‘If Luke was reporting
that John the Baptist started
his ministry, according to the beginning of Tiberius’ reign
as of 11/12 BC,
[should be AD]
then Jesus would have been crucified in AD 30, at the
age of 35.’
Hi
Jeremiah,
Thanks
for your
post.
In doing my own
research, I have found there are some
quite ‘tricky’ historical dates that can easily throw us off
the trail that
leads to the truth! The ‘obscure’ date for the beginning of
Tiberius’ reign is
one of them! My research concluded that Tiberius was made
‘co-princeps’ (Emperor)
with Augustus in AD 12, and he became sole Emperor in AD 14.
I also believe that the
‘historians of the day’ would naturally
choose AD 12 as the
beginning of
Tiberius’ reign, not AD 14
when his aged and infirm predecessor Augustus (i.e.,
Step-father and then adoptive-
father) died, and left him to it! These dates vary in some
records; however, I
will go along with Suetonius who wrote that “the
ceremonies and declaration
of his ‘co-princips’ [rulership] took place in the year AD
12, after
Tiberius’ return from Germania.” (see Wikipedia re Tiberius)
Therefore,
15 years after Tiberius’ rule
commenced in AD 12, John the Baptist would have begun His
ministry around AD 26/27.
Note: Those who believe the date for Jesus’
crucifixion was as late as AD
33, always choose AD 14 for Tiberius’ sole-rule because that
date more closely
fits their argument!
As you
say, there is no year 0 (1 BC and AD
1 are the same year); also the later changes made to Julian
and Gregorian
calendars add to the difficulty to be precise about the true
dates. When
using modern and ancient calendars most
dates are calculated as + or – one or two years!
However,
there are several other references
that give further clues regarding Jesus’ ministry:
1.Now
Jesus Himself began His ministry at about 30 years
of age…(Luke
3:2).
If
Jesus’ ministry began six months or
more after John the Baptist in AD 26/27 (i.e.,
according to their age difference),
then the scripture (above) endorses the fact that Jewish men
were not considered
‘qualified to teach’ until they reached the age of 30, hence
the people
frequently called Jesus ‘Rabbi’ (John 1:49, 3:2, 3:26 and
6:25), or Teacher. As
you point out, we can identify only three occasions when
Jesus observed the
Passover, so if he was born in 3 BC, (qualified to teach in
AD 26/27), then He
must have been about 33 when he was crucified in AD 30!
2.We also know
that Herod’s renovation and
expansion of the Jerusalem Temple (John 2:20)
commenced approx. 20 BC,
and it had been forty-six years in the building
process at the time of Jesus’
first Passover in Jerusalem. This also puts the commencement
of Jesus’ ministry
around AD 26/27.
3.Dating ofOld Testament prophecy (i.e., Daniel’s prophecy of
70 Weeks—Dan.
9:24–27). This also confirms that Jesus’ began His
ministry in AD 26/27, and
He was probably crucified in AD 30. Artaxerxes’ decree that
began Daniel’s
count-down, was intended to restore and
build Jerusalem
as the autonomous Capital of Judea (cf. Daniel 9:25). This
decree was made by Artaxerxes
in his 7th year in 458 BC. (At this time,
Ezra the scribe [Ezra 7:12–26]
was chosen to reinstate/restore Judea’s judicial law in
Jerusalem, about 58
years after the 2nd Temple had been built in 516
BC.) Ezra exercised
this decree on Nisan 1, 458 BC! Add on 69 weeks (x
7) of years, i.e., 483
solar years (via the Babylonian calendar with an
intercalated month to keep the
seasons in line), and you come to the time for Daniel’s 70th Week to begin in AD
26/27. (See
section below)
4.An interesting
alternative date for Herod’s
death, and therefore Jesus’ birth has been calculated
using planetarium
evidence, as presented in The Star that
Astonished the World,
by E.L. Martin – Academy for Scriptural; 2 edition (August
1, 1991). An audio
of the book can be located at http://www.askelm.com/star/index.asp
His
conclusion is that later historians
chose the wrong Lunar Eclipse by which they
calculated the year of
Herod’s death, and their 4 BC timing does not fit with
Josephus’ account of
Herod’s lengthy and specific funeral arrangements. His
premise is that Jesus was born on September 11, 3 BC,
which was Tishri One
on the Jewish calendar (i.e., Rosh Ha-Shanah, the Day of Trumpets)!
