Section 2 brief chronology of the life of Christ

A BRIEF
CHRONOLOGY OF
THE LIFE OF
CHRIST
chronology |krəˈnɒlədʒi| noun
the arrangement of events or dates in the order of their occurrence
Saturday, 20 July 13

Dating the life of Christ is not an
easy task, there are many
uncertainties when trying to be
speciﬁc - so we use reasonable
approximations or ‘best guesses’
at times. For example: The ﬁrst
century was when?

century was when?
Romans: 754-854 (from the
supposed founding of Rome)

century was when?
Jews: 3760-3860 (from the
supposed date of the creation of
the world)

century was when?
Jews: 3760-3860 (from the
supposed date of the creation of
the world)
However ancient historians tend
to talk in terms of a kings reign -
and the nth year of that reign.

This provides a problem as they use
different ways to measure the
length of a reign:
- some go from the exact date in the
year of accession to the throne
- some from the ﬁrst full calendar
year
- some use “exclusive reckoning”
where the 2nd through 5th years
would be three years
Others use “inclusive reckoning”
where the 2nd through 5th years
would be four years
This results in some confusion
when consulting different textbooks

THE BIRTH OF CHRIST
Took place somewhere between 6 and 4 BC.
Use of AD and BC was developed by Christians but
did not gain wide recognition and acceptance until
the 1500’s under Pope Gregory XIII.
In the early 6th century Dionysus Exiguus made the
ﬁrst attempt to date Christ’s birth and so we get
1AD - which became so well accepted it was
impossible to change.

Later using the work of Josephus it
was found that Herod must have
died by 4BC - and as he had all the
babies in Bethlehem slaughtered
shortly before his death, in
accordance with the date he learned
from the Magi (Matt 2:16) Christ
could have been born up to 2 years
earlier.
People have also tried to link the
“star of Bethlehem” with a strange
conjunction of planets in 7 and 6BC
(Matt 2:2, 9, 10) and also a comet in
5BC. (If the star was “supernatural”
then this is not valid.)

What of Quirinius in Luke 2:2? Historically we only
know of a governor of Syria by this name in AD6 -
maybe governor is a general term or maybe he held
another position before being governor?
There are references of Roman censuses taking
place in Egypt every 14 years - if this edict came
from Rome (Augustus refers to one in 8AD) then it
is possible compliance was still taking place in Judea
in 7-6BC.
Whilst not totally certain we do have good
approximations for the date.

What day was Jesus born on?
December 25th was in the Western
Roman Empire the day of
celebrating Sol Invictus (the
unconquerable sun) - Christians by
3rd century had started to celebrate
the birth of Christ on this day: In the
East they celebrated on January 6th.
Christians probably did not know the
date they simply took a regular
holiday and celebrated at that time,
in this way they had nothing to fear.
Lk 2:8 talks of shepherds watching
lambs at night - a spring activity - so
maybe Jesus was born in the spring?

BEGINNING OF MINISTRY
A number of lines of evidence are
drawn together to get a date for the
start of Jesus’ adult ministry:
1. LK 3:1 - JTB was preaching in the
15th year of Tiberius Caesar (who
started to reign in 14AD) - so
28/29AD
However in 12AD Tiberius took joint
reign of the Eastern provines - so
could be 26/27AD
2. LK 3:23 - Jesus is about 30 years
of age - the above dates ﬁt in with
this

3. Jn 8:57 - Jesus is not yet 50 - a
number used to show he is not yet old
4. Jn 2:20 - 46 years to build the
temple... - Josephus says rebuilding
began in the 18th year of Herod’s
reign (began in 37BC), hence
20/19BC - add 46 and we get
27/28AD
5. How many years did Christ
minister? When was the cruciﬁxion?
Both of these also affect your choice of
date. Blomberg suggests 27 or 28
seems the most probable for the
start of Jesus’ ministry.

