Dating the Manifestion of the Messiah to Israel

In 1 Part
By Larry M. Wishon

The writing offered below is an Appendix to my book on Daniel's Seventy Weeks, entitled, The Determined Time available on Amazon.

When was Jesus revealed to Israel as the Messiah? There are several possible ways to determine this date. We will compute the date using four different witnesses. These are considered the best and most reliable from a historical and Biblical standpoint.

WITNESS ONE: In John 2:20, a statement is made by the Jews during the first Passover mentioned in the Gospel of John. They remarked that as of that time, the temple had been under construction for 46 years. It is admitted that the temple complex was not completed until AD 63. [Edersheim, Life and Times, p.257] This was just seven years before it was completely destroyed, leaving "not one stone upon another". Here in John 2:20, the Greek term for temple refers to the whole temple complex, and not just the sanctuary itself.

According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Herod began actual work on refurbishing+ the temple in the eighteenth year of his reign, or 19 BC. Herod had spent several years before this acquiring and preparing the needed supplies and labor for the project. By counting forward 46 years from 19 BC, we come to AD 27. Thus, by the Passover of AD 27, the temple complex had been in the process of building 46 years. This places the baptism of Jesus in late AD 26, or early AD 27.

WITNESS TWO: In Luke 3:1, we have the statement concerning the appearance of John the Baptizer in the Fifteenth year of Tiberius' reign. Edersheim says,

It was, according to St. Luke's exact statement, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar reckoning as provincials would do, from his co-regency with Augustus, which commenced two years before his sole reign. . .

In conjunction with Luke’s statement, we also have the witness of the Roman historian, Suetonius, to confirm Edersheim's statement. In Suetonius' Life of the Caesars, he states that after spending two years in Germanica, Tiberius returned to Rome in AD 12. Suetonius quoted from: [Speidel, Michael, Riding for Caesar:The Roman Emperors’ Horse Guards p.19]

After two years he returned to Rome from Germany and celebrated the triumph which he had postponed, accompanied also by his generals, for whom he had obtained the triumphal regalia. And before turning to enter the Capitol, he dismounted from his chariot and fell at the knees of his father, who was presiding over the ceremonies.

He then adds,

Since the consuls caused a law to be passed soon after this that he should govern the provinces jointly with Augustus and hold the census with him, he set out for lllyricum on the conclusion of the lustral ceremonies; but he was at once recalled, and finding Augustus in his last illness but still alive, he spent an entire day with him in private.
[Life of Tiberius, Suetonius: pp323-325, section 20-21]

This informs us that after his return from a campaign in Germany, in AD 12, Tiberius is given a grand celebration for his victory over the Germanic tribes. After this celebration, a law was passed that he "should govern the provinces jointly with Augustus and hold the census with him."

This co-regency with Augustus over the provinces is a reference to Tiberius sharing rule over the Imperial Provinces. In the Roman empire, all territory was divided into Senatorial or Imperial Provinces. The Senatorial provinces were overseen by appointed members of the senate. The Imperial provinces were ruled by the Roman emperor, via a governor, who was directly answerable to the emperor. In Judea’s case, it was an Imperial province, under the governorship of Pilate.

To calculate what year would be determined as the fifteenth year of Tiberius’ reign, we would need to begin counting from the first year of his co-regency with Augustus. Since Augustus died AD 14, we would count 15 years from AD 12, allowing for the two years of Tiberius' co-regency, and arrive at the year AD 26/27. This being the year of John's appearance, it would make Jesus' public ministry beginning late AD 26 or early AD 27.

Thus, the first Passover after Jesus' baptism would be the Passover of AD 27 [Jn. 2:13].

WITNESS THREE: In Luke 3:23, Luke states that at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, “ . . . He began to be about 30 years old.” The Greek word translated about, when used with numbers, means approximately. So when Jesus began his ministry, he was approximately 30 years old. If we could nail down the date of Herod’s death, this would go a long way in helping us in this matter.

Dating the death of Herod has long been a goal of Bible students and scholars because of its importance in dating the life of Jesus. It has been traditionally accepted that Herod’s death occurred in early 4 BC. However lately, the opinion of many has shifted to early 1 BC. The evidence for his death is the same, no matter the year. According to Jewish historian, Josephus, Herod died shortly after an eclipse of the moon, and before the Passover of the same year.

