When Did John the Baptizer Start His Ministry?

When Was Jesus Born?

by Murrell Selden April 1, 2010

fuzz@fuzzdepot.com

What Bible Says About the Ministry of John the Baptizer


Luke 3:1-3 says: "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Ceasar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea...God's declaration came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. So he came into all the country around the Jordan, preaching baptism in symbol of repentance for forgiveness of sins."

The Wikipedia of 2010 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus) says:

"Julius Caesar Augustus (23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) was the first ruler of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from January 27 BC until his death in AD 14."

The New Encyclopedia Britannica of 1993

The New Encyclopedia Britannica of 1993 says: "In AD 14, on August 19, Augustus [the first emperor] died. Tiberias, now supreme, played politics with the Senate and did not allow it to name him to emperor for almost a month, but on September 17th he succeeded to the principate."

Julian Day Numbers for Tiberias

To be objective in chronology studies, it is necessary to specify a date in Julian Day Numbers (which can be converted back to dates in calculations). September 17th of AD 14 is JD# 1,526,430.50. Adding 14 years gives the beginning of Tiberias's 15th year of rulership. That gives JD# 1,731,543.89. That was September 16th of 28 AD. One year later it was September 18 of 29 AD. But, if regnal years were used by the Romans, the range would be

January 1st of 29 A.D. to Jan. 1st of 30 A. D.

Conclusion On the Above Facts

John the Baptizer commenced his ministry between September 17th, 28 A.D. and September 18th, 29 A.D. In Mose's day, it was 30 years of age that a Levite assumed his full duties. Also Luke 3:23 indicates that Jesus was about 30 when baptized. Also, see Numbers 4:46-47 in the American Standard Bible:


`"46 All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers' households,` `47 from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting."`

`W`hen Was John the Baptizer Conceived?

30 years ago + 266.28 days of gestation in the womb. That is a period of 11,223.56 days back from when his ministry began. When converted back to the calendar of the Romans, the range of conception for John the Baptizer was computed as follows:

12/25 of 4 B.C. to 12/26 of 3 B. C

The range would be about 3 months more, if regnal years (beginning in Jan) were used.

What Does Luke Tell Us About the Birth of Jesus and John?

Luke (New International Version) says:


`26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."`

This above scripture is simply a reference to the Jewish calendar of the day, and the sixth month was Elul. Then, the angel says about John the Baptizer:


35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."

So, as Elizabeth was in her sixth month in the month of Elul, which is clearly stated, it follows that she must have become pregnant in Nisan. This would be in the same calendar year of 3 B.C., because Nisan (the first month in the Jewish year) is in March or April. As Zecheriah was serving in the temple just before the pregnancy, he had to be serving in the year of an extra month (a month of Veadar), because his normal service would have been under the division of Abijah.

So it was an irregular service. Such years of Veadar occur about 7 times in 19 years. Nisan 1 in 4 B.C. was Julian Day number 1,720,048.3 by means of a program I wrote called Equinox.com, which estimates closely the Julian Day number for Nisan 1 and Nisan 14 for any year (AD or BC). The average Jewish month is 29.5 days long, and 12 months is 12x29.5 = 354 days to the end of Adar. Adding 29.5 more for Veadar is 1,720,048.3+ 354 +29.5 = 1,720,431.8 Julian day Number for the end of Veadar. But Veadar of the 4 B. C. Jewish calendar ends in 3 B.C., and the U. S. Navy conversion shows Veadar ended about April 15th in 3 B. C. So, it is confirmed that there was an opportunity for Zechariah to have extended temple service in 3 B.C. So, it is confirmed.

