Subject: 40 Days |
Bible Note: Luke 3:23 states that Jesus was about thirty when He started His ministry. We often take that to mean He was thirty years old. We know the He died in the year 33 AD so that makes Him 33 Years old when He was crucified. But the word thirty in Luke 3:23 actually mean the decade of thiry in other would it realy means He was somewhere in His thirties when He started. The Jews in John 8:57 may be supporting this when instead of saying you are not yet 40 they say you are not yet 50. These guys were adversaries and I can't imagin them giving Jesus the benifit of the doubt. John 8:57 is a weak example though to support Jesus as being 40. Lets go to the history books. We often assume that Christ was born in the year 1 AD; but Herod the great who was the particular Herod involved in the execution (murder) of the children in Bethleham, died in the year 4 1/2 BC. When looking for the child he assertained from the magi that the child was already about two years old. This is supported also by the meaning of the word child in Matt 2. Also the only census to take place near the time Christ was born took place in 7 BC. This was when Christ was born in a manger while his parents were registering for the census. If you count from 7 BC to 33 AD (do not count the year 0 there was no such year) you get 40 years. |