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Jesus' Ministry was Only 1 to 3 Years

CHURCH POSITION

"Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age…” (Luke 3:21-23)
SCHOLARS
"They [Christians reading the Gospels] assumed, for example, that the public ministry of Jesus was but one year in duration because they did not recognize that the ordering principle of the synoptic Gospels was not the life of Jesus, but the liturgical year of the Jews, which covered that life on an annual cycle (Spong, 1996, p. 95)."
THE REALITY

It’s not clear from the Gospels how long Jesus preached. Most experts and scholars believe that Jesus’ ministry was a single year, while a significant minority believes that it was three years, using the Gospel of John as their reference and the mention of three Passovers.  In fact, a little detective work allows us to put forward a more realistic estimate of the length of Jesus’ ministry.

 

Let’s start with the facts, as we know them. Jesus was born somewhere between 17 and 4 B.C., but our best bet is 6 B.C., given that he was born while Herod the Great still ruled, and given that he was at least two years old when Herod died.  According to the Gospel of Luke, he began his ministry when he was “about 30 years of age” (3:23) [1] and we know from the Gospel of John that he was preaching when he was less than 50 years of age (8:57).  We also know that he started his ministry after being baptized by John the Baptist. Using these figures, we can see that he started his ministry sometime between 23 and 26 A.D. (e.g., If Jesus were born in 6 B.C. he would have been 30 years old in 24 A.D.). This time period corresponds to the time when John the Baptist was preaching [2]. So far, so good.

 

Jesus was preaching right up until his death, and we know his death occurred while Caiphas was the high priest in Jerusalem, while Pontius Pilate was the Governor, but after John the Baptist was beheaded. All these dates are known.  For example, John the Baptist was beheaded on the day that Herod Antipas celebrated his birthday, after his half brother, Philip, had died and after Herod had married his half brother’s wife, Herodias. We know that Philip died in 34 A.D., in the twentieth year of the reign of Tiberius.  We know further that the defeat of Herod Antipas’ army in 36 A.D. was attributed to celestial punishment for his killing of John the Baptist. John the Baptist, then, died in 35 or 36 A.D., and most people mark the date as August 29, 35 A.D..

 

If Christ began his ministry between 23 and 26 A.D., and was still preaching in 35 or 36 A.D., it means that his ministry lasted at least 9 years, and possibly as many as 13 years at the time of John the Baptist’s death.

 

How much longer after the death of John the Baptist did Jesus live? Most people believe it was within the year, and in fact that seems to be true. From Josephus and other sources we know that both Caiaphas and Pilate were deposed in 36 A.D., and since both were in power when Jesus was crucified, it makes sense to date the crucifixion in the Spring of 36 [3].

 

Putting together Jesus’ birth (6 B.C.) and his death (36 A.D.) leads us to the conclusion that Jesus was 42 years of age when he died. If he began preaching about 30 years of age, his ministry lasted more than a decade, not a single year or even three years.

 

We know intuitively that it makes more sense that Jesus ministry lasted a long time. He traveled to many places, mostly on foot, and in those days, travel could be difficult, not merely because the roads were poor but also due to the number of brigands who frequented the main roads. Moreover he seemed to have attracted a large number of devoted followers, some wealthy supporters, and even had significant support within some of the opposition groups. In addition he apparently had a nation-wide network. Such accomplishments would have taken years, especially in those days. There was no “Larry King” in Jesus’ time.

 

The idea that Jesus was in his 40s when he died is supported by comments attributed to the Temple priests in John (2:19-20). Jesus said “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” and the response came: “It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” Many scholars have noted the subtext in many (most/all) of Jesus sayings, and it cannot but tempt our interest to suggest that they were talking about Jesus himself when they said it took 46 years for him to live, and when he dies, he will be raised in three days.

 

As well, the comment of the Judeans from John: “You are not 50 yet, and you have seen Abraham?” (8:57) suggests a Jesus in his mid 40s. Certainly it doesn’t suggest a man in his early 30s.

 

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, (130-202 A.D.) in his principal work Against Heresies, believed (on the basis of oral testimony from the disciples) that Jesus was nearly 50 when he died.

 

Isaac Asimov (1968) calculated that in 29 A.D. Jesus “must have been at least 33 years old, very likely 35, and just possibly even older.” (p. 802). Knowing that he died in 36 A.D., by Asimov’s calculations he would have been “very likely” 42 years old (35 + 7 (36 A.D.-29 A.D.)). Bloom (2005) put Jesus’ age at 40, correctly giving his birth at 6 B.C. but mistakenly putting his crucifixion at 34 A.D.

 

To summarize, Jesus was actively preaching from the time he was about 30 years of age until he was in his early to mid 40s, a period of more than 10 years. In that time he managed to grow a large and diverse group of followers who rivaled any of the contemporary religious groups in Israel at that time.