Below is the conception calendar for Jesus and John. It is the Jewish calendar in 3 B.C. and shows Nisan 1 starting March 17 of 3 B.C. This calendar made the guess that John the Baptizer was conceived in the month of Nisan, and five months later is Elul 15. ago. If John the Baptizer was conceived in early Nisan, Sivan 6 could be reasonable. There is no law that says Elizabeth was exactly six months pregnant in Elul, as being in her six month could mean 5 months and 6 days. Gabriel merely said that she was "in her sixth month." 5 months and 1 day (or even 6 days) are possible. So for reasons of the Torah being given on Sivan 6, I stick with a guess of Sivan 6 or even Sivan 14 for the birth of Jesus. I believe the exact date may not be important (or maybe it is). Luke 1:56 says that "Mary stayed with with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home." Had Mary not gotten to Elizabeth's house quickly (before six months elapsed), John would have been born during her visit. Also, Luke 1:39-40,42 indicates that Mary "got ready and hurried to the hill country of Judea." And, Elizabeth said "blessed is the fruit of thy womb." But, this means, if John was to be exactly six months older than Jesus, after the three month visit, John would have been born (because 5 months plus some days + 3 months does not equal 9 months). The calendar below may need to be revised, as there are some problems:


Did Elizbeth complete her sixth month in Elul or Tishri? If Tishri, then Mary could have become pregnant in Tishri before that sixth month was completed. What if Gabriel had visited at the end of Elul? But suppose the angel was with Mary on Elul 29, and she got pregant just after in Tishri 6, and then hurried to visit Elizabeth on Tishri 10. Then on Tishri 14, Elizabeth started her seventh month of pregnancy. Then Jesus could be born Sivan 6 and John on Tebeth 14. And Mary would go home on maybe Tebbeth 6, just a week before the birth of Jesus.

In 3 B.C. the month of Nisan starts on March 17th. The Jewish year ends with Veadar, but on the Roman calendar it is 2 B.C. So, there is a problem, because it was calculated that John the Baptizer was conceived before 12/18 of 3 B.C. (not reginal calendar), but Veadar is just after that in 2 B.C. And 4 B.C. on the Jewish calendar is disqualified, because there was no Veadar end. So, given the choice, I would have to say that John the Baptizer was conceived in 2 B.C. near the beginning of the Roman calendar year. So, then if Elizabeth was in her sixth month in Elul (which could have been near the middle or even the end of Elul), then birth in Cheslev (or even Tebbeth) would make sense. So, then the birth of Jesus would be six months later (which would be Iyyar or Sivan) in 2 B.C.

Ministry of Jesus and John Indexed to Passovers

Now, we know that Jesus Christ attended several Passover celebrations. A most notable one occurred when he drove traders from the temple [John 2:13-25]. In fact, that was the first one which he attended after being baptized by John the Baptizer. Now, the Passover of 28 A. D. was after September 16, 28 A. D. (the earliest date on which John the Baptizer could have been baptizing). The next Passover was the one in 29 A. D. So, I ran the program called EQUINOX.COM to find the dates of the Passovers in 29 A. D. through 35 A. D., because these are the Passovers which are the prime candidates for application to the preaching days of Jesus and John. I would note that Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers a second time at the Passover of 33 A. D. In fact, it may have been the third time. All such Passovers are on Nisan 14, and these were the results as follows:

Candidate Passover Dates for the Death of Jesus Christ


Passover Year A.D.	Day of Week	Julian Month	Day Estimate	Comment
29	Friday	April	15.91	day too late, about Sat.
30	Wednesday	April	5.28	year too early
31	Sunday	March	25.64	day too late
32	Saturday	April	12.54	day too late
33	Wednesday	April	1.9	close enough to Thursday
34	Monday	March	22.28	day too early
35	Sunday	April	10.17	day too late

Identification of the Passover on Which Jesus Died on a Torture Stake (on Friday)

Now, the first duty is to identify the Passover on which Jesus died on a torture stake. Luke 23:44-56 tells us that Jesus died on a torture stake on Friday afternoon at 3 P. M. [also known as the sixth hour of daylight]. The next day, which began at sundown, was Saturday or the sabbath for the Jews. We would call it Friday until midnight, but they called it Saturday at sundown. Of course, we call the day which Jesus died on a torture stake Good Friday. So, then the Last Supper had been on Thursday at sundown, though we would call it Friday until midnight. Only one of the computed Passover times for the years 29 A. D. through 35 A. D. qualifies. The one in 30 A. D. was too early, and the scriptures mention at least three passovers before Jesus died on a torture stake. All the other dates are Sunday, Saturday, and Monday. None of those could qualify. However, the one in 33 C. E. could be the one, and (in fact must be the one).

