It is also assumed that Jesus's ministry lasted from one to three years, (probably around three years) and that Jesus was in his 30's when he died. The synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) and the Gospel of John seem to disagree on the length of the ministry-but the gospels are theological documents with theological purposes, so one can't always treat them as good chronology.
The best candidates for a year that Jesus died are years that had Passover on a Friday. The gospels indicate that he died on a Passover that was a Friday. Both 30 AD and 33 have a Passover falling on or near a Friday. Passover is the Jewish festival commemorating the Jewish exodus from Egypt.
The traditional date of Jesus' death (though there was never was a date treated as doctrine) was originally assumed to be 33 AD. One reason is that this simply fits neatly into the AD 0 plus thirty plus three calculation. Luke 3:23 tells us that Jesus was baptized by John and began his ministry at "about" the age of thirty. So Jesus was assumed to be about thirty when he started his ministry and his ministry was about three years. So if Jesus was born around 1 AD, he would have died around 33 AD.
So when was Jesus born? As you may already know-scholars don't think Jesus was actually born on December 25 (a day that was picked simply to match up with Pagan winter festivals)-they think it is more likely he was born when shepherds were out in September. Indeed it is said that John the Baptist was born in March-and that Jesus was born six months after him. Also if there had been a Roman tax census (and that is also questionable) then it most likely occurred around harvest time in the fall. Whatever the month the year was probably 4 BC or before. However, we can't even be certain that Matthew's version of the nativity is entirely correct historically. But some of the details are likely correct and Herod's death coming near to the Nativity would be a detail likely to be accurate.
Dionysius Exiguus, a monk who died in A.D. 556, was the man who determined the birthdate of Jesus as the Roman year 753 (Roman years were then counted from the year Rome was founded) using the information available to him at the time. 754 was dated as 1 AD. However, later historians determined that for Jesus to have born under Herod the Great, he would have to have been born before Herod's death in March or April 4 BC. So scholars agree that Jesus was born not around 1 AD but in 4 BC or before.
If Jesus was born in 5BC and died in 33 AD he would now have to be age 38 when he died. That age seems a little too old. However, other factors still make 33 AD a good choice, the Judean political situation had worsened enough by 33 AD to make the extreme action of killing a prophet that was taken by Pilate and the high priests seem more justified. Also, there were astrological events in Passover 33 AD that more closely fit the bill than 30 AD. Finally, there are a lot of three's! April 3, 33 AD dying at three in the afternoon. The number three suggests the trinity.
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| Tiberius |
However, April 7, 30 AD also remains a serious candidate. The reign of the Roman emperor, Tiberius is noted in Luke's gospel. Luke says that John the Baptist started preaching in the fifteenth year of Tiberius' reign. Some say that the 15th year of Tiberius reign would translate to 26 AD. It is said that Jesus began his ministry soon after John's So that would put the range of Jesus ministry from around 26 to 30 AD. However, Tiberius co-reigned his first two years which might change the calculation, Jesus also might not have begun his ministry the same year as John the Baptist-and finally as with all these things some of the events may have described incorrectly.
So experts cannot pin down the exact year of the death of Jesus but in any event, Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the Sunday after Good Friday. The day they call Easter.
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