The human gestation period is 9 months, but this is counting from the start of the last period. The actual gestation period is two weeks shorter than this because this is the normal time from start of a menstrual cycle until ovulation. All the dates in the chart are Sabbaths.

Elizabeth hid herself during the first five months of her pregnancy[17] and in the sixth month the angel Gabriel told Mary of Elizabeth's condition and that she too would conceive.  Pregnancy is dated from the last period, which precedes the time of conception by about two weeks. Elizabeth would enter her 6^th month 4½ months after conception. Mary would give birth ±10 days from 8½ months from conception. The conception of Jesus occurred in Nazareth during the week of Unleavened Bread that year. Mary may have been home alone because her parents had gone to Jerusalem.

Since it says that Joseph and Mary went every year to Passover in Jerusalem, may we extend that to mean that they returned from Egypt for Passover 1 AD?  This would explain why the angel had to inform Joseph that Herod was dead—to give the family time to return to Jerusalem.

Joseph, a righteous man and Jesus’ foster father, would not have journeyed to Bethlehem when he was supposed to be staying in Jerusalem. Therefore, we know that Jesus’ birth did no occur during one of the pilgrim festivals.[18] But it is very likely because there was no room available in Bethlehem that it was immediately preceding or following a festival. Bethlehem is only 6 miles from Jerusalem.

            Herod the Great was alive at the time that the wise men visited Jesus. There were at least forty-days between Jesus’ birth and the slaughter of the boys at Bethlehem. The magi visited Jesus after his presentation in the Temple, because his parents pleaded poverty to give the inexpensive offerings.[19] Had the magi come earlier then Joseph would have had money for the more expensive offerings.  When Jesus was presented in the Temple on the 40^th day; and assume the wise men visited that evening; the flight to Egypt occurred that night; and the boys of Bethlehem were slaughtered the next morning. Herod the Great died at least a few weeks but no more that a few months later.

Site that gives evidence that Josephus’ date for Herod’s death was at least as late as 1 BC. Herod The date of Herod’s death: The errors corrected.

The Date of the Baptism of Jesus

Jesus would then be about 30 years and a few days at the time of His baptism and 40 days fast in January and February AD 31. John’s birth in early August 1 BC would make him be 30 for the start of his ministry in August AD 30. (Luke 3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar). Augustus died August 19, AD 14. This would be 15.5 later, so John the Baptist would be 30 in his 15^th year if Luke used accession year reckoning starting in Nisan. John began his ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar.

In John 2:20 the Jews mention that the temple was 46 years in building.  Herod the Great began reconstructing the temple in the 18th year of his reign, that would be 20-19 BC then 46 years in would be AD 27-28.  Was there preparation and gathering for the construction as separate from and before the actual construction.  If Herod the Great Died in 1 AD as proposed above then the 46^th year would be 4 years later or AD 31-32. If Josephus miscalculated the date of the start of Herod the Great’s reign then many problems evaporate. Josephus is not Scripture.

Numbers 4:30 et al, Levitivcal priests ministered from 30 to 50 years of age.  John the Baptist was a priest.  It is logical to assume that he was thirty when he began his public ministry.  John came to Jerusalem for the Passover and other required feasts.  John ministered at the Temple two weeks per year as his father Zechariah had in the course of Abijah.

"The earliest day in which Jesus could be baptized and still fulfill the requirements of the Law would be the seventeenth @?isn't Tabernacles over on the 21@ of Tishri (October 14, A.D. 29)" because he spent forty days in the wilderness after his baptism which to keep the law he could not have done because all males must be in Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles on the 15 of Tishri.

            The Jubilee announced by Jesus is normally dated to the beginning of Jesus' second year of ministry and the beginning of his Galilean ministry.  In Boyer's chart of the New Testament, this event is placed about November of the second year of Jesus' ministry.

Year of the Crucifixion

            This is a greatly discussed topic, only AD 30 and AD 33 are the only astronomically viable options. These years are viable because only in these years could Passover be on a Friday.

