17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
Mat 14:18 He said, Bring them hither to me.
Mat 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Mat 14:20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
Mat 14:21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
Hey ! Thanxs for more info...I always LOVE to study...you asked "What do you think?"...thats an interesting question...for me...I really don't "think" to much about the time length of Jesus Ministry...I prefer to keep my thoughts on HIM and what He did & continues to do in the lives of people in todays times...but I�ll toss a few thoughts out here starting with your 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.""
*** Yes!!!�to this point in time�He Fulfilled the Anointing�Infilling of the Spirit and Proclamation of the Kingdom of GOD�ifin ya notice�Jesus didn�t finish the Read�he stopped at a comma�a jot�a tittle�ifin ya read on its about vengeance�and this is pertaining to his Second coming�which has yet to occur�Come quickly Lord Jesus�:bouncy:
Agape said ~ 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.
*** Jesus* most direct followers were Jews�masses of Gentiles and some Nazarenes�and Yes !�in Mark Passover is mentioned 4 x in 3 verses and pertaining to only 1 Passover�Maybe Mark wasn�t around for the Other 2�jus sayin�:rolleyes:
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.
*** Yes it �could� have been beneficial�must have been �removed���over looked� in the Translations�or just Not �important� to Father God�:winksmile:
Agape said ~ Does that make sense? Seriously. If the Scriptures say that the Lamb who was to be slain was also to be of ONE YEAR (Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a YEAR old...), then where did, or do we get the idea of Jesus' earthly ministry was THREE YEARS from?
*** We get the 3 years from Johns Gospel�remember�this John is John Mark�the "Beloved" of Jesus�the son of the man that Jesus said go into the town�find a man�inquire where to Prepare the Passover to be eatin with HIS Apostles�the Upper Room�John Mark was just a Boy�the same boy in the Garden of Gesemeni that lost his cloak and ran naked when they came to Arrest Jesus�the same John Mark that Jesus said to Peter�what is it to you if I will have him alive until I return�.This Child WITNESSED much from a Perspective kinda behind the scenes�he wasn�t aligned or with All the Other Apostles All the Time�So his Inspired Written Word will be somewhat different�as Father GOD always gives us Much to ponder as we Work out our own salvation with fear and trembling�Is this not same the same John that wrote 1st 2nd and 3rd John ???�
*** There will are Always be some Important Questions each Christian will �Seek� an answer for�Information that can ONLY come from Much Prayer and Meditation with the Inspiration�Guidance� Remembrance form the Holy Spirit of GOD�I just Accept that Christ Jesus was here and Is to Come�I do not Question it�I�ve learned that when a person Seeks to Dig So Much Deeper�sometimes they Miss the Simple Beauty of the Forrest for the Complexity of the Trees�Does it Really Matter How Long Jesus Ministry Lasted ???�.It Matters ONLY that He came to Preach the Kingdom of GOD and Save Sinners�This is the Acceptable DAY of the LORD�:peace:
Asked ~ How can we reconcile the fact that the synoptic gospels show it to be one year ministry and we come up with three years in Christendom?
*** Ummmm...Always Seeking and Hearing�but never coming into the Full Understanding of Jesus* Gospel�I used to do this very thing All the Time...:ribbit:....Ya see...The Reconciliation is Complete in what Jesus Did as the Passover Lamb of GOD�Reconciling Us back to GOD�What more �needs� to be reconciled???�Rest in the Presence of HIM and what HE has done�Everything else is�IMHO�a waste of valuable time in Having a Blessed Relationship with HIM�Christ Jesus�LORD OF LORD AND KING OF KINGS�.Al-le-lu-ya�Well thats All I thought about...:bouncy:....Be Blessed�I know you are�xo