Confirming the Death Date of Jesus via ALMANAC.EXE

So, I ran the program ALMANAC.EXE from Willman-Bell, Inc. to examine the year of 33 A. D. astronomically. It gave a Spring equinox on March 22nd and an astronomer's new moon on March 19th at 15 hours and 41 minutes. But, the astronomer's new moon is invisible, so the next day, March 20th was Nisan 1, after sunset. The Passover was then 13 days later, or April 2nd after sunset. To us, that was the evening of Thursday, April 2nd of 33 A. D. To them, after sunset it was Friday, April 3rd of 33 A. D. And, yes, this fits perfectly Good Friday. In fact, it was the only time from 29 A. D. through 35 A. D. that the Passover [which became the Last Supper for Christians] came at the proper time for the description in the Holy Bible. The next day, Jesus died on a torture stake at 3 P. M. on Friday, April 3rd of the Julian Calendar. Saturday, which was a sabbath [which did not begin until sunset].

Regarding the death of Jesus, I further ran the program CALENDAR.EXE provided by Willman-Bell, Inc. It showed that on April 3rd of 33 A. D. the sun rose just as the moon set. Further, for about 3/4 of an hour, at about 3 P. M. there was a total eclipse of the moon. As the sun was darkened on a bright day, according to witnesses, both the sun and the moon failed to give their light as prophesied. I suspect that God turned the entire earth 180 degrees for 45 minutes, while he examined closely the death of his son, Christ Jesus, and to fulfill the prophecy. Of course, Almighty God can do whatever he wants and in whatever way desired.

Conclusion About the Birth of Jesus

(Based Upon Passover Dates)

Since Jesus attended 3 passovers after his baptism by John, the first one after his baptism was the one in 30 A.D.

But his baptism was in 29 A.D., so he was 30 years of age in 29 A.D. So, if he was born in the month Sivan, as previously estimated. Using June 16 in 2 B.C., one finds the Julian Day number estimate for the birthday of Jesus of 1, 720,858.50. The Julian Day number estimate for his baptism is 1,731,924.20 (October 1, 29 AD). The difference is 11,065.7 days, which is 30.30 years (agrees with Luke's statement that Jesus was about 30 years of age). These Julian Day Number conversions were done using the web site of the U. S. Navy (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.php).

But it does seem that Jesus Christ was born in the Jewish month of Sivan. Luke seems clearly to have meant that the visit by Gabriel to Mary was in the sixth month (Elul). And that Jesus was clearly almost 6 months younger than John the Baptizer. So, it seems clear that the birth of Jesus may have occurred in Sivan, of 2 B.C.

It should be noted that the Torah was given on the 6th day of Sivan, according to :

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/538504/jewish/On-which-day-of-the-week-was-the-Torah-given.htm#footnote1a538504

Jesus was called the Logos (spokesman for God Almighty) and the giver of a treasures known as the New Testament. It would be appropriate for Jesus to have been born on Sivan 6 and to be circumcised 8 days later on Sivan 14.

I don't think the birth date of Jesus is a mystery. I think Luke made it clear long ago. And the above calculations show that Jesus was born in the month of Sivan in 2 B.C.

As for John the Baptist, his conception parallels the Exodus.

Apologies

I wish I were perfect, but alas I am not. No one, to my knowledge, has ever gotten the chronology of Jesus correct down to the exact date of his birth. I do not think it is important! But the quest has stimulated many to study the sciptures and think about the words of the Bible. I think this is good. But, I am not the judge, and I leave it to the those close to God Almighty to decide if I have wasted my time. I am almost 66 years of age in June.