Now that we know Jesus' birth date as October 2, 7 B.C. (See December 21), we define and date the significant events in his life. His baptism by John the Baptist anointed Him as the high priest so that He could begin proclaiming the Gospel; so that's one event. His crucifixion demonstrated how he'd paid for the sins of the elect before the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4:3; Matthew 25:34; 2 Timothy 1:9-10); so that's a second one.
In John 16, just before the crucifixion, Christ tells his disciples, 7…I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. Christ here refers to the first Pentecost (see Acts 2) that occurs seven weeks after the crucifixion (Leviticus 23:16). On that Sunday God saved three thousand souls (Acts 2:48), leaving no doubt that the church age had begun. Christ prophesizes this era in Acts 1: 8…ye shall be wit- nesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Indeed, the churches did spread to the uttermost part of the earth (see June 30).
In John 16:7 the phrase …I will send him unto you, suggests not only an action of Christ but the very last one of His ministry—even if He no long- er dwelt physically on earth. The rise of the congregations for the next two thousand years certainly qualifies His sending the Comforter as a sig- nificant event. So we concern ourselves with the years between that first Pentecostal Sunday and the baptism of Christ.
Luke 3 orientates us in regard to people and times: 1Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Ju- daea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee… 2…Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wil- derness. 3And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
We now look at these four guys. From the Garden of Gethsemane, on the eve of the crucifixion, they brought Jesus to the house of Joseph Caia- phas. As high priest, president of the Sanhedrin, and liaison between Rome and the Jews, Caiaphas condemned Christ to death. (Matthew 26). His long rule from 18 to 36 suggests he knew how to appease both the Jews and the Roman authorities by diplomatically keeping the former in their place. That he condemned Jesus—a win-win decision that pleased both the Roman authorities and the Hebrews—but sought Pilate's permis- sion—not because of any love between them—should come as no sur- prise. In politics you win by bullshitting everybody. In 1990 archaeolo-gists supposedly found his ossuary (bone box) two miles south of Jerusa- lem.
Caiaphas had Jesus delivered to Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect or governor of Judaea, who ruled in 26-36 A.D. The Jews needed his per- mission to crucify Jesus, since on behalf of Rome, Pilate acted as judge over civil and criminal cases; and the Jews had no authority to execute one of their own (John 18:31). Because Pilate collected imperial taxes and insulted Jewish beliefs with effigies of Caesar, the Hebrews probably hated going to him, even if they did get to rouse him out of bed at dawn (Matthew 27:1-2). Inflaming Jewish sensibilities as he did, Pilate would've had no reservations about executing Jesus, guilty or not; (Just let me go back to bed, damn it). Yet he raises eyebrows three times by pointing out that he finds no fault in Jesus (Luke 23:4, 14, 22). When he hears that Christ comes from Galilee, he sends him to Herod.
Herod Antipas (20 BC. AD 40), tetrarch of Galilee and younger son of Herod the Great, mocked Christ for refusing to entertain him with mira- cles. Earlier Herod had ordered John the Baptist arrested, then executed because of the dancing of Salome, his niece. She so enraptures him that, to show off to his party-goers, he grants her anything she wants, even half his kingdom (must've been quite a dance). Herodias, Salome's mother, hates John—now rotting away in prison—for condemning her divorce and marriage to Herod Antipas. She instructs her daughter to request not the greatest appetizer for a feast—John's head brought on a charger (Mark 6:25-27). According to Josephus, Herod feared John's influence with the common people and didn't want to execute John for fear of them.i Probably kicking himself and thinking, "Me and my big mouth," Herod nevertheless complies rather than lose face with his drinking bud- dies. John now gets to go home to God. In the case of Jesus, Herod sends him back to Pilate.
After haggling with the high priests, Pilate submits to the crucifixion, but only reluctantly after fearing the wrath of Caesar (John 19:12). God uses Pilate to find no sin in Jesus because Christ had already paid for the trans- gressions of the elect before the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4:3; Matthew 25:34; 2 Timothy 1:9-10); as guiltless his body did not see cor- ruption (Acts 2:31). That leaves us wondering: if Christ had already paid for the sins of the elect, why did He need to go to the cross. For now we have only the following explanation: to demonstrate via an historic para- ble the price (death) he had to pay in atonement; but in no way does that mitigate His suffering that began on Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Many readers will think that makes no sense. But then none of us can understand the works of our Creator. That God used Pilate to judge Jesus innocent explains the prefect's behavior.
Tiberius Caesar, the second Roman emperor, reigned throughout the min- istry of Christ and died circa 37. Historians put the death of his step- father, Augustus Caesar, in 14 A.D. when Tiberius became emperor:
On August 19, 14 CE at 3:00 PM, Augustus Caesar dies, 35 days from his 76th birthday, at Nola in Campania. Tiberius becomes emperor (see The Relationship be- tween Rome and Judea prior to Jesus' public life)
Others claim Tiberius began to reign in A.D. 15. So he started in the fall of A.D. 14 = p with his first official year beginning in 15 = q. In light of Luke 3:1 we want to keep q(15) = 29 (= p + 15; see October 29) in mind regarding John the Baptist; i.e., when he 3…came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3).
Now we need to know the time of the Crucifixion. The Passover falls on the 14th of Nisan. 5In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover (Leviticus 23). The Jews crucified Christ on the day of the Passover: 2…after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified (Matthew 26). The crucifixion falls on a Friday: 31The Jews…because…the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) be- sought Pilate that… they might be taken away (John 19).
That sabbath day still fell on a Saturday, the 7th day (Exodus 16:26). The first Sunday Sabbath eliminated the 7th day one (Colossians 2:16) and arrived on the first Sunday after the crucifixion. In Matthew 28: 1In the end of the Sabbath (sabbaton, i.e., Sabbaths), as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week (sabbaton, i.e., Sabbaths), came Mary Magda-lene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. Note the mistranslation: the words sabbath and week in the KJV is the same word, sabbaton, and should have been translated as, Sabbaths, plural. (Shabbat is the singular.) We conclude that they crucified Christ on a Friday, the 14th of Nisan.
In Luke 3 John the Baptist 3…came into all the country…preaching the baptism of repentance… in 1the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar…So John was very much alive in A.D. 29 = q(15), for p = 14. Since Herod has John the Baptist executed before the crucifixion (Mat- thew 14:1-12), we can rule out the cross occurring on or before A.D. 29.
The Hebrew year 3790 corresponds to A.D. 30. From our calendar cal- culator we begin plugging in Nisan 14 for years 3790, 3791, 3792... We get the following two years when Nisan 14 falls on a Friday (according to John 19:31).
14 Nisan 3793 corresponds to 1 April, 33 in Gregorian calendar/ Friday
14 Nisan 3796 corresponds to 28 March, 36 in Gregorian calendar/ Friday
If Y is the time of the crucifixion then 1 April 33 = Y∆ 28 March, 36 ≤ Y. In no other year between 3793 and 3796 does Nisan 14 fall on a Friday.
Vitellius, president of Syria since 34, answered to Rome for all of Pales- tine. Because Pilate orchestrated a slaughter of Samarians,Vitellius in 36 dismissed him, as well as Caiaphas, from office at the time of the Pass- over.ii (See also Profiles of Joseph Caiaphas ). But on Nisan 14 Caiaphas sought Pilate's permission to crucify Jesus; therefore we can rule out 28 March, 36, which leaves 1 April 33. On January 12 we show how the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 confirms 1 April 33.
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