            In an article, “Jubilee Timetable”, it was found that it Jesus ministry most likely started on the Sabbath year preceding the 100^th Jubilee year since Adam or 4900 AM. This is believed to represent the fullness of time (4900 = 7 * 7 * 10 * 10).[20] The Jubilee in Jesus’ public ministry links well to the earlier jubilees from Adam on including but not limited to the translation of Enoch, the birth of Isaac and Reuben, the beginning and end of the Sojourn in Egypt, the time of settling in the land, the start of the Kings period, The founding of the capital in Jerusalem, the dedication of the Temple, the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, the captivity in Babylon, the return of Ezra, Daniel’s 483 years, the establishment of the feast of Purim, the victory of Antiochus, etc.

The Length of Jesus Ministry

The length of Jesus public ministry appears to be about 2.3 years, rather than the standard figure of 3.5 years, for the following reasons. The length of his ministry is to be fixed by the number of Passovers during his ministry. Jesus observed three Passovers during his ministry,[21] not four as is commonly proposed.  Only three Passovers are specifically stated in the Gospels and all mentioned by John. Passovers: John 2:15, 6:4, and 13:1.  This would make the public ministry of Jesus to be just over 2 years, but to extend into a part of 4 different years.  Following this argument is most easily done with a harmony of the Gospels or another work that sequences the events of Jesus’ public ministry.  The author has several and all are in general agreement as the time and sequence of these events. See Jesus2yearMinistry.

The purpose for making Jesus ministry longer is to make up years to account for the belief that Jesus was born in 4 BC and was 30 year old when he began to minister and died in AD 30 or AD 33. The Bible nowhere states the length of Jesus’ ministry; the points that are believed to be cases for a longer ministry follow.

It is assumed that John the Baptist did not start ministering until he turned thirty years of age. Because John the Baptist turns 30 just before the Anniversary of the death of Tiberius Caesar, his ministry would start late in the 15^th year of Tiberius. Luke 3:1-2 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar … the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. The date of Augustus Caesar’s death is 19 Aug AD 14. The 15^th year would start Aug 19, AD 28 and end Aug 18, AD 29. If this dating of this event were low by one year, John’s ministry would start at the very end of the 15^th year as he turns 30 years old 11 August AD 30. He is in his 5^th month of ministry when Jesus comes to him to be baptized in January AD 31.

It is assumed that Jesus was about 30 to mean that he was almost exactly 30, but that his baptism did not occur “on” his birthday.

John the Baptist started ministering in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Tiberius Caesar ascended to the throne after Augustus Caesar died August 19, AD 14. The fifteenth year would start August 19, AD 28 and end August 19, AD 29. Unless accession year reckoning was used then he could be counted as reigning up to one year later. Tiberius did become the co-ruler with Augustus some three years earlier.

Did God influence the month that we start the count of our months from to give honor to the birth of our Creator? The change occurred with the Julian Calendar in about 45 BC.

Problem the only viable years for a Friday crucifixion are AD 30 and 33. If Jesus’ ministry was 3.5 years then the date for John the Baptists ministry fits very well starting about 6 months before Jesus’ baptism in the fall of AD 26 or AD 29. The problem is that we now have good evidence that Jesus’ public ministry was only 2 years. This makes the ministry of John either at least a year and a half or it places the 15^th year of Tiberius ending not before mid-August AD 30. I like this option for another reason but there are some assumptions in my reasoning. Passover was the only feast that whole families from Galilee would travel to Jerusalem for. The feast of Pentecost and Booths would only be visited by the men of age in the households. When the families traveled from Galilee to the Passover they would travel via the Jordan river to Jericho then climb the last 17 miles to Jerusalem. This path was probably easier that the other routes. When only the men journeyed, they would pass through Samaria. While the route was tougher going up and down the hills of Samaria, it was shorter.

John the Baptist was dead by the time Jesus went to the unnamed feast of the Jews in John 5. While Josephus places John’s imprisonment in Machaerus and his death in AD 34. John was a prophet (Luke 7:26) and all prophets die in Jerusalem (Luke 13:33). Maybe John was transferred to Jerusalem by Herod at John’s request to keep the feast of Pentecost. Here it is proposed that John lived less than 50 days from the time of his arrest.

Another view on the dating of Herod the Great that bring the end of his reign a few years later: Herod. 

C. Based on Roman records from the first century Tiberius' first year began on August 19, 14 AD, making his fifteenth year August 29 AD.

