How long was Jesus's ministry?

[Charlie744]

45 minutes ago, JoeCanada said:

Charlie....

John records Jesus' ministry..... from His baptism to His crucifixion.

John records Jesus attending only 3 Passovers.... and 3 other Feasts.

Where are the scriptures to support Jesus attending 4 Passovers?

What about scripture to support Jesus' baptism to His first Passover being 6 months?

With all due respect brother, I see your explanation  as conjecture,  without scriptural evidence, trying to support a theory.

And as Mr. M stated.... there is also support for a one year (+-) ministry.

But a 3 1/2 year ministry is what is generally held by the vast majority (99%) of people, and I reckon you don't buy into what the vast majority of people believe. 

Thanks Joe! Well, can you or do you accept that the Passover Feast was when He was crucified?

If so, do you agree that 9:27 confirms He will be cut off in the midst of the week?

If you agree with these two statements, then there can be only one outcome- the Passover when He died was in the middle if the 7 years. Thus, there had to be 3 before and after the Passover when He was crucified. 
 

Make sense?

The Gospels do not all record or state the same number of Passovers He attended. The Gospels do not provide the same events or include the same events. They are purposefully recorded in their own way to reveal a different side of the Messiah or a different perspective. 
 

 

[WilliamL]

21 hours 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. 

The Gospel stories about Jesus start before that first mentioned Passover, but His actual public ministry started at that time. Events before then were private affairs.

[WilliamL]

6 hours ago, Charlie744 said:

1) In verse 9:27 Daniel tells us that the Messiah will be “cut off” (crucified) in the midst (middle) of the week. 

Your presumption.

Verse 27 says nothing at all about the Messiah. The vav-consecutive that begins the verse directly relates the narrative to the nagyd that destroys Jerusalem and the Temple in verse 26b.

[Charlie744]

22 minutes ago, WilliamL said:

The Gospel stories about Jesus start before that first mentioned Passover, but His actual public ministry started at that time. Events before then were private affairs.

You are kidding, right?

Chapter 9 is all about the Messiah! Verses 24 and 25 are the two restorative verses about the Messiah and 26 and 27 are the two destructive verses about the Messiah. 

 

27Then he (Messiah) shall confirm a [k]covenant (New Covenant mentioned in Jeremiah 31) with many (Jews) for (should be DURING  NOT FOR A WEEK - the last week of the prophecy was “set aside” for the Messiah to fulfill His 6 requirements- 9:24);
But in the middle of the week (exactly 3.5 years of the last 7 years of the prophecy),  He (Messiah) shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering (His death would bring an end to the animal sacrificial system AND the offerings within the Levitical system, 
And on the wing of abominations (the cross) shall be one (Jesus) who makes desolate (because they (Jews) rejected and crucified their Messiah, God would make them “desolate” to Him- He would be completely desolate from His people who rejected Him for the next 2000 years, 
Even until the consummation (until the end of the time of the Gentiles) which is determined,
Is poured out on the [l]desolate.”

Just who do you believe the book of Daniel is prophesying about? It is all about the coming Messiah and His plan of salvation for the Jews and mankind. 

[WilliamL]

20 minutes ago, Charlie744 said:

Just who do you believe the book of Daniel is prophesying about? It is all about the coming Messiah and His plan of salvation for the Jews and mankind.

Nonsense. It is about a whole lot more than the Messiah. Major chapters, such as 8 and 11, never even hint of the Messiah. And He is only briefly mentioned in Daniel 9.

Edited March 17 by WilliamL

[Charlie744]

1 hour ago, WilliamL said:

Nonsense. It is about a whole lot more than the Messiah. Major chapters, such as 8 and 11, never even hint of the Messiah. And He is only briefly mentioned in Daniel 9.

God bless, and thanks.

[Retrobyter]

4 hours ago, 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.

Shalom, JoeCanada.

Do you ever read the harmonies of the Gospels, Davies' and Robertson's, for instance? There were FOUR Passovers in total, and the last One was just after the Messiah died. It was the Shabbat ("Sabbath") that was "an high holy day"; that is, an extra Shabbat - a Day of Rest - in the week! It occurred two days before the regular weekly Shabbat. Yeeshuwa` died on the Day of Preparation, when they were killing the sacrificial lambs for the Passover meals. This is why He is called "HaKeves 'Elohiym" - "The Lamb of God!"

It can be shown from Scripture that Yeeshuwa` was not born in December:

His cousin was born six months before Yeeshuwa` was born:

Luke 1:26-38 (KJV)

26 And in the sixth month (of Elizabeth's pregnancy) the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name [was] Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said,

"Hail, [thou that art] highly favoured, the Lord [is] with thee: blessed [art] thou among women!"

