It is sometimes overwhelming and perhaps confusing to read about events, as described in the Bible, without having a proper time setting for those events. Many times, God has carefully planned the timing, for a greater purpose, and in this series, we will show when certain occurrences took place, why they took place then and not at another time, and how God has been working out His master plan here below. We will also explain some astonishing facts which this confused world, including professional Christianity, does not know or understand.
To begin with, how did God prepare the world for the birth of Jesus Christ and the New Testament Church? What conditions had to be met?
The Greek Empire (331-63 BC) introduced the Greek language, which became a world language. And so, the New Testament would be written in Greek.
The Roman Empire (63 BC – 324 AD) developed the ability to transport war machines on well-built roads (like Hitler later did). Even done for a completely wrong purpose, this allowed the apostles to travel freely. [Until the 19th century, there was no fundamental improvement in this regard. But then, Herbert W. Armstrong was able to proclaim the message with the help of a microphone, the printing press, and later with the use of television and airplanes. Today, we can proclaim the gospel message through the Internet and other electronic means, which were even unavailable to the Church under Mr. Armstrong.]
Augustus [Octavian] (63 BC – 14 AD) initiated a tax system, which was necessary to bring about events culminating in the birth of Jesus Christ.
Luke 2:1-5 reads:
“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.”
The census or tax assessment, and the registration of the people took place around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. But Joseph would not have taken his pregnant wife to Bethlehem, 100 miles from Galilee, solely because of the Feast of Tabernacles. God had to orchestrate events so that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, and this census served that purpose. It was actually intended by Augustus to take place two years earlier, but it was delayed because of a Jewish revolt against the tax system (compare Acts 5:37).
Christ was not born in December (at “Christmas” time), but He was born in late September or early October, in 4 BC, six months after the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:26, 36). He began His ministry when He was 30 years old (Luke 3:23; this was in 27 AD, after He had been baptized), and it lasted 3½ years. Since He was killed at Passover (in 31 AD), He must have been born six months earlier than Passover.
According to Daniel 9, 7 weeks plus 62 weeks (i.e., 69 weeks) were to pass from the decree to rebuild the temple (457 BC by Artaxerxes) until the Messiah would come to preach. These prophetic weeks describe 483 years (one week containing seven days, which in prophecy amounts to seven years). This brings us to 27 AD. One week (7 days = 7 years) remains. Christ preached for half a week (3½ years), then He died. The remaining half will be fulfilled after His second coming.
Luke 3:1-2 continues:
“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.”
In 14 AD, Augustus had died, and Tiberius had become the sole ruler until 37 AD. Annas and Caiaphas, father and son, were high priests at that time when John the Baptist began to preach.
Herod the Great had died around 3 BC. He might have even died in 2 BC or 1 BC, as some suggest. [Some say, he died in 4 BC, but this cannot be correct, as he instigated the murder of young male children age two and under, before his death, after Christ had been born and the wise men from the East [it does not say they were three, nor, that they were kings] had visited the Jesus Child and His parents in the house—no longer in a manger].
After Herod’s death, his sons divided the rule among themselves. They were regional rulers appointed by the Romans. Another regional ruler was Pilate, the governor of Judea. He was not a Jew (John 18:33-35).
We don’t read much about the time of Christ’s youth (except for Jesus being in the temple at the age of 12), until He was baptized by John. But He was called a Nazarene (Matthew 2:23), suggesting that He grew up and lived in Nazareth for most of His life. He is also referred to constantly as Jesus of Nazareth. However, there are credible reports that He might have accompanied His uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, on his travels. His uncle was allegedly in the tin trading business, and might have reached England during his travels.
The 15th year of Tiberius’s reign [mentioned in the passage in Luke 3:1 above] began on October 1 of the year 27 AD.
Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in the first month of John’s preaching, in October. John’s baptism was one of repentance, but Christ did not need to repent, as He had never sinned. However, we read about one interesting event during His baptism, in Luke 3:21-22:
“When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.’”
It appears that at that time, Jesus received the power from God to perform miracles (compare Acts 10:38). We do not read that Jesus performed any miracles before, and the miracle at Cana (see below) is designated as the “beginning of the signs” (John 2:11).
After His baptism, we read in Luke 4:1-2, 13:
“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil… Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”
This occurred in October of 27 AD. Christ’s temptation in the wilderness for forty days was to prove that God in the flesh could command the devil [verse 8], just as Jesus, as a glorified divine being, could command him. Note that Christ was led “by the Spirit” into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil, in accordance with God’s plan to overcome Satan.
In December of 27 AD, Christ chose some of His disciples (Matthew 4:18-22). It is quite possible that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were cousins of Christ [as Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, was probably a cousin of Mary; Luke 1:36]. This means that Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary, the mother of James and John, also called Salome, would have been sisters. Also, it has been suggested that Mary and Joseph were cousins.
After Christ selected some of His disciples, the following events took place until the spring of 28 AD:
- The miracle at Cana (John 2)
- Jesus’ first Passover after His baptism (John 2)
- Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (John 3). This conversation addressed how one can enter the Kingdom of God. The Jews were shocked that their physical lineage was meaningless, since flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Jesus also explained that one has to be born again (not just begotten through the gift of the Holy Spirit at the time of baptism) to become an immortal Spirit being.
We are informed that Jesus left Judea (John 4:1-3). This happened in late November or early December 28 AD. John had been preaching for one year and two months. Although Jesus had also been ministering in Judea during this time, like John, the attention had been focused more on John. But now, John had been imprisoned and the people began to focus on Jesus.