Apart from these events, we have another historical event which helps us date the year of Herod’s death. This event is a famous Roman sea battle, the Battle of Actium.

On September 2, 31 BC, there was a great naval battle for control of the Roman Empire between Octavius Caesar (later called Augustus) and the roman general, Marc Anthony. This battle and its date are well documented in the annals of Roman history. The Jewish historian, Josephus, tells us this about this battle,

“At this time it was that the fight happened at Actium, between Octavius Caesar and Anthony in the seventh year of the reign of Herod”
[Antiquities, Book XV, Chapter V, Section 2]

We are told that this battle of Actium occurred in the seventh year of Herod’s rule. If 31 BC was the seventh year of Herod’s reign, then this would take us to the year 37 BC, as the beginning of his reign in Judea.

We are informed by Josephus that Herod ruled Judea for 37 years. [Antiquities, Book XVII, Chapter VIII, Section 1] So if Herod began his rule of Judea in 37 BC, and ruled for 37 years, counting inclusively, this would take us to 1 BC, as his final year.

He also tells us that Herod died just after an eclipse of the moon and before the Passover. According to the NASA Eclipse Website [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LE-0099-0000.html], there were three eclipses of the moon in the year 1 BC — One on January 10th, one on July 05th, and a third on December 29th. The eclipse of 1/10 is a very good fit.* The Jewish date for this eclipse is 15th of Shevat, in the year 3760. Herod died shortly after this eclipse.

This gives us a very tight fit of what we know from Josephus about the last days of Herod. On the day that he killed a group of priests whom he suspected of sedition, there occurred an eclipse of the moon that very night. This would have been the eclipse of the 10th of January.

Passover in the year 1 BC, began at sunset on Tuesday, April 6. This would allow approximately 75 days between Herod’s death and Passover of that year. This would allow plenty of time for all the events described by Josephus, that occurred after Herod’s death. Dr. Craig Chester notes the events between Herod’s death and Passover of that year,

"In the meantime, word arrived from Rome that Herod finally had the emperor's permission to execute his rebellious son Antipater and he promptly complied. Five days later Herod died, but not before decreeing that his (funeral was) to be the largest funeral ever held in the history of the world. His body was embalmed. The army was assembled to carry his body in the funeral procession to a burial site some 25 miles away. The soldiers walked in bare feet, as was required when in mourning, traveling ONE MILE A DAY. A legate from Rome, where word of Herod's death had been received, arrived to protect the royal treasury. Finally, Herod's son Archelaus was crowned king and had time to issue a few decrees prior to the celebration of Passover" (The Star of Bethlehem, 1996).

It is noted that the funeral procession alone would take at least 28 days, allowing for one day’s travel of only one mile (8 furlongs), and allowing for at least three Sabbaths to occur during this time. If Herod died in 4 BC, there would be only a month between his death and Passover of that year. It would be impossible for all the events described in Josephus to have occurred, between his death and Passover of that year.

Having come to a settled date of Herod’s death, of approximately January 15th, 1 BC, we can now with more confidence mark the year of Jesus’ birth. We know that before his death, Herod ordered the slaughter of the male children in Bethlehem from the age of two years old and younger. So we can say that the year of Jesus’ birth goes back to at least 3 BC, and possibly 4 BC. This gives us a better range of years that fits the witness of the gospel writers.

WITNESS FOUR: We also have the witness of several early Church writers. In Eusebius’ Church History, he states,

“It was in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus and the twenty-eighth after the subjugation of Egypt and the death of Antony and Cleopatra, with whom the dynasty of the Ptolemies in Egypt came to an end, that our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, according to the prophecies which had been uttered concerning him.”
Book I, chapter 5, section 2

Using this information from Eusebius, if we subtract 28 years from the date of the battle of Actium, 31 BC, we get the year 3 BC, as the year of Jesus’ birth. Eusebius is counting Augustus’ reign to begin in 44 BC, upon the death of his adoptive father, Julius Caesar. In this, the 42nd year of his reign would be 3/2 BC. So these two witnesses for Christ’s birth given by Eusebius, has the birth of Christ between 3 BC and 2 BC.

