WHEN WAS JESUS BORN, WHEN DID HE START HIS MINISTRY, AND WHEN WAS HE CRUCIFIED?
When people begin studying the life of Jesus Christ some are often confused by the assertion that he was born in 4 BC, meaning that he was born in the year 4 “Before Christ.” Intuitively, one would think that Jesus’ birth year should be AD 1, that is during year 1 of the “year of our Lord” (which is what the Latin designation “AD” basically means). First, the confusion concerning Jesus’ birth year originates from several errors made by a 6th century Scythian monk named Dionysius, who was the originator of the designations BC/AD (you can find more information about him on the web). Dionysius, being a Christian monk, desired to create a new division of history that started with the year of Jesus’ birth. Obviously these designations were not used during Jesus’ earthly ministry; in fact, Dionysius’s idea didn’t even catch on very quickly. Nevertheless, as Dionysius attempted to calculate Jesus’ birth year he made several critical errors; however, one should not castigate too badly since the historical records available to him were not as accurate as those available to us today. Moreover, precision with respect to historical records was not as highly valued as it is today. Nevertheless, his mistake has caused one of the greatest confusions in all of human history—literally. We all have bad days, but his takes the cake! Consequently, with respect to the year of Jesus’ birth he was off by at least 4 years (I personally calculate Jesus’ birth as having occurred in early in 4 BC). Historical evidence indicates that during the final days of Herod the Great’s life, knowing that his death was nearing, Herod ordered that “all the principal men of the entire Jewish nation” be gathered into the hippodrome where they were to be executed for the purpose of ensuring that there was great mourning throughout the land upon his death.[1] Consequently, it is not a great stretch of the imagination that Herod would have given similar maniacal and demented orders to slaughter a few dozen male infants in the little hamlet of Bethlehem around this same time. Therefore, since most scholars date Herod the Great’s death as occurring in 4 BC, it seems that Jesus actual birth also occurred in either early 4 BC or late 5 BC.
Another common mistake some make when calculating how old Jesus was when he began his public ministry concerns the number of years between BC and AD, or BCE and CE. One must not calculate an additional year by adding a “0” year between the years 1 BC and AD 1; consequently, the transition from 1 BC is immediately to AD 1, there should be no “0” year in between them.
So with these issues in mind, when was Jesus born, how long was his public ministry, and when was he crucified? Luke wrote that Jesus was “around” 30 years old when he started his public ministry (Lk 3.23), which means he could have been between 29 to 33 years of age (Luke was not trying to provide Jesus’ exact age). Consequently, if one assumes that Jesus began his ministry in AD 29 it would mean he was approximately 33 years old at the time (assuming his birth was in 4 BC). A review of the Gospels reveals that at the very least Jesus’ earthly ministry was 2 full years, but more probably 3 full years (that is if one views John 5.1 as also referring to a Passover). However, his ministry could have lasted as long as 5 years (assuming that the Gospel writers did not record all of the Passovers that occurred during his earthly ministry). This longer period assumes that Jesus’ trial occurred during Pilate’s final year in office (which was AD 36). This is the latest possible year of Jesus’ earthly ministry since Pilate oversaw the Roman portion of Jesus’ trial. However, it is not likely that Jesus’ trial occurred during Pilate’s final year in office. Consequently, assuming that Jesus was crucified in 33 AD (the most likely year of his crucifixion), then that would make him around 36 years old at his death and resurrection (assuming a full 3 years of public ministry; see the chronology below).
- 4 BC = Jesus was born.
- AD 29 = Jesus was about 33 years old when he began his public ministry.
- AD 33 = Jesus was around 36 years old when he was crucified and arose physically from the dead.
If one assumes that his crucifixion was in 30 AD (which is another reasonable possibility for the year of Jesus’ death), then it means his public ministry began ca. 26 AD (thus Luke’s description that Jesus was around “30” since AD 26 + BC 4 = 30 years). This alternative calculation means that Jesus was about 33 years old when he died and arose physically from the grave.[2]
- 4 BC = Jesus was born
- AD 26 = Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his public ministry.
- AD 30 = Jesus was around 33 years old when he was crucified and arose from the grave.
Hope this helps clarifies some of the confusion concerning when Jesus was born, as well as when his public ministry began and how long it lasted.
Doc.
[1] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XVII.6.5.
[2] For a more thorough explanation of why the astronomical calculations arrive at the Passover of Jesus’ crucifixion as being in either AD 30 or AD 33, see D. A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo, Introduction to the New Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 126-27.