Posted on 04/03/2014 4:52:36 PM PDT by Rashputin
April 3, AD 33
In our new book, The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived , we assume but do not argue for a precise date of Jesus’s crucifixion. Virtually all scholars believe, for various reasons, that Jesus was crucified in the spring of either a.d. 30 or a.d. 33, with the majority opting for the former. ( The evidence from astronomy narrows the possibilities to a.d. 27, 30, 33, or 34). However, we want to set forth our case for the date of Friday, April 3, a.d. 33 as the exact day that Christ died for our sins.
To be clear, the Bible does not explicitly specify the precise date of Jesus’s crucifixion and it is not an essential salvation truth. But that does not make it unknowable or unimportant. Because Christianity is a historical religion and the events of Christ’s life did take place in human history alongside other known events, it is helpful to locate Jesus’s death—as precisely as the available evidence allows—within the larger context of human history.
Among the Gospel writers, no one makes this point more strongly than Luke, the Gentile physician turned historian and inspired chronicler of early Christianity.
The Year John the Baptist’s Ministry Began
Luke implies that John the Baptist began his public ministry shortly before Jesus did, and he gives us a historical reference point for when the Baptist’s ministry began: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar . . .” (Luke 3:1).
We know from Roman historians that Tiberius succeeded Augustus as emperor and was confirmed by the Roman Senate on August 19, a.d. 14. He ruled until a.d. 37. “The fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” sounds like a straightforward date, but there are some ambiguities, beginning with when one starts the calculation. Most likely, Tiberius’s reign was counted either from the day he took office in a.d. 14 or from January 1 of the following year, a.d. 15. The earliest possible date at which Tiberius’s “fifteenth year” began is August 19, a.d. 28, and the latest possible date at which his “fifteenth year” ended is December 31, a.d. 29. So John the Baptist’s ministry began anywhere from mid-a.d. 28 until sometime in a.d. 29.
The Year Jesus’s Ministry Began
If Jesus, as the Gospels seem to indicate, began his ministry not long after John, then based on the calculations above, the earliest date for Jesus’s baptism would be in late a.d. 28 at the very earliest. However, it is more probable to place it sometime in the first half of the year a.d. 29, because a few months probably elapsed between the beginning of John’s ministry and that of Jesus (and the year a.d. 30 is the latest possible date). So Jesus’s ministry must have begun between the end of a.d. 28 at the earliest and a.d. 30 at the latest.
This coheres with Luke’s mention that “Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23). If he was born in 6 or 5 b.c., as is most likely, Jesus would have been approximately thirty-two to thirty-four years old in late a.d. 28 until a.d. 30, which falls well within the range of him being “about thirty years of age.”
The Length of Jesus’s Ministry
Now we need to know how long Jesus’s public ministry lasted, because if it went on for two or more years, this would seem to rule out spring of a.d. 30 as a possible date for the crucifixion.
John’s Gospel mentions that Jesus attended at least three Passovers (possibly four), which took place once a year in the spring:
Even if there were only three Passovers, this would still make a date of a.d. 30 all but impossible for the date of the crucifixion. As noted above, the earliest likely date for the beginning of Jesus’s ministry from Luke 3:1 is late a.d. 28. So the first of these Passovers (at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; John 2:13) would fall on Nisan 14 in a.d. 29 (because Nisan is in March/April, near the beginning of a year). The second would fall in a.d. 30 at the earliest, and the third would fall in 31 at the earliest. This means that if Jesus’s ministry coincided with at least three Passovers, and if the first Passover was in a.d. 29, he could not have been crucified in a.d. 30.
But if John the Baptist began his ministry in a.d. 29, then Jesus probably began his ministry in late a.d. 29 or early a.d. 30. Then the Passovers in John would occur on the following dates:
|
Nisan 14 |
a.d. 30 |
John 2:13 |
|
Nisan 14 |
a.d. 31 |
either the unnamed feast in John 5:1 or else a Passover that John does not mention (but that may be implied in the Synoptics) |
|
Nisan 14 |
a.d. 32 |
John 6:4 |
|
Nisan 14 |
a.d. 33 |
John 11:55, the Passover at which Jesus was crucified |
Jesus Was Crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover
John also mentions that Jesus was crucified on “the day of Preparation” (John 19:31), that is, the Friday before the Sabbath of Passover week (Mark 15:42). The night before, on Thursday evening, Jesus ate a Passover meal with the Twelve (Mark 14:12), his “Last Supper.”
