Saturday, December 31, 2011

Christ's Year of Birth: Part Two


The Gospels of Luke and John also support Christ’s birth in 5 BC.

Christ’s baptism marked the beginning of His earthly ministry.  The third chapter of Luke tells us that Christ was baptized in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar.  Tiberius predecessor, Augustus, died on August 19, 14 AD.  Tiberius ascended the throne shortly thereafter.  By inclusive reckoning, the period from August 19 to December 31, 14 AD was credited to him as a full year and counted as his first regnal year.  Therefore, his 15th regnal year was 28 AD, the calendar year when Jesus was baptized.

The second chapter of John describes the details, early in Christ’s ministry, when He cleansed the temple in Jerusalem.  The temple had been under construction for 46 years up to that time.  The manner in which the work was performed did not interrupt temple services.  Josephus’ “Antiquities” cites 19 BC as the date Herod the Great started construction on the temple.  Forty-six years later, we arrive at 28 AD.

Luke 3:23 says, “And when He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age.”  If His 30th birthday was in 28 AD, His year of birth would have been 3 BC.  That’s too late.  Christ was born before Herod’s death.  Herod the Great died in the spring of 4 BC shortly after the March 13th eclipse of the moon.  Therefore it is most likely that Jesus celebrated His 32nd birthday in 28 AD. That would make 5 BC His year of birth. 

Notably, Biblical evidence indicates that Jesus was baptized before the Passover in 28 AD.  That Passover occurred on April 28th according to astronomical data.  Assuming His 32nd birthday was later that year, He was 31 years of age when He began His ministry, supporting Luke’s proclamation that He “was about thirty years of age.”

6 comments:

  1. Antiquities 15.11.1: “And now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, and after the acts already mentioned, undertook a very great work, that is, to build himself the temple of God.” The Douay-Challoner-Confraternity dictionary cites 19 BC as the date when Herod started construction on the temple. The Jewish Encyclopedia cites 20-19 BC as Herod's 18th year which makes 37-36 BC the first year of his reign. That timeline seems reasonable because, although Rome declared Herod "King of the Jews" in 40 BC, he didn't claim his throne until 37 BC after slaying his rival.

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  2. Antiquities 17.6.4: “But Herod deprived this Matthias of the high priesthood, and burnt the other Matthias, who had raised the sedition, with his companions, alive. And that very night there was an eclipse of the moon.” The date of March 13, 4 BC was calculated by the rules of astronomy.

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  3. Antiquities 17.8.1: "When Herod had done these things, he died, the fifth day after he caused Antipater to be slain; having reigned, since he procured Antigonus to be slain, thirty-four years; but since he had been declared king by the Romans, thirty-seven." In 63 BC, Rome captured Jerusalem to settle a quarrel between rival heirs to the Hasmonean throne. In 40 BC, Rome declared Herod the Great "King of the Jews." However, a Hasmonean named Antigonus II, backed by the Parthians, seized control of Jerusalem in 40 BC. It wasn't until 37 BC that Herod, with the aid of Rome, defeated Antigonus and claimed his throne. (34 years, from 37 BC to 4 BC inclusive; 37 years, from 40 BC to 4 BC inclusive)

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  4. Inclusive reckoning was the popular method of recording time in the first century AD when the Gospels and the Antiquities of the Jews were written. Under that system, partial years were counted as complete years e.g. 14 AD re: Tiberius; 40 BC, 37 BC, 4 BC re: Herod.

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  5. Herod died in 4 BC shortly after the March 13th eclipse of the moon and shortly before the Passover (Antiquities 17.9.3). That Passover occurred on April 11th according to astronomical data. Therefore, it’s unlikely that Christ was born in 4 BC, between January 1 & Herod's death. That wouldn’t have allowed enough time for the events which transpired in Matthew 2:1-18.

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  6. Jesus was baptized before the Passover: John 1:33-34; John 2:13.

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