April 3, AD 33

First Things ^ | April 3, 2014 | by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Justin Taylor

[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Luke implies that John the Baptist began his public ministry shortly before Jesus did, and he gives us a historical reference point for when the Baptist’s ministry began: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar .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:

• There was a Passover in Jerusalem at the start of his public ministry (John 2:13, 23).
• There was a Passover in Galilee midway through his public ministry (John 6:4).
• There was a final Passover in Jerusalem at the end of his public ministry, that is, the time of his crucifixion (John 11:55; 12:1).
• And Jesus may have attended one more Passover not recorded in John but perhaps in one or several of the Synoptic Gospels (i.e., Matthew, Mark, and Luke).

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.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

2,000 years of orthodox, historical Christianity can hardly be described as a cult.......but to a Judaizer, i guess anything is possible.

[PhilipFreneau]

>>>What would you know about salvation?<<<

I know salvation came out of Judea. Does that help you?

>>>Have you ever read “Flatlander?”<<<

I don’t recall. Is that in the old or new testament? We are talking about salvation, aren’t we?

Philip

[verga]

Putting them together in a haphazard way is not scriptural, and since this was done by non-Catholics it is probably not Christian.

[editor-surveyor]

Correlating them in a smooth flowing unbroken chronology is in no way ‘haphazard.’ It leads to more rapid assimilation of them.

Catholic is not “Christian.”

[editor-surveyor]

I was talking about understanding, and Flatlander has your number.
.

[Uri’el-2012]

Perhaps your Jesus is a Greek speaking Roman citizen.

But Yah'shua is and will always be a Jewish King
ruling the world from Jerusalem

His NAME in Hebrew: Yah'shua means "YHvH is/be my salvation"

Which is why one must call on His NAME for salvation.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

Which is why one must call on His NAME for salvation.

are you saying only those who speak hebrew can be saved?

revelation 7:9 would appear to disagree with you:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

fyi - revelation is the last book in the Christian Bible.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

“But Yah’shua is and will always be a Jewish King
ruling the world from Jerusalem”

Jesus is the King of Israel, in which there is neither Jew nor Greek.

He is currently reigning as King today from Jerusalem, which is above and free.

[Uri’el-2012]

2,000 years of orthodox, historical Christianity can hardly be described as a cult.......but to a Judaizer, i guess anything is possible.

1,689 years of Roman paganism masqurading
as state sponsered orthodoxy.

You demonstrate again and again how one can
be so ignorant of the WORD.

If you were familiar with Galatians you would
know that the Judaizers required full conversion
to the Traditions of Judaism before one could
be a Messianic follower of Yah'shua .

Paul on the other hand said one could have
salvation by calling on the NAME of YHvH.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

the Judaizers taught the Torah must be kept.......sound familiar????

Paul taught the Torah was replaced by the new covenant, Jesus kept the Torah PERFECTLY in our place.

you keep alluding to “roman paganism” and previously stated that Constantine founded the “roman church” at Nicea in 325ad, but never provided proof for the statement.
how did Constantine do this??
where were the Judaizers to oppose him??

[verga]

?Correlating them in a smooth flowing unbroken chronology is in no way ‘haphazard.’ It leads to more rapid assimilation of them.

So the way God wrote it isn't good enough for the protestants? Okay thank you for clearing that up.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

Uri’el - a question for you

must a male baby born in April 2014 be circumcised on the eighth day as required by the Torah?

that can be answered either yes or no.

[Uri’el-2012]

are you saying only those who speak hebrew can be saved?

revelation 7:9 would appear to disagree with you:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Of cause not! How xenophobic !

Seriously one needs a sound system of
hermeneutics and a rigorous exegesis
of the whole text of the WORD.

Revelation 7:9 begins with Meta houtos t.e.
After these things having taken place:
from here on are future events.

Again a clear reading Revelation is that the
church is no longer mentioned after Rev 4:1.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[Uri’el-2012]

It is interesting you would write gibberish and claim it means “calling on the name of Jesus Christ;

If I understand your statement correctly you believe
that the NAME of YHvH is gibberish.

Mazol Tov

Have a wonderful journey on the wide road of life.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[Uri’el-2012]

Paul taught the Torah was replaced by the new covenant,

I expect you mean the New Covenant
as explained in Jeremiah 31:31-34.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

as fulfilled by Luke 22:20

[Uri’el-2012]

,as fulfilled by Luke 22:20.

Again you fail to read the full context of the WORD.

The third cup of the Passover is the cup of Redemption.
Metaphorically the wine is His blood.

Go back and with comprehension read Jeremiah 31.

If we were in the New Covenant,
we would not need this discussion.

As the Torah would be written on your heart,
your circumcised heart.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

metaphorically?

Metaphorically the wine is His blood.

hmm, that’s not what my pagan Bible says.

[Uri’el-2012]

metaphorically?

Metaphorically the wine is His blood.

hmm, that’s not what my pagan Bible says.

Perhaps it would be if the Roman "church"
stopped the cultic magic trick of claiming
to change a Pesach Matzoh
into the body of the creator of the universe.

What one needs to consider is celebrating Passover
as Jesus commanded : Do this in remembrance of me.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach