John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
Before we continue, we must confirm both scripturally and historically that the Lord Jesus was indeed crucified in the year 31 AD. Firstly, we will establish that Jesus could not have been crucified before the year 31 AD. And so to that end, as per John’s gospel, we see that our Lord ministered publicly for two years; for John specifically mentions that three Passover feasts took place during the Lord's public ministry. In other words, Jesus began His public ministry at the first feast of Passover, in the year 29 AD (John 2:13). Jesus then celebrated the second feast of Passover in the middle of His public ministry, in the year 30 AD (John 6:4). As revealed in the above-quoted passage of scripture, Jesus then ended His public ministry at the third feast of Passover, in the year 31 AD. So how do we know that Jesus began His ministry at the feast of Passover in the year 29 AD? We know that by reconciling our Lord’s ministry with the ministry of John the Baptist. God sent John the Baptist to prepare the Jewish nation for their coming Messiah; John did that by preaching a gospel of repentance and baptising in the Jordan River all who came to him confessing their sins. Over time, as John’s reputation spread, eventually all of Judea came out to be baptised by him (Mark 1:1-8). Scripture teaches us that John began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1-3). Historical records reveal to us that the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar took place in the year 28 AD[1]. Eventually, the Lord Jesus Himself also came to John to be baptized by him (Mark 1:9-11). And so if we examine the Lord's timeline after He was baptised, it helps us to identify the year in which Jesus began His public ministry. Immediately after John baptised the Lord Jesus, He went into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the devil (Mark 1:12-13). After Jesus came back from the wilderness, He spent several days ministering to and recruiting the first of His disciples in the region of Bethabara, i.e. John, James, Peter, Andrew, Philip, and Nathanial (John 1:28-51). Once Jesus had accomplished that, He then walked (4 days) with the disciples to Cana in Galilee where He spent several days attending His sister's wedding (John 2:1-11). After the wedding, Jesus and His family and His disciples walked (1 day) to Capernaum where they stayed for several days (John 2:12). Scripture then tells us that Jesus and His disciples walked (5 days) from Capernaum to attend the feast of Passover in Jerusalem, i.e. the first feast of Passover at the start of His public ministry (John 2:13). It is highly unlikely that Jesus could have accomplished recruiting His disciples, attending His sister's wedding, moving to Capernaum and then travelling to Jerusalem, in less than 30 days. The feast of Passover occurs approximately in April[2]. And so if we were to assume that Jesus began His ministry in the same year John the Baptist began his ministry, i.e. 28 AD, then Jesus would have needed to be baptised by John at least by the beginning of February 28 AD. That timeframe would have given Jesus barely enough time (70 days) to go into the wilderness for 40 days, recruit His disciples in Bethabara, attend His sister’s wedding in Cana, move to Capernaum, and finally travel to Jerusalem, before the feast of Passover in April 28 AD. Furthermore, if we were to assume that Jesus was baptised at the beginning of February 28 AD, that would have only given John the Baptist 30 days from the beginning of January 28 AD, to prepare the nation of Israel for their coming Messiah. None of that happened. And so, we see that Jesus began His ministry in the year 29 AD, thus giving John the Baptist sufficient time during the preceding year of 28 AD, to prepare the nation of Israel for their coming Messiah. It is more than probable that Jesus was baptised by John during the feast of Hanukkah in the year 28 AD. The feast of Hanukkah occurs approximately in December[3]. So why would Jesus choose the feast of Hanukkah to be baptised by John? The reason is because of the symbolism involved. The feast of Hanukkah was instituted to cleanse the temple. Jesus referred to His body as a temple (John 2:19), and so Jesus would have used John's baptism as a symbolic cleansing of His temple before He was baptised with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:10). There are approximately 120 days between the feast of Hanukkah and the feast of Passover. And so we see that the period between the feast of Hanukkah in 28 AD and the feast of Passover in 29 AD, would have adequately accommodated all of Jesus' movements (time in the wilderness, recruiting of His disciples in Bethabara, attending His sister's wedding in Cana, moving to Capernaum and travelling to Jerusalem) between the time of His baptism and the start of His public ministry. Jesus began His public ministry at the feast of Passover in the year 29 AD (John 2:13). Therefore, the second feast of Passover which took place in the middle of Jesus' ministry would have occurred in the year 30 AD (John 6:4), and the third feast of Passover at the end of Jesus ministry would have occurred in the year 31 AD (John 13:1). And so we see that three years after John the Baptist began his ministry in the year 28 AD, our Lord Jesus ended His ministry in the year 31 AD.
Galatians 2:1-9 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. (2) And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. … (6) But from those who seemed to be something--whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favouritism to no man--for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. (7) But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (8) (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), (9) and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
Secondly, we will also establish that Jesus could not have been crucified after the year 31 AD. And so in confirmation of that truth, the apostle Paul gave us two scriptural references. In the first reference, Paul states that 3 years after he encountered the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, he escaped from the Governor of Damascus, under Aretus the King, and went to Jerusalem (Galatians 1:17-18 & 2 Corinthians 11:32-33). Historical records reveal to us that Damascus fell under the authority of King Aretus, between the years 33 & 36 AD[4]. And so we see that for Paul to encounter the Lord Jesus three years before, it must have been between the years 31 & 34 AD. And so to that end, we will see that Paul's second reference helps us identify which year Paul escaped from the Governor of Damascus. The above-quoted passage of scripture is an account of Paul's second reference. In this account, Paul states that in the 14th year after he encountered the Lord Jesus, he went to Jerusalem to attend a meeting with three of the Lord's apostles, i.e. Peter, James, and John. Scripture teaches us that shortly after that meeting, King Herod Agrippa had the apostle James put to death (Acts 12:1-2). Scripture then goes on to tell us that after King Herod killed the apostle James, the Lord struck Herod and killed him (Acts 12:20-23). All three of those events took place in the same year (Acts 12:1), i.e. Paul’s meeting with Peter, James and John, King Herod’s murder of the apostle James, and the Lord’s subsequent killing of King Herod. Historical records reveal to us that King Herod Agrippa died suddenly in the year 44 AD[5]. Therefore if we calculate fourteen years before the date of 44 AD, we can see that, as per Paul’s testimony, Paul encountered the Lord Jesus in the year 31 AD. And so going back to Paul’s first reference, we can see that Paul would therefore have escaped from the Governor of Damascus in the year 33 AD, which means that Paul would have encountered the Lord Jesus three years before, i.e. in the year 31 AD. And so we see that both scriptural and historical records show that Paul encountered the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus in the year 31 AD, which means that the Lord Jesus could not have been crucified after the year 31 AD. Paul's accounts show us that Paul was born again in the same year (most probably toward the end of that year) in which the Lord Jesus was crucified, i.e. in the year 31 AD.
And so we see that the 70-week timeline refers to the event of the death of the Lord Jesus. As an aside, we have already seen that John the Baptist began his ministry in the year 28 AD. It is very clear that in the year 28 AD, the Jews understood that the end of the 70 weeks was almost at hand, for scripture teaches us that the Jews were in expectation that the Messiah was about to appear and they reasoned in their hearts whether John was the Messiah (Luke 3:15). However, although the Jews could calculate the correct date for the coming Messiah, their interpretation of scripture only accounted for one coming, not two. The Jews only knew about the Messiah coming to set up His reign on the earth; they did not understand that the Messiah had to first come to die on the cross for the sins of the world and that it was only at His second coming that He would set up His reign in the earth. And so in the year 31 AD, when Jesus went to Jerusalem for the last time, the Jews fully expected that as the Messiah, He would begin His reign on the earth (Luke 19:11). The reason the Jews were fully expecting Jesus to begin His reign at that time, was because the 70 weeks period would expire in that year. Jesus did not set up His reign at that time, but rather He was cut off for the sins of the world. And so we see that although the Jews got the date right, they got the sequence of the Messiah's coming wrong. No wonder the disciples were so devastated at the death of Jesus, because they had no understanding of that event, even though Jesus had tried to explain it to them (Mark 9:31-32).
Michael E.B. Maher
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