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Luke implies that John the Baptist began his public ministry shortly before Jesus did, and he gives us a historical reference point for when the Baptist’s ministry began: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar .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

[editor-surveyor]

That is an impossibility, no matter what day he died on.

Three days and three nights are required, exactly as with Jonah.

No events of the crucifixion had anything to do with “sunday.” The term “the first day of the week” has to be taken with the Biblical rendering of time, not the pagan rendering.

It was all over with before ‘sunday’ ever happened.

[captmar-vell]

Thanks for your reply Boatbums,

It leaves me wondering how someone could be the author of a book, that is, that they could spend that much time, effort and energy into researching such an important event, and yet still arrive with no apparent spiritual discernment,

Because tradition is elevated beyond truth, ‘teaching for doctrines the commandments of men’ they wont be able to understand the times and seasons past which also speak of those almost upon us again. The prophetic outline of this was given in advance and provides a more sure witness to those that will see and hear,

“Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” Mark 7:13

They likely also cannot perceive this age is about to close soon and that Jesus will rule and reign on the throne of David, on this Earth, from Jerusalem,

These are the ones that Jesus spoke about in Revelation Chapter 3, that call themselves Jews and are not,

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

Luke 24:1 “ but on the first day of the week......”

Luke 24:13 “ that very day......”

Luke 24:21 “ yes, and besides all this, it is NOW the third day since this happened”

Luke 24:45-46 “ then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them “thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and ON THE THIRD DAY rise from the dead”

(That is an impossibility, no matter what day he died on.) - Luke would seem to disagree with you.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

“Yeshua was crucified late on a “wednesday” afternoon on the 14th day of the Biblical month of the Aviv.”

let’s count days shall we. If a Jewish baby boy was born on the 14th day of the Biblical month of the Aviv, on what day of the Biblical month of Aviv must he be circumcised on according to the Scriptures?

[captmar-vell]

Thanks, that is very true, and I wish more people understood this linkage,

If anyone would care to research the Feast Days and make a list of all of the historical events which have occurred on them, it would provide them much deeper insights and truths into his overall plan for redemption as well as the timeline for it, and of those fulfilled, which is always completed on the very day of the Feast itself,

Its a witness to us being shadows of those not yet completed, (meaning Trumpets, Yom Kippur and Tabernacles) where we can know their ultimate completion will also resolve on the very day of the Feast itself in whatever future year sees these events come to the full,

[Uri’el-2012]

The specific first day during Passover that year was
important because it was YHvH's Feast of First Fruits.

Yah'shua rose on YHvH's Feast of First Fruits
It begins at sundown on Saturday.

It always occurs on the day following the Shabbat
following the start of Passover.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

I didn’t realize the Gospel of Luke was “tradition”, i thought it was “scriptura”.

btw - for Christians, Jesus our King is ruling from Jerusalem above which is free, already.

btw- the earthly Jerusalem and the rest of the earth will be burned up once the day of the Lord comes.

[editor-surveyor]

When Luke says “the first day of the week,” he means what you call “saturday evening.”

That is when the traditional celebration of the closing of the sabbath and beginning of the work week is held. It is called Havdalah.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

uh oh ES, Uri’el agrees Jesus rose on the first day of the week.

[editor-surveyor]

You misinterpret what UriÂ’el-2012 is saying.

The days of the week must be counted by the Biblical method.

All days begin at sunset. Sunset is precisely when he arose.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

wednesday - 4th day of the week
thursday - 5th day of the week
friday - 6th day of the week
sabbath - 7th day of the week
sunday - 1st day of the week

if Jesus died on the 4th day of the week as you claim, how do you arrive at any other day than friday the sixth day of the week as “the third day” when he said he would rise?
as can be seen above, the first day of the week is the fifth day from wednesday.

you do realize when reckoning days according to the Scriptures, today is day one, tomorrow is day two and the day after tomorrow IS THE THIRD DAY?

[editor-surveyor]

>> “the earthly Jerusalem and the rest of the earth will be burned up once the day of the Lord comes.” <<

.
No.

That will be at the end of “The Day of Yehova,” 1000 years later.

[editor-surveyor]

You err by counting pagan days.

Yehova’s days have no name and begin at sunset.
.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

All days begin at sunset. Sunset is precisely when he arose.

LOL, if he rose at sunset, he rose on the first day of the week. sunset is when the feast of first fruits begins and this is the day he rose.

just so there is no confusion on your position, do you believe he rose on the 7th day of the week or the first day of the week?

[Uri’el-2012]

Followers of YHvH count days as outlined in Genesis 1.

Evening then morning
Sundown to sundown

Roman Pagans count days from midnight to midnight

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[editor-surveyor]

Sunset is the point of division of the days.

It marked the beginning of the first day.

He rose as he completed his 3rd full day in the tomb.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

i asked you a question in post #44, let’s count days as Yehova would have us do according to His written Scriptures.

can you answer the question?

[narses]

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[editor-surveyor]

You reject the counting of days as given in scripture.

I posted as per scripture, and you kick and squirm against it.

Sundown wednesday begins day one, and sundown saturday ends day three.

[narses]