01/17/2007

[1] In the Talmud, age 30 is identified in the “Sayings of the Fathers” as the time when a man reaches his “full strength” (Avoth 5:24). In the Old Testament, King David began his reign at age 30 (2 Samuel v 4). The Egyptian God Horus started his career at age 30 (Harpur, 2004). This may account for the use of age 30 by Luke in this regard, and given Luke’s tendencies to be more of a novelist than a historian, 30 is not to be taken literally.

[2] Indeed, in the Slavonic version of Josephus, John the Baptist was said to have appeared before Archelaus, the Ethnarch of Judea, who was deposed in 6 AD. This date is reinforced by Jesus’ statement “From the time of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven is being stormed, and men of violence take it by force” (Mt, 11:12) referring to the War of Varus and the activities of Judas of Galilee which date from 6 AD. In addition, Matthew’s Gospel notes that after Jesus’ family returned to Galilee, “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea” (3:1) and since the family moved to Galilee after Archelaus succeeded Herod the Great, this substantiates the fact that John the Baptist was already preaching near the turn of the millennium.  Luke, however, dates John’s preaching from the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, which would be the year 28 or 29 AD, or if we start the clock from the time Tiberius co-reigned, it could be as early as 24 or 25 AD. Luke is clearly at odds with the rest of the evidence, although the earliest date (24 AD) possible under Luke is within our time period for the start of Jesus’ ministry. But bear in mind from his dating of the birth of Jesus, that Luke is often at odds.

