Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ

Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ

Harold W. Hoehner

To Mrs. Edna Welch and her late husband Arthur who introduced me not only to the life of Christ but also to life in Christ

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Preface

Chapter I The Date of Christ’s Birth

Chapter II The Commencement of Christ’s Ministry

Chapter III The Duration of Christ’s Ministry

Chapter IV The Day of Christ’s Crucifixion

Chapter V The Year of Christ’s Crucifixion

Chapter VI Daniel’s Seventy Weeks and New Testament Chronology

Chapter VII Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Author’s Note

Copyright

About the Publisher

Share Your Thoughts

Preface

Jesus Christ entered into the history of our world. Christianity, therefore, has historical basis. The backbone of history is chronology. Whereas history is a systematic account of events in relation to a nation, institution, science, or art; chronology is a science of time. It seeks to establish and arrange the dates of past events in their proper sequence. Thus chronology serves as necessary framework upon which the events of history may be fitted.

This is not a book on the life of Christ but it attempts to establish certain fixed dates of our Lord’s life. It is hoped that this work will serve as a framework for the life of Christ. Many times there is a vagueness of dates in the life of Christ. The reason for this is twofold. First, there is not a series of concrete dates given in the Gospels. More important to the Gospel writers (as well as other writers of that day) was to record the facts of the events and words of their master than to record the time they happened. Second, since there are great differences of opinion among scholars concerning each of these events given in this book there is a tendency to abandon the effort rather than attempt to see if one can make sense with the date of each event as well as seeing if they can make a sensible chronological scheme from all the events.

However, if one is convinced of a grammatical-historical interpretation of the New Testament, one should attempt to deal with the chronological notes in the Gospels in order to give one a proper historical perspective to the life of Christ.

This book was first presented as a series of articles in Bibliotheca Sacra. A word of appreciation is due the editors of Bibliotheca Sacra for granting me permission to reproduce the articles and charts in a revised form. Also, I want to express my appreciation to Cambridge University Press for granting me permission to reproduce portions from my book Herod Antipas for a greater part of chapter II in this book.

I want to especially thank Mr. James C. Killion who read every stage of this work several times and who made many valuable suggestions.

Chapter I

The Date of Christ’s Birth

In Luke 2:10-11 the angel of the Lord announced to the shepherds in the fields, Do not be afraid for I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all people that today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born in the city of David. And this will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. The announcement is familiar to all Christians. The Bible portrays that the eternal Christ became incarnate beginning with His birth in Bethlehem of Judah. It is therefore fitting to begin this study of the chronology of the life of Christ at His birth.

THE YEAR OF CHRIST’S BIRTH

The earliest Christians were not as much concerned about the date as the fact of the birth of Christ. Chronological notes, such as In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius (Luke 3:1) marking the commencement of John the Baptist’s ministry, were sufficient.

In A.D. 525 Pope John I asked Dionysius, a Scythian monk, to prepare a standard calendar for the Western Church. Dionysius modified the Alexandrian system of dating, which used as its base the reign of Diocletian, for he did not want the years of history to be reckoned from the life of a persecutor of the church, but from the incarnation of Christ. The commencement of the Christian era was January 1, 754 A.U.C. (anno urbis conditae = from the foundation of the city [of Rome]) and Christ’s birth was thought to have been on December 25th immediately preceding. So 754 A.U.C. became A.D. 1 in the calendar of Dionysius.

The years before this date are denoted by B.C. (before Christ) and after by A.D. (anno Domini = in the year of the Lord) with no zero between 1 B.C. and A.D. 1. However, later research indicated that the latest year for Herod’s death was 750 A.U.C. and Christ’s birth, according to Matthew, occurred before Herod’s death.¹ Hence, today it is generally recognized that the birth of Christ did not occur in A.D. 1 but some time before that.

As to how soon before A.D. 1 Christ was born, there is great divergence of opinion. Olmstead² dates it 20 B.C. and more recently Ogg dates it as early as 11 B.C.³ On the other hand Filmer would probably date it somewhere between 3 and 1 B.C.⁴ Hence there is a span of up to nineteen years.