LENGTH OF MINISTRY
Historically 1, 2, 3 or even 4 years
have been suggested. Most
commonly accepted is 3 years (+/-
few months)
The synoptics only mention 1
Passover but John mentions 3 (2:13,
6:4, 12:1).
Jn 5:1 speaks of an unnamed feast -
for Jews the feast would be
Tabernacles whilst for Christians it
would be Passover - this could lead to
a 4th Passover (year) being included.

LENGTH OF MINISTRY
Historically 1, 2, 3 or even 4 years
have been suggested. Most
commonly accepted is 3 years (+/-
few months)
The synoptics only mention 1
Passover but John mentions 3 (2:13,
6:4, 12:1).
Jn 5:1 speaks of an unnamed feast -
for Jews the feast would be
Tabernacles whilst for Christians it
would be Passover - this could lead to
a 4th Passover (year) being included.
In Jn 2:13-15 Jesus clears the temple -
is this another incident, or is it the
same as in Mk 11:12-19 and John
simply puts it at the start to add
emphasis (like a headline) to the event?
The Synoptics indicate at least 2
spring times - Mk 2:23-38 picking at
eating grain - then Mk 6:39 talks of
green grass which was found in the
wilderness (v32) in the spring only
after winter rains.
We can conclude 2-3 year
ministry (and possibly a little
longer) is most probable.

If a 3 year period is accepted then
it is usually divided:
Year 1 - obscurity (all the events
prior to the Galilean ministry of
Jesus)
Year 2 - popularity (up until the
events after feeding the 5000 after
which many more casual followers
left Jesus, Jn 6:66)
Year 3 - rejection (feeding of 500
up until his death)
Remember these are not deﬁnite
and may vary by a few months -
but as generalisations they help
give a memorable outline.

THE CRUCIFIXION
Took place during:
- reign of Pilate (AD 26-36)
- Caiaphas was High Priest (AD
18-36)
- Tetrarch Antipas (4BC-37AD)
- was on a Friday (before Sabbath,
Saturday Mk 14:52, and the day on
which the initial Passover was
celebrated)
Some suggest Jn 13:1, 18:28, 19:14,
31 indicate Christ being cruciﬁed
on the day of the Passover
celebration.

THE CRUCIFIXION
Took place during:
- reign of Pilate (AD 26-36)
- Caiaphas was High Priest (AD
18-36)
- Tetrarch Antipas (4BC-37AD)
- was on a Friday (before Sabbath,
Saturday Mk 14:52, and the day on
which the initial Passover was
celebrated)
Some suggest Jn 13:1, 18:28, 19:14,
31 indicate Christ being cruciﬁed
on the day of the Passover
celebration.
Jews counted days from sundown to
sundown - so was Passover Thurs-Fri
or Fri-Sat?
Passover was 15th of Nisan and
calculated by the new moon
appearing - so astronomical data can
be used to help (but due to weather
conditions, clouds etc. We cannot be
absolutely certain of the date.
A good case is made for Passover
being on a Friday or Saturday in AD
30 or 33 (though it is hard to make
the latter date a Friday)

So which date do we choose?
- If the cosmic disruptions of
Mk 15:33, Acts 2:19-20 are a
lunar eclipse then AD33 is
best. (If the dark was
supernatural then such info
does not help)
- if the earliest reasonable date
for Christ’s ministry starting
was AD28 or 29, and was 3-4
years, then AD33 ﬁts best.
- if his ministry was only 2
years then it took place in AD
28-30

So which date do we choose?
- If the cosmic disruptions of
Mk 15:33, Acts 2:19-20 are a
lunar eclipse then AD33 is
best. (If the dark was
supernatural then such info
does not help)
- if the earliest reasonable date
for Christ’s ministry starting
was AD28 or 29, and was 3-4
years, then AD33 fits best.
- if his ministry was only 2
years then it took place in AD
28-30
- what of the dates in Acts? A
period beginning in AD30 fits
best for these (AD33 becomes a
harder fit).
For us a date of AD30 fits
best with taking the
Gospel data seriously - and
is commonly viewed in this
way.
Blomberg does comment that
“little of great exegetical significance
rests on these exact dates”

