“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11.
“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also’. John 14:3. The purpose of this article is to attempt to determine the likely date of the birth of the Lord Jesus and thus establish the year of His death, resurrection and ascension and to use this to anticipate the time of His return to receive His own.
The last article posted, ‘The Seventy Weeks given to Daniel’, provides a strong probability of the date of Jesus’ crucifixion as 25 April in A.D. 31. There is every likelihood that the return of Jesus may be precisely two thousand years after His departure into heaven and thus be within a very short time; namely in 2031. This post looks back from that event to postulate when the tribulation of seven years may commence and looks forward to the possible time (not the day or hour) when the feet of the Lord Jesus may stand once again on the Mount of Olives at His return to ‘reign forever and ever’.
The scholarly research of Rabbi Jonathan Cahn will be the basis of determining the date of Jesus’ birth.
- Luke 2:7-8. And she (Mary) gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. On the night the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus there were shepherds out in the fields at night. The shepherds were outside through the night because it was the lambing season; around March and April. In the Hebrew calendar this would be Nisan. Nisan means ‘beginnings’.
- Bethlehem was the source from which lambs were provided for the temple sacrifices. As John the Baptist was inspired by the Holy Spirit to exclaim when he saw Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29. The Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world in Jerusalem was born in Bethlehem at the time of the lambing season.
- The Passover lamb is born and it dies at the same time of the year, Nisan. “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously.” Exodus 29:38. The Lamb of God would fulfill the Passover at the same time of year as His birth..
- All the major events of the life of Christ, the Messiah, were fulfilled on feast days.
- Palm Sunday. On this day, the 10th of Nisan, the head of the Jewish household would take a lamb into his house to be with his family until, on the Passover, the lamb would be slain. On this 10th of Nisan the great crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem signifying that the Father was bringing His Son as the Lamb into His house that He would be slain as the ultimate and forever sacrifice..
- Four days later, on the 14th Nisan, the lamb would be slain in accordance with the ordinance given to Moses just prior to the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.
- First Fruits. Jesus rose from the dead and He presented Himself on that same day to His Father in heaven as the first fruits. ‘But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead’. 1 Corinthians 15:20-21.
- Shavu’ot. Feast of weeks. In Greek it means fifty days. The beginning of harvest.
Research by Jonathan Cahn establishes from 1 Chronicles 40, from the Talmud and from one of the Dead Sea scrolls the divisions of the priests which were repeated in cycles. Other sources provide clues; the service of Zacharias in the temple which was performed in ‘the course of Abijah’. Also from the course of the priest who was serving in the temple on the day of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Using these two sources Cahn shows that the birth of Jesus took place on 1st Nisan.
The day that marks the beginning of a new year in the Jewish calendar is indeed the 1st Nisan. It had been on this day long before that the Shekinah glory of God entered the holy of holies of the newly completed and erected tabernacle in the wilderness that He might dwell in the midst of His people, the Israelites.
‘And the Word became flesh and tabernacle/pitched His tent among us’. Surely this calendar day of 1st Nisan was the day that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in a humble stable.
If indeed the day of the birth of Jesus was 1st Nisan, what pointers do the Scriptures provide as to the year of His birth? The account of the visit of the Magi, will provide a number of valuable clues.
What was it that impelled the Magi to travel a significant distance to investigate an unusual event? On 12 August of 3 B.C., as viewed from Babylon, the planet Jupiter (the chief of the gods) and the planet Venus (the female deity) came into such close proximity that they appeared to be touching. This created the brightest point of light in the night sky. Then between September 3 B.C. and May 2 B.C. Jupiter made three conjunctions with Regulus (the king star), in the constellation of Leo (the lion). This implied that a king had been born in Judaea. Further, Jupiter and Venus converged for the second time even more closely on 17 June of 2 B.C.
On their arrival in Jerusalem the magi enquired of Herod and his advisors as to where the Scriptures said the Messiah was to be born. They were informed “In Bethlehem of Judea.” Herod told them to “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” Matthew 2:8.
The death of Herod is typically stated as 4 B.C. However, prior to 1,540 A.D. it had always been assumed to have been 1 B.C. Recent studies in the writings of Josephus, the Jewish historian of those times, also suggest that Herod died early in 1 B.C. shortly after a full eclipse of the moon. If that is so, Herod’s order that all male children under the age of two be slaughtered also suggests that Jesus was born in 3 B.C.