Clement of Alexandria gives us this bit of information concerning the year of Jesus’ birth, “From the birth of Christ, therefore, to the death of Commodus** are, in all, a hundred and ninety-four years, one month, thirteen days.” Counting back 194 years, we would come to the year 2 BC.***

So we have a small fluctuation of dates from these two early Christian writers. One gives us 3 BC, as the year of his birth, while another gives us 2 BC In any event, we have ruled out a later date for Jesus’ birth, i.e., 5 or 6 BC. What is of great interest here, is that those closest to the event, separated by only two or three hundred years, instead of two thousand years as we are, place his birth in the earlier years of 2 or 3 BC This is in complete agreement with the witness of the gospel writers, in particular Luke.

The Biblical scholar, Ernest Martin, in his detailed book, The Star of Bethlehem, The Star That Astonished The World, dates the birth of Jesus as Sept. 11, 3 BC. He comes to this date using several means of calculations. It certainly is within the possible range of dates.1

If the year of the beginning of both John the Baptist and Jesus’ ministry was late AD 26, when Jesus “began to be about (or nearly) 30 years old,” by counting backwards 30 years from AD 26, we would arrive at 3 BC. Luke does not state with absolute certainty that Jesus had attained the age of 30 years old, when He was baptized by John. He only says Jesus “began to be about2 30 years old.” It is possible he could have been 29, about to turn 30.

My personal opinion on the matter, is that Jesus was born in the late summer, or early fall of 3 BC, and was baptized of John in the late fall of AD 26. Therefore, Jesus would be 29 years old, or “nearly 30 years old.”

Summary

I realize that there are other dates postulated for the beginning of Christ’s ministry, than late AD 26. However, given the evidences that I have seen over the years and as presented herein, this appears to me to be the best possible date for it.

We must allow for the 40 days of testing in the wilderness after His baptism, and His early experiences in the Galilee, i.e., the wedding at Cana, the calling of several of His disciples, and other things we have no record of [Jn. 21:25].

  • We have the witness of John 2:20, that the first Passover after Jesus’ baptism was 46 years after the building of the temple began. With the beginning of the rebuilding of the temple by Herod in his 18th year, the 46th year would take us to AD 27. Hence, the date of the first Passover of Jesus’ ministry would be the Spring of AD 27.
  • The Fifteenth year of Tiberius’ reign would be AD 26/27, counting from his co-regency with Augustus, beginning in AD 12. Also, accepting the date of 1 BC as the date of Herod’s death, we have good evidence that Christ was born in September of 3 BC. This would make Him “about 30 years old” in the fall of AD 26. He would be 29 to be exact.
  • Accepting that the decree of Cyrus was given in the first year of his reign, 457 BC, counting 483 years from this date, brings us to AD 26. This would begin the Seventieth and Final Week of Daniel’s Prophecy.

With the duration of His ministry being approximately 3 and a half years, this would put His cutting off in the midst of the Seventieth and Final week of years, in the Spring of AD 30. This was also exactly when He, the Messiah Prince, would cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease, or fail. Fail they did. They failed for the next 40 years, until they completely ceased to exist with the destruction of the temple in AD 70.


END




+"To rebuild or replenish with all new material; to restore to original (or better) working order and appearance." Herod's goal was to rebuild the Jerusalem temple so that it matched or exceeded the glory of Solomon's temple.

* The eclipse of Jan. 10, 1 BC, was a total eclipse, whereas the eclipse which occurred in Jan. 4 BC, was only a partial.

** Commodus was Emperor of Rome from AD 180-192. He is said to have died December 31, AD 192.

*** If we use the exact date given here by Clement, it would take us to Jesus’ birth being on Nov. 17, 2 BC.

1Martin, Ernest, The Star of Bethlehem. ASK Publications, 2nd Printing, 1998, pp. 86-87. He comes to this exact date by taking into account other signs found in Revelation, chapter 12.

2The Greek word translated, about, is hōsei, which when used with numbers, means about or nearly. With this in mind, the phrase could also read, “He began to be nearly 30 years old.” This would imply that He had not yet attained the age of 30, but was nearly 30, as being 29 years old. This would place His birth year in 3 BC if this is AD 26.