PROBABLE TIMELINE OF THE
LIFE OF CHRIST

LIFE OF CHRIST
6 BC Birth

LIFE OF CHRIST
6 BC Birth
4 BC Flight and return from Egypt

LIFE OF CHRIST
6 BC Birth
AD7 Teaching in the Temple aged 12

LIFE OF CHRIST
6 BC Birth
Working as a carpenter in Nazareth

LIFE OF CHRIST
6 BC Birth
AD 27 JTB’s ministry begins

LIFE OF CHRIST
6 BC Birth
AD 28 First Passover of Jesus’ ministry

LIFE OF CHRIST
6 BC Birth
AD 28 First Passover of Jesus’ ministry
AD 30 Cruciﬁxion and resurrection

FURTHER DETAILS
- usually it is assumed Jn
1:19-4:42 comes before Jesus’
Galilean ministry in the
synoptics. This is based on
healing the rich rulers servant in
Jn 4:43ff being considered the
same event as healing the
centurions servant in Matt 8:1ff
which signals the start of
Galilean ministry in the
synoptics.
- Jn 2:13-4:42 all take place
further south

- if Jn 5:1 refers to Tabernacles
then it punctuates Galilean
ministry as Jn 6:1 (feeding 5000) is
back in the North
- Jesus’ ﬁnal journey to Jerusalem
(Mk 10:1ff, Lk 9:51ff) does not
allow for a return to Galilee and
so it is assumed to be after the
penultimate trip of Jn 7:1-10:21
- after ministry in Jerusalem at
Hanukkah (Jn 10:40-11:57) Jesus
seems to remain in S Israel until
his ﬁnal entry into Jerusalem a
week before his death.
This then looks like this:

Date Event
Late 27?
Appearance of JTB
Late 27?
Baptism of Jesus
Early 28
Early events of Jn 1-2
Early 28
Passover of Jn 2:13
Spring 28 Rest of events of Jn 3-4
Spring-Fall 28
Ministry in Galilee (as in Synoptics)
Tabernacles of Jn 5:1
Fall 28 until
spring 29
More Galilean ministry (as in Synoptics)

Date Event
Spring 29-fall
29
Passover time feeding of 5000 (Jn 6:4 etc.)
Spring 29-fall
29 End of ministry in Galilee, withdrawal and
return
Nov-Dec 29
Tabernacles (Jn 7:1-10:21) and return to Galilee
Nov-Dec 29
“Perean ministry” - Jesus’ ﬁnal trip to Jerusalem
Winter-spring
30
Hanukkah in Jerusalem (Jn 10:22)Winter-spring
30 Ministry in and around Judea and Jerusalem
April 2-6 30 “Triumphal entry”,“Passion week”
April 7-9 Cruciﬁxion and resurrection

We cannot give greater detail
than in this table. However
Blomberg asserts that with care
you can construct a complete
harmony of the life of Christ.
He also refutes the idea that
there is only one way to ﬁt all the
data together - there exist valid
differing harmonies and we do
not have enough information to
decide which is the best
chronology.

We cannot give greater detail
than in this table. However
Blomberg asserts that with care
you can construct a complete
harmony of the life of Christ.
He also refutes the idea that
there is only one way to ﬁt all the
data together - there exist valid
differing harmonies and we do
not have enough information to
decide which is the best
chronology.
Tufft table – $4.6 million
The Tufft pier table, named after
its creator, Thomas Tufft, was
hand-carved in the late 1700s for
general store owner Richard
Edwards of Lumberton, New
Jersey. The antique table features
pierced fretwork and long legs
ending in narrow ankles and
detailed ball-and-claw feet. It
was sold by Edwards’
descendent, a Philadelphia
architect by the name of Samuel
Harrison Gardiner.

Section 2 brief chronology of the life of Christ

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