29 And when she saw [him], she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her,

"Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (This is a restatement of the Davidic Covenant found in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17.)

34 Then said Mary unto the angel,

"How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?"

35 And the angel answered and said unto her,

"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible!"

38 And Mary said,

"Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

And the angel departed from her.

He was more than likely born in Autumn, with the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). I believe that He was born on the FIRST day of the Feast, and He was circumcised eight days later, the LAST day of the feast. This is why all the Gentile nations who will come against Israel will be required to come to Jerusalem by the New King of Israel, the Messiah of God, the One Anointed by God to be Israel's King, Yeeshuwa`! (See Zechariah 14.)

His cousin's father, Z'charyahuw ("Zecharias"), was a priest of the house of Leviy, a Levite, who was also of the course of 'AViyaah ("Abia"):

Luke 1:5-25 (KJV)

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias (Z'kharyahuw), of the course of Abia ('AViyaah): and his wife [was] of the daughters of Aaron ('Aharown), and her name [was] Elisabeth ('ElishaVet). 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were [now] well stricken in years.

8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, 9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without (outside) at the time of incense. 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw [him], he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

13 But the angel said unto him,

"Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

18 And Zacharias said unto the angel,

"Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years."

19 And the angel answering said unto him,

"I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season."

21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. 24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

25 "Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on [me], to take away my reproach." 

The course of 'AViyaah (אֲבִיָה ==> "Abia" or "Abijah" or "Aviyah") was for a week twice a year in the rotation of 24 courses, and the Jewish year began with the new moon of the first month after the spring equinox. Passover began on the 14th day of the first month, and lasted for 7 days (8 for orthodox Jews). Thus, he would serve in the eighth shabbat to the nineth shabbat and then again in the 33rd shabbat to the 34 shabbat in each year. This fluctuates in the Gregorian calendar, but not in the Hebrew calendar. It's always in the sixth week after Pesach (Passover) and in the seventh week after Sukkot (Tabernacles). Based upon the timing of GaVriy'eel appearing to Z'kharyahuw and then to Miryam ("Mary") six months after ElishaVet's conception, Yochanan the Immerser was probably born in the first month, Nisan. Six months later, in Tishrei the seventh month, Yeeshuwa` ("Jesus") would have been born. This puts His birth near Sukkot, when Yeeshuwa` "dwelt (tabernacled) with us" (John 1:14). Eight days later, He was circumcised.

Yeeshuwa` started His "ministry" (actually, His "offer of the Kingdom" to the children of Israel, beginning with His own tribe, Yhudah or Judah, the Jews, just as David did before Him, see 1 Kings 2:11), when He was about 30 years old (Luke 3:23), probably on or around His birthday. Half a year later, He celebrated the FIRST of the four Pesach celebrations (Passover). He was followed by not only the Twelve, but hundreds of others throughout His offer of the Kingdom. He demonstrated many infallible proofs through the power of His Father, performing miracles to prove that He was not only "the Son of God" (fulfilling the Davidic Covenant in part), but to also provide partial fulfillment of the first half of the Seventieth Seven of Daniel 9. It was the MESSIAH who is the "he" of Daniel 9:27!

Now, I know that this is a LOT of information to dump on a person all at once, but you must understand that I've been studying this for DECADES!

[tim_from_pa]

On 3/16/2024 at 11:07 AM, 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.............................. 

 

 

 

This is an interesting question.  Yes, most do believe in 3.5 years ministry as I do as well.  But I heard the two year as well as the 5 year (proposed by Sir Isaac Newton).  I think the thing we have to admit is that we believe in evidence of any matter (including one's faith in Jesus Christ) does not prove anything, and for those scientific minded folks out there this all falls under pseudoscience.   However, this does not mean there is not one fact about the whole question.  Of course Jesus' ministry lasted such and such a time but again, each has evidence that shows how long they think it was.  So a person has to be made up in their own mind if their evidence outweighs another's (in which the facts do not show it's necessarily factual).  In my case, I found evidence to my satisfaction that the Lord's time on this earth fit a specific Biblical number (a multiple of 153) and with that information I could calculate his actual birth and death days. I found too many "mathematical coincidences" to just be ignored, and the number of such evidences seems to me to outweigh other such theories, but to some may still not be perfect (and the feeling is mutual). Thus, I will not proclaim such info as fact, but only what I believe based on evidence.  I would hope that others can see the same way and be prepared to change their view(s) if need be as I have already. This is the whole point of faith.  It's based on evidence, but not necessarily a provable fact. And if we are blatantly honest, that's what most of science even is: they hit the hypothesis stage and even theory, but fall short of becoming law because there's always an exception it seems.  It depends how stringent one makes their criteria.