In the Pharisaic-rabbinic calendar commonly used in Jesus’s day, Passover always falls on the fourteenth day of Nisan (Exodus 12:6), which begins Thursday after sundown and ends Friday at sundown. In the year a.d. 33, the most likely year of Jesus’s crucifixion, Nisan 14 fell on April 3, yielding April 3, a.d. 33, as the most likely date for the crucifixion. In The Final Days of Jesus, we therefore constructed the following chart to show the dates for Jesus’s final week in a.d. 33:
|
April 2 |
Nissan 14 |
Thursday (Wednesday nightfall to Thursday nightfall) |
Day of Passover preparation |
Last Supper |
|
April 3 |
Nissan 15 |
Friday (Thursday nightfall to Friday nightfall) |
Passover; Feast of Unleavened Bread, begins |
Crucifixion |
|
April 4 |
Nissan 16 |
Saturday (Friday nightfall to Saturday nightfall) |
Sabbath |
|
|
April 5 |
Nissan 17 |
Sunday (Saturday nightfall to Sunday nightfall) |
First day of the week |
Resurrection |
Conclusion
The above calculations may appear complicated, but in a nutshell the argument runs like this:
|
HISTORICAL INFORMATION |
YEAR |
|
Beginning of Tiberius’s reign |
a.d. 14 |
|
Fifteenth year of Tiberius’s reign: Beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry |
a.d. 28 |
|
A few months later: Beginning of Jesus’s ministry |
a.d. 29 |
|
Minimum three-year duration of Jesus’ ministry: Most likely date of Jesus’s crucifixion |
a.d. 33 (April 3) |
While this is in our judgment the most likely scenario, it should be acknowledged that many believe Jesus was crucified in the year a.d. 30, not 33. However, if the beginning of Tiberius’s reign is placed in the year a.d. 14, it is virtually impossible to accommodate fifteen years of Tiberius’s reign and three years of Jesus’ ministry between a.d. 14 and 30. For this reason, some have postulated a co-regency (joint rule) of Tiberius and Augustus during the last few years of Augustus’s reign. However, there is no reliable ancient historical evidence for such co-regency.
The entirety of the gospel chapters dealing with the crucifixion are the reference.
They totally demolish your comic book position.
His “exegesis” is really eisegisis.
Had he gone from the text rather than injecting a false interpretation into the text, we wouldn’t be having this exchange.
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Irresponsible comments like these are why it is impossible to have an intelligent conversation with non-Catholics.
Are there any compiled by Catholic Authors?
Irresponsible comments like these are why it is impossible to have an intelligent conversation with non-Catholics.
Perhaps you are unfamilar with history. Seek YHvH in His WORD. Please explain how a statement of history
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
is an irresponsible comment.
Go to the Encyclopedia Britannica find out when the Catholic Church was started. They are certainly no friend of the Catholic Church and are one of the most reliable secular sources out there.
What is in YHvH's WORD ? That is not proof.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
Exegesis?
Exegesis?
how can one have a meaningful discussion on the Scriptures with someone that:
doesn’t realize that according to the Scriptures any time days are counted, the day of the event is day one?
doesn’t realize according to the Scriptures, any part of a day is counted as a whole day?
thinks that the Apostles were Torah observant?
thinks that Constantine started the “Roman” Church?
it would be like trying to discuss history with someone that thinks the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, i guess you could have the discussion, it’s just wouldn’t be very fruitful!
No, when the event is the fulfillment of the sign of the prophet Jonah, the days are full from sunset to sunset.
The gospels prove that to be true. When you leave out the normal day between the Sabbaths, men of God become like you, Sabbath breakers, and defilers of Yehova’s Passover.
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No, they are compiled by true men of God.
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doesn’t realize that according to the Scriptures any time days are counted, the day of the event is day one?
doesn’t realize according to the Scriptures, any part of a day is counted as a whole day?
thinks that the Apostles were Torah observant?
thinks that Constantine started the “Roman” Church?
These are methods of the Evil One. The first response is meaningless; see Genesis one The second is without foundation in the WORD. Yah'shua was/is Torah observant. No one else but Constantine created the Roman "church" In the typical manner of your sect
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
Roman's change the subject and ridicule.
So were His Apostles.
They accepted Yah'shua as the Mashiach,
Therefore they were messianic Jews
He is the WORD NO?
Amen !shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
observing the Torah after Jesus went to the cross is a denial of Jesus fulfilling the law and salvation by grace.
like i said, just like the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor...
If you were familiar with the WORD,You are demanding Lawlessness.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
salvation by Grace has always been available.
You are demanding Lawlessness.
no, Christians are demanded to follow the law of love, not the Torah.
but then again, a CHRISTIAN would realize that.
You are absolutely correct. What is truly puzzling is the motive of the Torah "worshippers." There is nothing in the Torah that cannot be found in Matthew 7:12:
"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (Mat 7:12 KJV)
And Moses, himself, warned us to follow Christ, not Moses;
"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people." (Acts 3:22-23 KJV)
Jesus and the apostles told us, in many ways, that believers in Christ are not subject to any ordinance, of any kind, except for His commandment to love one another. These are a few examples of how Christ abolished ordinances:
"That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;" (Eph 2:12-15 KJV)
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." (Col 2:13-17 KJV)
"Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?" (Col 2:20-22 KJV)
"Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." (Heb 10:15-18 KJV)
Philip
Our friend may also want to read Romans 7, it’s tough to follow the law when you have died to it through the Body of Christ.
That means you are rejecting Yah'shua. There has been anti-semitism in the Roman "church" Sad as Yah'shua was/is/will always be a Jewish King. Then you are rejecting the WORD of YHvH.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
since Nicea in 325CE.
>>>shalom b’SHEM Yah’shua HaMashiach<<<
Would you please write in English? I don’t understand jibberish.
Philip
So they are not scriptural and pretty much the opinions of prots. I will save my money.
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