Having determined the likely year of the birth of Jesus on 1st Nisan as taking place in 3 B.C., we may now briefly examine the chronology of His earthly life. Our aim will be to identify the year in which Jesus commenced His ministry and the year in which His death, resurrection and ascension took place.
Along the way it may be beneficial to pause briefly to consider two events that are noteworthy in the early life of Jesus; His circumcision and His visit with His parents to the Feast of the Passover at age twelve.
“And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations….” Genesis 17:12. Joseph and Mary took the baby Jesus up to Jerusalem to carry out he rite of circumcision and to offer a sacrifice according to the law. While they were there the baby was brought into the presence Simeon and Anna a prophetess. With what joy must Simeon have taken the wee babe into his arms and uttered those timeless words, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation….” Luke 2:29-30. As for Anna we are informed ‘At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem’. Luke 2:38.
The next event which follows in Luke 2 is that of Joseph and Mary taking the twelve year old Jesus to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. After they had departed for home in company with family members they discovered that Jesus was missing. The account tells us that, ‘after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers’. Luke 2:46-47.
‘When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age….’ Luke 3:23. This would place the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as 28 A.D. (N.B. the year following 1 B.C. is 1 A.D). Then, taking the most accepted length of His ministry as three years, Jesus death, resurrection and ascension will have taken place in 31 A.D. It is interesting to note that to allow for His body to have lain in the grave for three days and three nights only the years 2028 and 2031 would qualify.
The purpose of this article is to establish a timeline that, 2,000 years ago,* may provide a pointer to Jesus’ return as ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’. The writer’s conviction is that the Lord Jesus desires that we know and respond in faith to the signs of the times in which we have been given our life on earth.
In writing and sharing this article, the writer has depended on one requisite above all others. This has been to follow a consistent sense of inner peace. He simply requests that it be received and responded to it in the spirit in which it is offered; as a prompt that we make ourselves ready for the coming of the Lord.
*In his recent book titled ‘The Oracle’, Rabbi Cahn discusses the significance of the fifty year jubilees that God gave to Israel. On a jubilee, an ancestral possession that had been lost or sold must be returned to the one who has right of ownership. Many great examples are provided in this book.
In the context of this current article, ‘I will Come Again’, it is significant to point out that 2,000 years represents forty jubilees of years. The number forty may remind us of the forty years the Israelites spent in the wilderness before they entered into the promised land.
The Exodus began with the first Passover, which is a type and expression of redemption. The miraculous parting of the Red Sea led the whole company of God’s people into the great wilderness where they were tested for forty years. Finally they entered into the land promised long before to their forefather Abraham through the miraculously parted waters of the River Jordan. They celebrated their first Passover in the land as they were camped outside Jericho, exactly forty years from that first Passover in Egypt.
As presented in this article, 2,000 years (forty jubilees of years) have almost passed since the fulfillment of the Passover by Jesus. ‘For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed’. 1 Corinthians 5:7. During all this time the faith of God’s people on earth has been tested and tried as their life has been spent in the wilderness of this world as ‘strangers and foreigners’. Surely the time is very near to the return of Jesus to usher His own into their forever-to-be-enjoyed Promised Land.
Satan, the usurper of God’s authority on earth, will be cast out and Jesus will return to reign forever as King of kings and Lord of lords. In this Jubilee of jubilees all authority over the earth that belongs to Jesus will be shared with those who will reign with Him for a thousand years – His overcomers.
‘In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east;’ Zechariah 14:4.
Jesus’ return
If this does indeed take place in 2031 A.D. then the following dates are especially significant**
Crucifixion – Wednesday 25 April of 31 A.D. At around 3 p.m. Jesus died. The time of three days and three nights that Jesus was dead began. Matthew 12:40. A partial lunar eclipse occurred on this date.
Resurrection – Saturday 28th April of 31 A.D. Jesus rose from the dead at some unknown time after dusk but it might have occurred after midnight
On Sunday 29 April 31 A.D. Jesus will have appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the two on the road to Emmaus and to those in the upper room.
Jesus ‘was seen of His disciples for forty days. Forty denotes a time of testing so these will likely have been consecutive days.
Ascension – Jesus was likely taken up from the Mount of Olives on or about 9 June 31 A.D. Acts 1:3. The time of day is unknown.
Return of Jesus descending to stand on the Mount of Olives two thousand years later around the 9 June in 2031.
Tribulation – 7 years of 360 days is 2520 days. The tribulation might commence close to 14 July 2024.
** Jesus told His disciples that ‘no one knows the day or the hour of His return but only His Father’. This however does allow for revelation of the month and the year. “Maranatha”!
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