[3] Another argument in favor of Jesus’ death around 36 AD is the fact that taxes were very much on everyone’s mind, and the census year for tax purposes (held every 14 years) had been 34-35 AD.
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Date:     2006-05-23 Username:   drj Helpful:   5 of 6
Actually the Gospel of John has him there 3 times. But regardless, the Gospels are pericopes or snippets about the Life of Jesus. They are not a day-by-day diary. The fact that only 3 visits to Jerusalem are mentioned has no implications about the length of his ministry.
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Date:     2006-06-26 Username:   drj Helpful:   4 of 4
Hi Dr. Ball. It's hard to say how long a period. The gospels consist of pericopes or snippets that often are completely independent of each other, and over time, have been moved around even within the same text. It's like watching episodes of "I Love Lucy" or "The Honeymooners" (am I showing my age?) From watching those episodes can you say how many years Lucy and Desi were married, or how many years the shows were on TV. No. Because of the nature of episodes.
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Date:     2006-08-19 Username:   drj Helpful:   2 of 2
Hi Dr. Ball. Of course we don't know exactly what he was doing all that time and it is possible that he spent some time as a monk. One of the biggest arguments that his ministry lasted that long is the fact that his followers were so large. It's not something that could be done in a short period of time. If my estimates are correct, his followers rivaled the Pharisees and Essenes in numbers, and that was achieved over a 100 year period for both groups.
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Date:     2006-11-13 Username:   DanUnterbrink Helpful:   2 of 2
According to Luke 3:1, John the Baptist started his ministry in 28-29 AD while Josephus recorded John's death at 35-36 AD (Ant. 18.119). Therefore, John's ministry lasted at least 6-8 years. The Slavonic Josephus confirms that John was on the scene at the death of Philip in 34 AD and also reproduces the death under Herod Antipas. However, the Slavonic Josephus introduces John in 6 AD, right before the tax revolt of Judas the Galilean. Under the Slavonic Josephus, John the Baptist preached from 6 AD to 35-36 AD or approximately 30 years. (The beginning date of John's ministry according to Luke must be questioned as most of Luke's other dating is flat out wrong.) Regardless, John's ministry was either 6-8 years or 30 years. This suggests that Jesus' ministry was much longer than 1-3 years. You are correct in stating that an unknown Jesus could not have taken the country by storm in such a short period of time. However, if Jesus' movement, built up over 12 or so years, did rival the Pharisees and Essenes, then why didn't Josephus mention Jesus in his discussion of the various philosophies. In War 2.118-166, Josephus wrote of only 3 sects: the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes. He did write this about the nationalistic Judas the Galilean, "This man was a teacher of a peculiar sect of his own, and was not at all like the rest of those their leaders." In Antiquities 18.1-25, Josephus called Judas' sect the Fourth Philosophy and stated that "the nation was infected with this doctrine to an incredible degree." Not once was Jesus mentioned. And it should be noted that the New Testament version of Judas the Galilean (Acts 5:37) is at best misleading. Like the Jesus movement, Judas' movement grew after Judas' death, to an "incredible degree." I strongly believe that Josephus did write about Jesus but under the name of Judas the Galilean. (Jesus was a title used by disciples.) To believe that Josephus missed out on the most important individual from the days of Herod the Great to Vespasian is incomprehensible. Yet that is the belief of Traditional Christianity. At least you are questioning some of the traditional story and timeline.
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Date:     2008-05-01 Username:   rambux Helpful:   0 of 0
I am surprised the author has brought this topic up. It's hardly a vital issue, although the comments do help us seperate 'tradition' from verifiable reality. It needs to be recognized that the gospels are not historical biographies, but writings of faith. We can safely discount anything Luke says about dating - he shows a regular and persistent tendency to get things wrong. Also care need to be taken with John. In-depth studies of John (by reputable scholars) have shown that John is as much about the theology of John's community as it is about Jesus' ministry. As stated, the three year dating of Jesus' ministry comes from John. But the synoptics (Matthew, Mark & Luke) follow a sheme where the is only one trip to Jerusalem. It is even feasable, in Mark's scenario, that Jesus' ministry may have lasted only 1 year. My view is that 2-4 years is the most like possibility. I find it hard to accept that such a counter culture leader like Jesus could have survived longer than 3-4 years. On the other hand, the driving out of the money changers from the temple (despite Church tradition, the gospel do NOT c all this the 'cleansing of the Temple) is clearly the action of an extremely frustrated man, who wanted to draw attention to himself. This degree of frustration is unlikely to have built up after only 1 year. It's worh the effort to date these things from historically datable events in the gospels. But I'm not sure they would stack up, simply because some of the gospel writers' dating is not accurate.
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Date:     2009-05-16 Username:   LD Helpful:   0 of 0
I think the Luke account, though not an accurate historical account in most respects, can be trusted to give us the best indication on the time-line here, and it puts the beginning of Jesus' public life some time after 29 AD and probably at a point near to when John the Baptist was arrested, because the latter is mentioned just before the reference to Jesus being baptized by John. (Even if it's true that John was active before this, that doesn't change the fact that the Luke writer gives us a good indication here that Jesus began his activity some time after 29 AD and probably at some point close before John was arrested. This account doesn't necessarily say this was the beginning of John's public life.) The speculations about the birth of Jesus don't give us any indication how long his public life lasted. We have no idea when or where Jesus was born or how old he was. The Bethelehem stories are of no reliability at all to fix his birthdate, and the quotes from John saying he was under 50 mean nothing, because those were stories written 60+ years later by someone who had less information on Jesus' age than we do. The silence of Josephus concerning Jesus, noted above by DanUnterbrink, is the best indicator of how long he was active, and the answer is that it must have been for a very short period, otherwise Josephus would surely have mentioned it, considering the fast growth of the new Jewish cult. The main reason some want to lengthen the public life of Jesus to 10 years or more is that they seek an explanation as to why his new cult grew so fast. This is the strongest argument they offer for the longer time period.
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Date:     2009-09-02 Username:   LD Helpful:   0 of 0
DanUnterbrink:>>According to Luke 3:1, John the Baptist started his ministry in 28-29 AD while Josephus recorded John's death at 35-36 AD (Ant. 18.119). Therefore, John's ministry lasted at least 6-8 years.<< No, the Luke text does not necessarily say that John's ministry began in 28-29 AD. The wording easily leaves open the possibility that John had already been active a long time before. It may suggest that John popped up at this time, but it could easily have been a reappearance. The timeline, from the synoptics, is as follows: 1)Encounter between Jesus and John (Jesus baptized), 2) short interval, 3) John is arrested, 4) a longer interval (probably less than a year), 5) Jesus is arrested and crucified. This all happened probably in 29-30 AD, using Luke 3:1, which is the best estimate we have of when the public ministry of Jesus began. This time frame is by far the most probable based on the sources we have. The date given for John's death at 35-36 is not reliable. Josephus does NOT give this date or any compelling reason to suppose this late date.
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Date:     2009-09-02 Username:   LD Helpful:   0 of 0
>>We know further that the defeat of Herod Antipas’ army in 36 A.D. was attributed to celestial punishment for his killing of John the Baptist. John the Baptist, then, died in 35 or 36 A.D.<< Wrong. Just because some of John's followers attributed this defeat of Antipas to his beheading of John does not mean that the latter event must have happened immediately before the military defeat. It could easily have been several years since the beheading of John that the military defeat took place, and then John's disciples said "See, we told you he'd be punished for what he did to our leader." This makes perfect sense. John's followers were sulking for many years after the execution of their hero. They waited patiently for something awful to happen to Herod Antipas so they could blame it on what he had done to John. They were hoping for something even worse than this. It should have been the death of Antipas, but since that didn't happen, they seized upon the first event that came along that would serve the purpose. Meanwhile, the whole story of how John was beheaded at H. Antipas' birthday is fictitious. Any connection of John's death to that event or to the illegal marriage of Herodias and Philip is unreliable. This is not the reason why John was executed. He was arrested and executed, probably in 30 AD, and shortly after that Jesus also was arrested and executed. This is the simple timeline, using the synoptics as the guide, but disregarding the fictional elements, and also disregarding the Gospel of John completely, which gives no reliable information at all on the age of Jesus or anything else.
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