1. Other historians who concur include: Tacitus, Pliny the Elder, Philo and Josephus.

2. Further, Luke is addressing Theophilus, a Roman official, and would employ the dates with which Theophilus was familiar.

http://www.psnw.com/~kendoig/NTC14.htm

From the earliest days, Christian writers variously supported one-, two- or three-year ministries. In the second century Tatian, Irenaeus and probably Melito of Sardes supported a two-year ministry, even before there was any recorded suggestion of a three-year ministry[22]. Epiphanius counted His ministry as two years and seventy-four days[23]. He placed Jesus' baptism on November 8 and began His ministry on January 6, His birthday. He then ministered for a little over two years, which ended Friday, Nisan 14, or March 20. In the fourth century, St. Cyril of Alexandria and Apollinarius of Laodicea supported the two-year ministry. In the sixth century, Dionysius Exiguus placed the baptism on January 6 and Jesus' crucifixion two years and three months later. Dionysius is the chronographer who established the present counting of the years Anno Domini, or A. D. The two-year ministry has only found scattered support during the intervening centuries.

http://becomingone.org/cp/cp4.htm ¶ cp305 Dionysius' "new chronology was not regarded as a major discovery by its author; Dionysius' own letters are all dated by the indiction...

·       Anastasius, a Bishop of Antioch, states, that our Lord suffered, in his 33rd year, on the 14th day of the moon.  Jesus’ 32 years old in his 33^rd year.

¶ cp331 Thus, the year just before A.D. 1 had the same Golden Number as A.D. 532, which is I (Bond, p. 127).

¶ cp349 According to Finegan, most dates from early Christian sources give dates for Christ's birth that translate from 4/3 BC to 1 AD (Finegan [1964], Table 107; etc.). The following gives a date between 3 to 2 BC:

·       Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews (c. 198 AD)

·       Julius Africanus, Chronographies (c. 170-240 AD)

·       Hippolytus of Rome, Chronicle, (c. 170-236 AD)

·       Origen, Homilies on Luke, (c. 185-253 AD)

·       Eusebius of Caesarea Church History, (c. 325 AD)

·       Epiphanius, Panarion, (c. 315-403 AD)

..the total eclipse on January 30, 30 BC … This total eclipse was one of the longest in duration in history.

¶ cp361 There are at least 4 different ways of counting Tiberius Caesar's reign. (See Finegan [1964], Table 115, and paragraph 409) It should be noted that Luke 3:1-3 is speaking about when John the Baptist began to teach. Through scripture it can be shown that John began his ministry 6 months before Christ started his own ministry, and six months before his water baptism (Luke 1:11-33; cf. Num 4:2-3; Luke 3:23).

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/calendars/faq/part2/

2.13. How does one count years? --- In about AD 523, the papal chancellor, Bonifatius, asked a monk by the name of Dionysius Exiguus to devise a way to implement the rules from the Nicean council (the so-called "Alexandrine Rules") for general use. Dionysius Exiguus (in English known as Denis the Little) was a monk from Scythia, he was a canon in the Roman curia, and his assignment was to prepare calculations of the dates of Easter. At that time it was customary to count years since the reign of emperor Diocletian; but in his calculations Dionysius chose to number the years since the birth of Christ, rather than honour the persecutor Diocletian. Dionysius (wrongly) fixed Jesus' birth with respect to Diocletian's reign in such a manner that it falls on 25 December 753 AUC (ab urbe condita, i.e. since the founding of Rome), thus making the current era start with AD 1 on 1 January 754 AUC. How Dionysius established the year of Christ's birth is not known (see section 2.13.1 for a couple of theories). Jesus was born under the reign of king Herod the Great, who died in 750 AUC, which means that Jesus could have been born no later than that year. Dionysius' calculations were disputed at a very early stage. When people started dating years before 754 AUC using the term "Before Christ", they let the year 1 BC immediately precede AD 1 with no intervening year zero. Note, however, that astronomers frequently use another way of numbering the years BC. Instead of 1 BC they use 0, instead of 2 BC they use -1, instead of 3 BC they use -2, etc. See also section 2.13.2. It is sometimes claimed that it was the venerable Bede (673-735) who introduced BC dating. Although Bede seems to have used the term on at least one occasion, it is generally believed that BC dates were not used until the middle of the 17th century. In this section I have used AD 1 = 754 AUC. This is the most likely equivalence between the two systems. However, some authorities state that AD 1 = 753 AUC or 755 AUC. This confusion is not a modern one, it appears that even the Romans were in some doubt about how to count the years since the founding of Rome.

