When was Jesus's Birth and Death

When was Jesus's Birth and Death

Collin Leong. Jan 16, 2022

A. Which Year He Died? 

The following secular history gives us strong clues to when Jesus died.

a) "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar . . . the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness."  [Luke 3:1-2]

Fifteenth year of Tiberius reign is 29 AD, when John started his ministry. Jesus was later baptized by John. So this means that Jesus must have died after 29AD. 

b)  "Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium [i.e., Pilate's palace]. It was early. They themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them" [John 18:28-29a].

We know Jesus died on the day of Passover.  (Matt 27:11-55).  Furthermore Pilate was the Governor of Judea from 26AD to 36AD.  So now we know Jesus died between 29AD and 36AD. 

c) We know Jesus died on a Friday. This is agreed by all 4 Gospels. He died the day before the day of Sabbath, which is Saturday (Mark 15:42a; Luke 23:54).

d) Between 29AD and 36AD, there are only two Passover that fell on Friday. This is 30AD and 33AD. So now we know he died either on 30AD or 33AD. 

Which of these 2 years did He died? Well, if Jesus died in 30AD,  he won't have enough time to carry out his 3.5-years of ministry after being baptized by John in 29AD.  The only other likelihood is that he died in 33AD, Friday, April 3rd, at 3pm. 

Hosea 6:1-2 said “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him."

If we take this passage as the time that Christ will come back, it would be 2000 years after his death. 2000+33 = 2033 AD.   

A. Which Year He Was Born?

In Luke 3:23,  Jesus began his ministry at around age 30, and his ministry lasted for about three to three-and-a-half years. The length of his ministry are calculated as:

a) Passover Feasts: The Gospel of John records Jesus attending at least three annual Feasts of Passover during his ministry1. This suggests a minimum duration of 2 years.

b) Additional Year: Many scholars believe there was another Passover, not mentioned in the Gospels, which fell between the Passovers of John 2 and John 6. This would extend Jesus’ ministry to at least 3 years.

c) Additional Months: Several months would have passed between Jesus’ baptism and the first Passover of his ministry, considering the events that took place during this period. 

Putting them together, Jesus' public ministry likely last for 3.5 years.  Added together with his 30 years of age, Jesus lived for 33.5 years. 

If we minus 33.5 years from his death on 33 AD, then he was born on 1BC.  If we take his death at 30AD, then he was born on 4BC. 

Which month was he born? We know it is not 25th December as that would be too cold for the shepherds to sit outside. Most scholars believe he was born in September, in the night.  

 

Additional Evidence

Secular history said that King Herod died in 4 BC. Since he ordered male chilcren of 2 years and under to be slaughtered, it meant that Jesus was a few months up to 2 years old if the order was given in 4 BC.  It means that he was born between 6BC and 4BC, before King Herod died.   

Conclusion

Looking at this from different views and perspective, there are a range of years when he was born and when he died. Maybe we were totally wrong. If someone asks me, I would say that He was born on 4BC, and Died in 30AD, with an error margin of plus/minus 3 years.