E.L. Martin has
additional information about the heavenly
sign in Revelation 12, the angel’s announcement of
Elizabeth’s soon conception
of John the Baptist (when her husband Zechariah, the Priest,
was serving in the
Priestly course of Abijah, Luke 1:5), plus historical
details about the Census ordered
by Augustus (31 BC–AD 14), ‘before’ Quirinius was governor
of Syria, which sent
Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth.
(cf. Luke 2:1–4)
Tertullian also dates
the birth of Jesus in the 41st
year of Augustus, i.e., 3 BC.
However,
I am not so interested in the date
of Jesus’ birth, as I am in the timing of His ministry
and his appearance in
the Synagogue in Nazareth—aged 30, about AD 27—to
begin His mission as Messiah,
in fulfilment of Isaiah
61:1–2a.
Notably, on that specific day (that is not
recorded), He read the first
half of the Messianic passage from Isaiah that announced the
acceptable year of the Lord (Luke
4:18–21), which activated the Messianic 70th
Week of Daniel’s prophecy. (Dan. 9:25)
The 70th
Week hadbeen
specifically ear-marked
for the New
Covenantfor the forgiveness
of sin—for the Jews, promised in Jeremiah 31:31–34). Jesus would
afterwards fulfil those
prophecies made by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, and complete
the six tasks listed
in Daniel 9:24 (which are all expounded upon in Hebrews
8–10). Jesus
would satisfy these prophecies through His death
and—especially important—because
of His resurrection! (cf. Heb. 9:11–12, 23–28)
Subsequently,
at the end of His three (+) years
of ministry, He was crucified/cut off in
the middle of
the week (i.e.,
in AD 30, in the middle
year of the
special seven year/week Covenant period AD 27–34) which
had been set aside to
bring an end to sacrifice and offering (cf. Dan.
9:26a, 27a). The
splitting of the Temple veil—giving free access
into the Holy of Holies (Matt. 27:51)—indicated that the
annual offerings made on
the Day of Atonement in the Temple were now redundant.
By fulfilling the
six tasks in Daniel’s prophecy, Messiah confirmed Jeremiah’s
New Covenant
in His bloodfor the forgiveness of sin
for the Jews (Matt.
26:28). He became the true (antitype) ‘Pascal Lamb of God’
after Pilate had
examined Him, and ‘found no fault in Him!’
Daniel’s
70th Week
– Second half:
So, what
happened during the latter
half of Daniel’s special 70th Week/seven year
period?
Daniel
stated that
his prophecy was specifically intended for his people (Judah) and Jerusalem,
so the second half of the 70th week (i.e., AD 30–34), was destined to be fulfilled by
Jesus’ disciples who
preached exclusively to the ‘lost sheep of the House of
Israel’ in Jerusalem
during that period. The edited quote below is from my book – The Curse and the
Covenant
‘Corresponding with
Jesus’ instructions, the Apostles’ continued to preach the
Gospelexclusively
to the Jews in
Jerusalemfor about three
years
while believers were added to the Church daily(Acts 2:5–12,
37–47).
Jesus’ disciples were able to
use the Temple precincts as their preaching platform until the
Assembly of
Jewish leaders (Sanhedrin) heard the Gospel via Stephen’s
testimony during his
trial, and afterward rejected it! (Acts 7) Thus, Daniel’s seventieth week came to a definite
and not coincidental conclusion in AD 34, when the unbelief of
the Jewish
Sanhedrin and their declared opposition to the Gospel resulted
in Stephen being
stoned to death!
Stephen’s death
marked the end of the exclusivity of the Gospel for the
Jews in Jerusalem
and the beginning of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles
(Acts 8:1–4 >). The
nascent persecution against Jesus’ disciples and Jewish
converts, which began in
Jerusalem with Stephen’s death, increased in intensity until
about AD 41; it
caused the believers to flee and preach the Gospel in the regions of Judaeaand Samaria (Acts 8:5–10:48).
Reportedly, only the Apostles remained in Jerusalem during the
decade following
Stephen’s death. Thus, the scriptures and historical events
show that the
entire 490 year period
that
constituted Daniel’s Prophecy of Seventy Weeks for the Jews
and Jerusalem had been fulfilled
(i.e., it began with Artaxerxes’ Decree
made in 458 BC and it ended in AD 34 with Stephen’smartyrdom).’