John 4:4 recounts Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman. John 4:35 gives the time frame:
“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”
Jesus told His disciples that there would still be four months until the harvest. The spring harvest began in the middle of the month of Nisan (beginning, middle, or end of April). Four months after Christ’s encounter with the Samaritan woman would be Christ’s second Passover after His baptism.
During the second half of December 28 AD:
- Jesus went to Nazareth (John 4:45);
- began preaching in the synagogues (Luke 4:14-16);
- announced a year of His preaching (“the acceptable year of the Lord”; Luke 4:19).
By the end of December 28 AD, Jesus’ public ministry began in Capernaum (Luke 4:31-32). Previously, he had only taught His disciples privately.
At the beginning of 29 AD, we read about the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:38) and the calling of Matthew (Luke 5:27).
In the spring of 29 AD, Jesus kept His second Passover after His baptism. The famous plucking of the heads of grain by His disciples happened at that time (Luke 6:1-5). Passover fell that year on a Sabbath.
In late spring of 29 AD, Jesus selected twelve disciples from all of His disciples whom He called apostles (Luke 6:12; Matthew 3:13). That means, the disciples (apostles), with the exception of Matthew, who was called later, had been trained by Jesus for 1 ½ years.
In late summer of 29 AD, we find that John was still in prison (Luke 7:18-15). We are being introduced to Jesus’ message on the Day of Trumpets (John 5:1). Jesus began His parables (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8). He also gave a sign to the Pharisees that He was the Messiah:
“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’” (Matthew 12:38-40).
This sign will become extremely important later when reviewing the time of His death and resurrection.
In the autumn of 29 AD, the famous event of the calming of the storm took place (Luke 8:22); and John the Baptist was beheaded by Herod after one year of imprisonment (Luke 9, Mark 6:14; Matthew 14).
From the autumn of 29 AD until the spring of 30 AD, Christ sent out His twelve disciples (apostles) two by two (Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1). This happened 6 to 9 months after their selection as apostles and did include Judas Iscariot, which is remarkable, as we read in Luke 9:1-2: “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”
During that time, He also fed 5,000 people, which was near to His third and final Passover (John 6:1-14). During that time, Jesus walked on the sea (John 6:16); and He went to Tyre and Sidon (Mark 7:24; Matthew 15:21) where He stayed among the Gentiles, showing that God is not a respecter of persons, even though He made clear that at that time, He was sent only to the lost tribes of the House of Israel. Still, He did not refuse to heal the daughter of a believing Gentile woman (Mark 7:25-30).
Subsequent events occurred until the autumn of 30 AD, including His transfiguration on the mountain (Mark 9:2). He went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:1); and He taught His disciples about the right kind of prayer (Luke 11:1).
In December of 30 AD, Jesus attended the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem (John 10:22). This was a Jewish national holiday, lasting for 8 days, which Jesus, as a Jew, observed. It has no significance for us today. It commemorates the restoration of the divine worship in the Second Temple after it had been abolished by Antiochus Epiphanes.
From that time on until the spring of 31 AD, He gave the parable of Lazarus, a beggar, and the rich man, in which He taught the final destruction of unrepentant sinners (Luke 16:19). He also raised His friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, from the dead and restored physical life to him (John 11:1).
We should pay special attention to the events during the week before and during Christ’s final Passover of the year 31 AD:
We find Christ in Bethany (John 12:1), which was six days before Passover; i.e., Thursday night.
In John 12:9, we are told that people came to see the resurrected Lazarus, which happened on Friday.
We then read that Christ was in Jerusalem “the next day” (John 12:12). This was on the weekly Sabbath, not on a Sunday (erroneously referred to by “nominal” Christianity as “Palm Sunday”). On the 10th day, the Passover lamb was taken (Exodus 12:3). Christ was chosen by the Jews as their Passover lamb on the 10th day. The Passover lamb was slaughtered at the beginning of the 14th day, the 14th of Nisan, between the two evenings, describing sunset to nightfall. Christ observed the Passover at the beginning of the 14th day, but He was killed and laid in the tomb at the end of the 14th day.
Focusing on Pilate, we can see from John 18:36-38; 19:6, that He found Christ to be guiltless. He still ordered His death. He acted not because of religious beliefs, but because he feared the Romans (John 19:12). The actual persecution, now declared as political, was carried out by the Jews.
Christ was crucified and laid in the tomb on a Wednesday, before the beginning of the annual Sabbath of the first Day of Unleavened Bread [John 19:31: “that Sabbath was a high day”]. He was resurrected three days and three nights later [compare again Matthew 12:38-40. John 11:9-10 clarifies that the daylight portion of a day has 12 hours, and then comes the night… another twelve hours].
He left the tomb before the end of the weekly Sabbath. When the women came to the tomb at the end of the Sabbath, Christ had already risen. We read in Matthew 28:1-6, in the Elberfelder Bible: “But late on the Sabbath, at the dawning of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.”
After His resurrection, Christ ascended to the Father on Sunday morning, on the Sunday during the Days of Unleavened Bread, when the first sheaf was offered as a wave offering (Leviticus 23:10-11). Fifty days later was Pentecost (verses 15-16).
Christ taught the apostles about the Kingdom of God for 40 days (Acts 1:3) until He ascended visibly to Heaven on a cloud. Two angels told the apostles that Jesus would return in like manner as they had seen Him ascending to Heaven (Acts 1:11).
The New Testament Church was founded (Acts 2) on June 17, 31 AD [54 days after Christ’s crucifixion]. Jerusalem served as its headquarters from 31 to 69 AD. James, the half-brother of Jesus, served as the local Church pastor.
(To be continued)
Lead Writer: Norbert Link