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 Jesuss 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 Jesuss 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 Christs life did take place in human history alongside other known events, it is helpful to locate Jesuss deathas precisely as the available evidence allowswithin 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 Baptists 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Luke implies that John the Baptist began his public ministry shortly before Jesus did, and he gives us a historical reference point for when the Baptists ministry began: In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar .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, Tiberiuss 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 Tiberiuss 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 Baptists ministry began anywhere from mid-a.d. 28 until sometime in a.d. 29.
The Year Jesuss 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 Jesuss 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 Johns ministry and that of Jesus (and the year a.d. 30 is the latest possible date). So Jesuss ministry must have begun between the end of a.d. 28 at the earliest and a.d. 30 at the latest.
This coheres with Lukes 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 Jesuss Ministry
Now we need to know how long Jesuss 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.
Johns 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 Jesuss 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 Jesuss 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 Jesuss 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 Jesuss 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 Jesuss 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 Tiberiuss reign |
a.d. 14 |
Fifteenth year of Tiberiuss reign: Beginning of John the Baptists ministry |
a.d. 28 |
A few months later: Beginning of Jesuss ministry |
a.d. 29 |
Minimum three-year duration of Jesus ministry: Most likely date of Jesuss 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 Tiberiuss reign is placed in the year a.d. 14, it is virtually impossible to accommodate fifteen years of Tiberiuss 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 Augustuss reign. However, there is no reliable ancient historical evidence for such co-regency.
2,000 years of orthodox, historical Christianity can hardly be described as a cult.......but to a Judaizer, i guess anything is possible.
>>>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
Putting them together in a haphazard way is not scriptural, and since this was done by non-Catholics it is probably not Christian.
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.”
I was talking about understanding, and Flatlander has your number.
.
Perhaps your Jesus is a Greek speaking Roman citizen.shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiachBut Yah'shua is and will always be a Jewish King
ruling the world from JerusalemHis NAME in Hebrew: Yah'shua means "YHvH is/be my salvation"
Which is why one must call on His NAME for salvation.
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.
“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.
You demonstrate again and again how one can If you were familiar with Galatians you would Paul on the other hand said one could have1,689 years of Roman paganism masqurading
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
as state sponsered orthodoxy.
be so ignorant of the WORD.
know that the Judaizers required full conversion
to the Traditions of Judaism before one could
be a Messianic follower of Yah'shua .
salvation by calling on the NAME of YHvH.
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??
So the way God wrote it isn't good enough for the protestants? Okay thank you for clearing that up.
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.
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;
Seriously one needs a sound system of Revelation 7:9 begins with Meta houtos t.e. Again a clear reading Revelation is that the Of cause not! How xenophobic !
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
hermeneutics and a rigorous exegesis
of the whole text of the WORD.
After these things having taken place:
from here on are future events.
church is no longer mentioned after Rev 4:1.
Mazol Tov Have a wonderful journey on the wide road of life. If I understand your statement correctly you believe
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
that the NAME of YHvH is gibberish.
I expect you mean the New Covenant
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
as explained in Jeremiah 31:31-34.
as fulfilled by Luke 22:20
The third cup of the Passover is the cup of Redemption. Go back and with comprehension read Jeremiah 31. If we were in the New Covenant, As the Torah would be written on your heart, Again you fail to read the full context of the WORD.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
Metaphorically the wine is His blood.
we would not need this discussion.
your circumcised heart.
metaphorically?
Metaphorically the wine is His blood.
hmm, that’s not what my pagan Bible says.
Metaphorically the wine is His blood.
hmm, thats not what my pagan Bible says.
What one needs to consider is celebrating PassoverPerhaps it would be if the Roman "church"
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
stopped the cultic magic trick of claiming
to change a Pesach Matzoh
into the body of the creator of the universe.
as Jesus commanded : Do this in remembrance of me.
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