Again, counting from 18/17 B.C., adding 46 years brings us to A.D. ( Antiquities 15.11.1 §380), with completion 18 months later in 18/17 B.C. According to Josephus, the renovation of the temple building proper started in 20/19 B.C. 335).įinally, John 2:20 says that the temple was completed 46 years ago (see for this translation A. Waddington, “The Jewish Calendar, a Lunar Eclipse, and the Date of Christ’s Crucifixion,” Tyndale Bulletin 43 : 331–51, esp. 30 and 33 are the only possible dates for Jesus’ crucifixion as far as the date of Passover in these two years is concerned (for the dating of the four Passovers in question see esp. It so happens that because of astronomical calculations A.D. This adds up to a length of about 3 ½ years for Jesus’ ministry.
In addition, it is likely that he attended a fourth Passover not recorded in John but recorded in the Synoptics (Matt 12:1 pars.?). John’s Gospel records Jesus’ appearance at at least 3 Passovers: (1) in Jerusalem (2:13, 23) (2) in Galilee (6:4) and (3) again in Jerusalem (11:55 12:1). Messner, “’In the Fifteenth Year’ Reconsidered: A Study of Luke 3:1,” Stone-Campbell Journal 1 : 201–11).
Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, 31–37 and B. 29), this would mean that Jesus was about 33 years old when he began his public ministry (see H. (as argued above) and began his ministry, as is indicated by all four Gospels, shortly after that of John the Baptist (that is, in the latter part of the year A.D. According to the GospelsĪccording to Luke 3:23, Jesus was “about 30 years old” when he began his ministry. Hence the 15 th year of Tiberius’s reign, counting from August 19, A.D. 14 (the precise date is August 19, the day of Emperor Augustus’s death). Luke 3:1–3 tells us that John the Baptist, Jesus’ forerunner, began his ministry “in the 15 th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.” Both Roman historians Tacitus ( Annales 4 §4) and Suetonius ( Tiberius 73) date the beginning of Tiberius’s reign at A.D. Jesus’ crucifixion probably occurred on Friday, April 3, A.D. This, incidentally, would allow enough time for Jesus to be born and for Herod (who died in 4 B.C.) to mount his campaign to have all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and vicinity killed (see Matt 2:16, 19). Maier, “The Date of the Nativity and the Chronology of Jesus’ Life,” in Chronos, karios, Christos: Nativity and Chronological Studies Presented to Jack Finegan, 113–30). (the most authoritative treatment of which I am aware is Paul L. Jesus’ birth most likely took place in late November of 5 B.C.
I may not be willing to stake my life on the accuracy of the data below, but I am confident enough of these calculations that the license plate of my van reads as follows: 5BC–AD33. Not that any great doctrine rests on the calculations below, but it sure is nice that we can have reasonable confidence that the dates of Jesus’ birth and death are secure and can be gleaned from a combination of biblical and extrabiblical historical data. Christians celebrate Christmas and Easter every year, but few know when Jesus was actually born and when he died.