How long was Jesus's ministry?

[JoeCanada]

                                                                 How long was Jesus's ministry...... and does it matter?

 

There seems to be some dispute in the four gospels as to the timing of  Jesus's ministry.

John shows Jesus attending 3 feasts of Passover.

Matthew, Luke and Mark shows only one.

Many have stated that Jesus's ministry lasted exactly 3 1/2 years.

Here are the three Passovers mentioned by John:

Passover #1 - John 2:13 - at the beginning of Jesus's ministry

Passover #2 - John 6:4

Passover #3 - John 11:55 - at the crucifixion.

John carefully and clearly identifies each of them as Passovers, so there is no doubt that they are specifically Passovers.

These are all the feasts mentioned in the Gospel of John:

1st Passover - John 2:23 - April

Purim - John 5:1 - March

2nd Passover - John 6:4 - April

Tabernacles - John 7:2 - October

Dedication/Hanukkah - John 10:22 - December

3rd Passover - John 11:55 - April

So from the first Passover which is at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, to the 2nd Passover.... is ONE year.

And from the 2nd Passover to the 3rd Passover which is the Crucifixion, is ONE year. 

Add them up..... one year plus one year is TWO years. 

Because of the detailed writing in John's Gospel as opposed to the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the public ministry of Jesus could not be as short as one year, nor could it be as long as 3 1/2 years.

But the timing of His ministry is most likely about 2 years....give or take.

Does it matter?

Maybe it does to a person's interpretation of other scriptures and their whole end-time theory..... and they have to have exactly 3 1/2 years to make everything fit.............................. 

 

 

 

[NConly]

Where does Matt 4: 11-17 fit in your post ? thanks

[FJK]

29 minutes ago, JoeCanada said:

Does it matter?

Depends on what you are considering about it.

Whether w or 3 1/2 I imagine Jesus said very much more to his apostles and other close followers than just the 1200 or so words he is recorded to have spoken (condensed to actually the words and not different accounts counted into the whole) which leads me to consider that there are many things he said and taught the we cannot directly know from canonical historical records.

If trying to apply the length of his ministry to explain other events and timings of prophecies, it would be something entirely different and would have entirely different considerations.

Either way, I see concentrating on it to be a potentially significant source of division among Christians and the Church so I just don't worry about it much other than knowing it was a short ministry that accomplished a lot.

[Shilohsfoal]

2 hours ago, JoeCanada said:

                                                                 How long was Jesus's ministry...... and does it matter?

 

There seems to be some dispute in the four gospels as to the timing of  Jesus's ministry.

John shows Jesus attending 3 feasts of Passover.

Matthew, Luke and Mark shows only one.

Many have stated that Jesus's ministry lasted exactly 3 1/2 years.

Here are the three Passovers mentioned by John:

Passover #1 - John 2:13 - at the beginning of Jesus's ministry

Passover #2 - John 6:4

Passover #3 - John 11:55 - at the crucifixion.

John carefully and clearly identifies each of them as Passovers, so there is no doubt that they are specifically Passovers.

These are all the feasts mentioned in the Gospel of John:

1st Passover - John 2:23 - April

Purim - John 5:1 - March

2nd Passover - John 6:4 - April

Tabernacles - John 7:2 - October

Dedication/Hanukkah - John 10:22 - December

3rd Passover - John 11:55 - April

So from the first Passover which is at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, to the 2nd Passover.... is ONE year.

And from the 2nd Passover to the 3rd Passover which is the Crucifixion, is ONE year. 

Add them up..... one year plus one year is TWO years. 

Because of the detailed writing in John's Gospel as opposed to the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the public ministry of Jesus could not be as short as one year, nor could it be as long as 3 1/2 years.

But the timing of His ministry is most likely about 2 years....give or take.

Does it matter?

Maybe it does to a person's interpretation of other scriptures and their whole end-time theory..... and they have to have exactly 3 1/2 years to make everything fit.............................. 

 

 

 

How would Jesus's ministry change the amount of time given in the bible for the end time persecution of the saints?

 

It would be very hard for you to be able to change what is written about the time period.

A time,times and a half a time.

 

⁷ The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.^[b] When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

[TrueFollowerOfChrist]

The generally accepted time is between 3 - 4 years because 3 separate passover events are listed in the gospels. However I'm not dogmatic about it, just like people say Jesus was 33 when he died, but I don't believe that's provable. 

[JoeCanada]

7 hours ago, NConly said:

Where does Matt 4: 11-17 fit in your post ? thanks

So Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in Matt 3.... then He was led into the desert for 40 days, after which Satan tempted Him. 

For how long was the temptation we aren't told, but I would surmise it was for a few days maybe.

Then Jesus went back to Galillee from where He came. 

This is just a small narrative that could easily fit into the 2 or so years that John records as to the length of Jesus' ministry.

But I have a feeling this is not what you were looking for is it?

[JoeCanada]

5 hours ago, Shilohsfoal said:

How would Jesus's ministry change the amount of time given in the bible for the end time persecution of the saints?

 

It would be very hard for you to be able to change what is written about the time period.

A time,times and a half a time.

 

⁷ The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.^[b] When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

I don't see this as being relevant.

You do?

[JoeCanada]

5 minutes ago, TrueFollowerOfChrist said:

The generally accepted time is between 3 - 4 years because 3 separate passover events are listed in the gospels. However I'm not dogmatic about it, just like people say Jesus was 33 when he died, but I don't believe that's provable. 

Yes.... three Passovers are recorded in Johns Gospel.

That could easily be two years as is shown in the OP.

First Passover to the second Passover is ONE year..... second Passover to the third Passover is another year. Two years in total.

[TrueFollowerOfChrist]

Just now, JoeCanada said:

Yes.... three Passovers are recorded in Johns Gospel.

That could easily be two years as is shown in the OP.

First Passover to the second Passover is ONE year..... second Passover to the third Passover is another year. Two years in total.

Except the gospel stories don't start on the Passovers, so it's longer than 2 years. I didn't think it matters honestly. If Jesus accomplished everything in the gospels in 2 years, that makes it even more impressive. 

[JoeCanada]

5 minutes ago, TrueFollowerOfChrist said:

Except the gospel stories don't start on the Passovers, so it's longer than 2 years. I didn't think it matters honestly. If Jesus accomplished everything in the gospels in 2 years, that makes it even more impressive. 

True enough. 

If we read John 1 and 2, we see a time frame of what?... maybe a few weeks, lets say  a few months before the first Passover. 

That's still only 2 years and a bit, not even close to the generally accepted 3 1/2 years..... which many people need to support their Daniel 9 theory for instance. 

Of the 4 gospels, John's is the only one that gives us the timeline..... from the first Passover (there about) to the final third Passover.

And does it really matter? 

Well, it's like the crucifixion  on a Friday and the resurrection on a Sunday. Jesus said He would be in the heart of the earth just like Jonah was in the belly of the great whale for 3 days and 3 nights. Friday to Sunday just doesn't add up. But that's for another topic.

Thanks for your dialogue.