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-01/Npnf2-01-06.htm#P522_306670  Chapter V. The Time of His Appearance Among Men.

2 It was in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus⁶³ and the twenty-eighth after the subjugation of Egypt and the death of Antony and Cleopatra, with whom the dynasty of the Ptolemies in Egypt came to an end, that our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, according to the prophecies which had been uttered concerning him.⁶⁴ His birth took place during the first census, while Cyrenius was governor of Syria.⁶⁵

Chapter X. The High Priests of the Jews Under Whom Christ Taught.

1 It was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, according to the evangelist, and in the fourth year of the governorship of Pontius Pilate,¹⁶² while Herod and Lysanias and Philip were ruling the rest of Judea, that our Saviour and Lord, Jesus the Christ of God, being about thirty years of age,¹⁶⁴ came to John for baptism and began the promulgation of the Gospel.

¹⁶¹ Luke 3:1. Eusebius reckons the fifteenth year of Tiberius from 14 AD, that is, from the time when he became sole emperor.

¹⁶² Luke says simply, "while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea," and does not mention the year, as Eusebius does.

¹⁶⁴ Eusebius' reckoning would make Christ's birthday synchronize with the beginning of our Christian era,...

¹⁶⁵ Luke 3:2 compared with John 11:49,51, and 18:13.

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-01/Npnf2-01-06.htm#P666_349973 Chapter IX. The Times of Pilate.

1 The historian already mentioned agrees with the evangelist in regard to the fact that Archelaus151 succeeded to the government after Herod. He records the manner in which he received the kingdom of the Jews by the will of his father Herod and by the decree of Caesar Augustus, and how, after he had reigned ten years, he lost his kingdom, and his brothers Philip152 and Herod the younger,153 with Lysanias,154 still ruled their own tetrarchies. The same writer, in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities,155 says that about the twelfth year of the reign of Tiberius,156 who had succeeded to the empire after Augustus had ruled fifty-seven years,157 Pontius Pilate was entrusted with the government of Judea, and that he remained there ten full years, almost until the death of Tiberius.

3 For the things which they have dared to say concerning the passion of the Saviour are put into the fourth consulship of Tiberius, which occurred in the seventh year of his reign; at which time it is plain that Pilate was not yet ruling in Judea, if the testimony of Josephus is to be believed, who clearly shows in the above-mentioned work160 that Pilate was made procurator of Judea by Tiberius in the twelfth year of his reign.

1 It was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius,161 according to the evangelist, and in the fourth year of the governorship of Pontius Pilate,162 while Herod and Lysanias and Philip were ruling the rest of Judea,163 that our Saviour and Lord, Jesus the Christ of God, being about thirty years of age,164 came to John for baptism and began the promulgation of the Gospel.

Our Saviour and Lord, not long after the beginning of his ministry, called the twelve apostles,174

1 Tiberius died, after having reigned about twenty-two years, from Aug. 29, AD 14, to March 16, AD 37.

15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-31-32-33-34-35-36-37

  1    2   3   4   5    6   7   8    9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16  17  18  19 20 21 22 23

Luke 1:5-23; 1 Chronicles 24:7-19;

The details of the days of the week for the Friday Passover and Omer, second first etc. seem to fit both 30 AD as well as 33 AD. Things that don’t fit 30 AD are the jubilee connection with the year 1208, eclipse of the moon, and darkening of the sun.

Note: Those who discount the traditional Friday crucifixion cite Matt 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  First, in both cases the view is from that of a person who is dead—time may very well pass at a different speed for those who are dead. So if time passes at twice the speed for those who have died then three days and three nights would go from 3PM Friday to 3AM Sunday. The term the heart of the earth is used only here what does it mean. The term “for as” or “just as” implies that the period of time was equivalent for Jonah and Jesus. Jonah was tracking time while dead on the inside of a huge fish—he was not tracking time by the rising and setting of the sun.

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H        For a chronology of the Jesus public ministry, see Jesus’ two-year Ministry.