ABSTRACT: The phrase ‘on the second-first Sabbath’ of Luke 6:1 when understood, leads to the conclusion the public ministry of Jesus was two years in length not three years. What is generally understood as the first two years of Jesus’ ministry was actually His first year. This adjustment allows calendaring Jesus’ ministry with good accuracy. The second section presents His day-by-day ministry in narrative and calendar forms. Chronicling Jesus’ ministry accurately, gives a clearer picture and more insight into God’s plan, work and ways.
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To index file: http://www.scripturescholar.com/Jesus2YearMinistry.htm
For a Calendar of
Jesus’ Ministry go to page 19.
For a Narrative of
Jesus’ Ministry go to page 10.
Since the early days of the Church, there have been discussions and investigations trying to determine the length of Jesus’ ministry. The proposed lengths have varied from one to four or more years, but most hold a two or three year ministry. In our day most believe Jesus’ ministry was three years and two to six months in length. This article proposes and attempts to prove Jesus’ public ministry was exactly two years in length, but there was an additional month where He ministered privately to a small group of disciples.
The discovery of the two-year ministry started with an
insight into the word second-first. On a second-first
(deuteroproto) Sabbath while Jesus was passing through grainfields, His
disciples began to pick heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the
kernels (Luke 6:1). