1 Timothy 4:8 “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
This section also falls under the heading of that which God counsels us, because it is not considered sinful to the saint that chooses not to follow God’s counsel in this area. Not all would agree with the concept that bodily exercise is necessary. However, if we look at the above quoted passage of scripture in the light of who inspired these words i.e. the Holy Spirit, then we can clearly see that bodily exercise does profit the believer. In context the Holy Spirit is talking about the believer exercising themselves towards godliness, and in this comparison He says that bodily exercise does profit us to some degree. And so some believers have said that because it only profits a little that it is not worth the effort. There is no commandment from the Lord that says to the believer “you shall exercise”, and so if the believer chooses not to then there is no transgression. But I would suggest that if the Holy Spirit has mentioned something that is even a little profitable for the believer to do, then we should listen to His counsel. So how much exercise is considered sufficient to profit the saint? The scripture teaches us that in all things we should look at the Lord Jesus as our example (Hebrews 12:2). When the Lord Jesus walked this earth, on numerous occasions He went up to a mountain top to pray and He frequently walked long distances between towns to preach the gospel. And so quite clearly the Lord Jesus was not an unfit person. Someone will say that at roughly thirty years of age when He began His ministry that Jesus was a relatively young man, and that was why He was not unfit. But if you study scripture, you will see that our Lord was actually thirty eight years old when He began His ministry and He was forty years old when He went to the cross.
Luke 2:1-6 “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. (2) This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. (3) So, all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. (4) Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, (5) to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. (6) So, it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.”
Not many know the truth about our Lord’s age when He went to the cross, and so in this section we will briefly look at both the biblical and historical timeline of our Lord’s life to establish this truth. As per the scriptural account quoted above our Lord Jesus was born in the year that Caesar Augustus took his first Roman census. That census was conducted in the year eight BC as per historical records. And so, very clearly the Lord Jesus was born in the year eight BC. So why does our calendar not reflect the Lord’s birth at zero BC? The answer is that the modern calendar that we have adopted was first developed in the year 1582 AD and was obviously not fully accurate, i.e. it was eight years off in it’s calculation of the Lord’s date of birth.
Matthew 2:14-21 “When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, (15) and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." … (19) Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, (20) saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead." (21) Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.”
As per the scriptural account quoted above, after Jesus was born the angel warned Joseph to take the young child to Egypt to escape Herod’s attempt to have Him killed. This account teaches us that Joseph and his family lived in Egypt until the death of Herod, at which point they returned to the land of Israel. As per historical records Herod the Great died in the year four BC. And so we can see therefore that Joseph and Mary lived in Egypt for four years, which means that our Lord was four years old when the family left Egypt to go back to Israel.
Luke 3:1-3 “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, (2) while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. (3) And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”
In the scriptural account quoted above we see that John the Baptist began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. As per historical records the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar occurred in the year twenty-eight AD. And so we see that our Lord was thirty-seven years old in the year that John the Baptist began his ministry. Our Lord Jesus began His ministry one year later at the age of thirty-eight, which is why Luke says that He began His ministry at “about” thirty years of age (Luke 3:23). As per John’s gospel our Lord ministered publicly for two years, for He began His public ministry on the feast of Passover (John 2:13), He celebrated one Passover in the middle of His ministry (John 6:4), and He ended His public ministry on the feast of Passover (John 13:1). And so we see that our Lord Jesus was forty years old when He was crucified. That timeline agrees with most historical accounts which conclude that the Lord Jesus was crucified in the year thirty-one AD. And so having established that the Lord Jesus was forty years old when He was crucified, we can see from the gospel accounts that He was quite active for a man forty years of age. So the question arises as to how much exercise the believer should do? The answer to that question is, do enough to keep up with Jesus if you were one of His disciples when He walked this earth.
Michael E.B. Maher
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