Consequently, Daniel’s
prophecy has no future relevance, other than recording the
fact that the true
Temple site in Jerusalem will remain desolate until the
consummation (Dan.
9:27b).
Repercussions
arising from Daniel’s
70th Week during
an ‘Alternative week!’
However, Stephen’s death
was not the end of the
matter. Consequences would soon follow!
Daniel had forecast that
the city and the sanctuary
would be destroyed, and until
the end of the war desolations are determined.
(Dan. 9:26b, 27b)
Because of the Jews’
opposition to the Gospel, an ‘alternative week’
would soon overtake
them. Isaiah had called it the day of vengeance of
our God, and
it constituted the other half of Messiah’s commission, as
written in Isaiah
61:2b, (cf. Isaiah 34:8).However, Jesus
did not publically announce the day of vengeance of
our God; He only
warned His disciples (during His dissertation on the Mount of
Olives), that the
prophesied day of vengeance would be embedded in the
desolation and calamities
that would soon engulf Jerusalem through an invasion by
foreign armies.
But when you see
Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those
who are in Judea flee to
the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart,
and let not those
who are in the country enter her. For
these arethe days of vengeance, that all things
which are written may
be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant
and to those who are
nursing babies in those days! For there will be great
distress in the land and
wrath upon this people.
And they will
fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive
into all nations.
And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times
of the Gentiles are
fulfilled. (Luke 21:20–24)
But Jesus, turning to
them, said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep; for Me,
but weep for
yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are
coming in which they
will say, “Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore,
and breasts which
never nursed!” Then they will begin to say to the mountains,
“Fall on us! And
to the hills, Cover us.”’ (Luke 23:28–30)
Daniel’s long-term
prediction about the war, and Jesus’ dire warning—about the day of
vengeance—began
to come true 36 years later. The
alternative ‘week’
for the
unbelieving Jews who said: ‘Let Him be crucified!
Let Him be crucified!His
blood be on us and our children’ (Matt. 27:22b,
23b, 25b), would be
fulfilled (during a well-documented period of history), in AD 66–73:
The First Great Jewish Revolt
began in the fall ofAD
66
Vespasian’s
invasion of Galilee
began inAD
67
The
siege of Jerusalem began on April 14,AD 70
Jerusalem
fell to the Romans August 29, (9th Av)AD 70
The Revolt ended in
Jews’ suicide at Masada in
AprilAD 73
You
might also notice that the fall of Jerusalem occurred in the middle of the alternative ‘week’ of
seven years, and on
that occasion it brought a complete end
to sacrifice and offering!
But in
the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice
and
offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one
who makes
desolate. (Dan. 9:27b)
‘General Titus
ordered a victorious sacrifice near the
eastern gate of the Temple. One of the animals burned there,
which was the most
insulting and blasphemous of all, was a pig!’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jesus’
bitter words addressed to Jerusalem and its population, and
especially the hypocritical
Scribes, Pharisees and Lawyers of the day were:
Assuredly,
I say to you, all these things will come upon this
generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the
prophets and stones
those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your
children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were
not willing!
See! Your
house is left
to you desolate; for I
say to you, you
shall
see Me no more till yousay,‘Blessed is He who
comes in the name of
the LORD!’ (Matt. 23:36–39)
Then
Jesus went out and departed from the temple… (Matt. 24:1a)
Note
that Jesus endorsed the prophetic judgement of desolation
on the sanctuary
in Jerusalem (recorded in Daniel 9:26b, and Daniel 9:27b), and
He linked that
judgement with the exact prophetic words (from Psalm 118:26),
that the
population had so joyfully uttered on Palm Sunday (cf. Matt.
21:9; Mark 11:9;
Luke 13:35, 19:38).
Back then, on
Palm Sunday, while riding a donkey into Jerusalem, He was
feted as the Messiah
of God, Son of David (Matt. 21:1-11); Now—just a few
days later, during
Passover Week—they wanted to crucify Him!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those same
words: Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the LORD! will one
day once again ring out in the streets of Jerusalem… ‘when the
time comes’
(Luke 13:35), but
with different
results… (Zechariah 12:10–13:1).