In the broadest terms Luke 2:1 states that Christ was born in the reign of Caesar Augustus (who reigned from March 15, 44 B.C. to August 19, A.D. 14⁵). Since this is so broad, one needs to narrow the limits. In the attempt to arrive at a more specific date, it is essential to establish two concrete limits, the termini a quo (the earliest limiting point in time) and ad quem (the final limiting point in time). With respect to this, the terminus ad quem is the death of Herod the Great, and the terminus a quo is the census of Quirinius (Cyrenius).

TERMINUS AD QUEM: THE DEATH OF HEROD THE GREAT

According to Matthew 2:1 and Luke 1:5, Christ’s birth came before Herod’s death. Herod was proclaimed king of the Jews by the Roman Senate in late 40 B.C. by nomination of Antony and Octavian⁶ and with the help of the Roman army he gained the possession of his domain in 37 B.C.⁷ He reigned for thirty-seven years from the time he was made king or thirty-four years from the time of his possession of the land.⁸

According to Josephus, an eclipse of the moon occurred shortly before Herod’s death.⁹ It is the only eclipse ever mentioned by Josephus and this occurred on March 12/13, 4 B.C.¹⁰ After his death there was the celebration of the Passover,¹¹ the first day of which would have occurred on April 11, 4 B.C.¹² Hence, his death occurred sometime between March 12th and April 11th. Since the thirty-fourth year of his reign would have begun on Nisan 1,4 B.C. (March 29, 4 B.C.¹³), his death would have occurred some time between March 29 and April 11, 4 B.C.¹⁴ Therefore, for these reasons, Christ could not have been born later than March/April of 4 B.C.

TERMINUS A QUO: THE CENSUS OF QUIRINIUS

According to Luke 2:1-5 a census was taken just before Christ’s birth. Thus, Christ could not have been born before the census. The purpose of a census was to provide statistical data for the levy of taxes in the provinces. This census mentioned by Luke is one of the thorny problems of the New Testament and the major portion of this chapter will be concerned with it. Schürer states that Luke cannot be historically accurate because: (1) nothing is known in history of a general census in the time of Augustus; (2) in a Roman census Joseph would not have had to travel to Bethlehem, but would have registered in the principal town of his residence, and Mary would not have had to register at all; (3) no Roman census would have been made in Palestine during Herod’s reign; (4) Josephus records nothing of a Roman census in Palestine in the time of Herod—rather the census of A.D. 6-7 was something new among the Jews; and (5) a census held under Quirinius could not have occurred during Herod’s reign for Quirinius was not governor until after Herod’s death.¹⁵ As weighty as these objections may seem, they can be answered.

(1) Census in Augustus’ reign. There is sufficient evidence of a census being taken periodically under the Republic and by Augustus in 28 B.C. and on subsequent occasions. In Gaul, where there was resistance, censuses were conducted in 27 and 12 B.C. and in Cyrene in 7 B.C.¹⁶ In Egypt there were censuses taken in fourteen-year intervals beginning with 9 B.C.¹⁷ Luke’s statement: In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world was to be taxed has been challenged by those who claim that there never was a single census of the entire Roman Empire. However, is this what Luke meant? Probably not. What is meant is that censuses were taken at different times in different provinces—Augustus being the first one in history to order a census or tax assessment of the whole provincial empire.¹⁸ This is further substantiated by the fact that Luke uses the present tense indicating that Augustus ordered censuses to be taken regularly rather than only one time.¹⁹ Thus, it is reasonable to believe that there was an order of a general census in the time of Augustus.

(2) Travel to home for a census. According to Schürer, Joseph as well as Mary would not have been compelled to go to Bethlehem. Roman law states that the property owner had to register for taxation in the district in which his land was situated.²⁰ But there is a papyrus of A.D. 104 where the prefect of Egypt ordered Egyptians to return to their home so that the census might be carried out.²¹ Since the Jews’ property was the property of the fathers’ estates the Romans would comply to the custom of laying claim to one’s family estate in order to assess it for taxation. Every person needed to appear to be questioned so as to make a proper assessment of his property. Because of this Mary would have needed to go.²² Since Mary’s pregnancy was near its end, Joseph and Mary may have wanted to go to Bethlehem because they knew that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:1). Additionally, Joseph may not have wanted to leave her behind in Nazareth for fear that she would be treated with insults when the child was born.²³ Finally, one may conclude that going to their home for a census points to a time before Herod the Great’s death and the division of his kingdom. It is highly implausible that after the division of the kingdom, the residents of Herod Antipas’ territory (Nazareth) would go to Archelaus’ territory (Bethlehem) for a census for purposes of taxation.²⁴

(3) Roman census in Herod’s reign. Schürer did not think that Augustus would have a census taken in Palestine during Herod’s reign. Certainly Herod had enough autonomy as indicated by his being allowed to mint coins. However, the Romans did take a census in vassal kingdoms. In fact, in Venice a gravestone of a Roman officer was found which states that he was ordered by P. Sulpicius Quirinius to conduct a census of Apamea, a city of 117,000 inhabitants, located on the Orontes in Syria,²⁵ which was an autonomous city-state that minted its own copper coins.²⁶ In A.D. 36 under Tiberius a census was imposed on the client kingdom of Archelaus of Cappadocia.²⁷ Again, the powerful Nabatean kings in Petra, who had the right to mint coins were, it seems, obliged to have the Roman financial officers in their domain.²⁸ Another indication of Augustus’ role in the finances of client kingdoms occurs when Herod’s domain was divided among his three sons. Augustus ordered that the Samaritan’s taxes should be reduced by one-fourth (because they had not revolted against Varus)²⁹ and this was before Samaria became a part of a Roman province.³⁰ Hence, it is seen that the Roman emperor became involved in taking censuses in the vassal kingdoms.

Normally, it seems that Herod collected his own taxes and paid tribute to Rome.³¹ However, in 8/7 B.C. Herod came into disfavor with Augustus and was treated as a subject rather than a friend.³² This would mean Herod’s autonomy would be taken away. It is interesting to note that the people of Herod’s domain took an oath of allegiance to Augustus and Herod³³ which points to a greater involvement of Augustus in Herod’s realm. Herod was getting old and ill and he had much trouble with his sons who were struggling to acquire the throne. Hence, it would have been a good time for Augustus to have an assessment of the domain before Herod’s death so as to prepare for the future rule of his realm. Therefore, since Augustus had taken censuses in other vassal kingdoms and since Herod had come into the emperor’s disfavor as well as having troubles in his realm, it is more than probable that Augustus had conducted a census assessing Herod’s kingdom while Herod was still alive.

(4) No confusion of the censuses. Schürer states that Josephus mentions nothing of a Roman census in Palestine in the time of Herod and that the census taken after Archelaus’ deposition in A.D. 6 was something new and unheard of. However, the first part of the above objection is an argument from silence. There could have been a census with no disturbance and hence nothing worthwhile or significant to be mentioned by Josephus. No doubt the revolt with the census in A.D. 6 caused it to be recorded in Josephus³⁴ and in Acts 5:37. Ogg argues that since there is no revolt mentioned in Luke 2:2, this indicates that the first census by Quirinius was in A.D. 6-7.³⁵ But there are reasons for the revolt in A.D. 6-7. There was a Jewish and Samaritan delegation which made a formal complaint to the emperor asking that Archelaus be deposed.³⁶ They were sick of Herodian rule and probably wanted direct Roman rule. Subsequently Quirinius came to take a census which led to a revolt. This is understandable. First, the rebels may not have wanted direct Roman rule, hence disagreeing with the delegation. Second, the revolt was easier to start in A.D. 6 because Archelaus was summoned to Rome, leaving a vacuum in leadership in Palestine. A Roman census in Herod’s time would have been conducted while he was in power. Third, there were Romans who came in to take the census which gave evidence that Rome was going to rule, whereas in Herod’s time, he would have conducted the census according to the Jewish custom. Fourth, now that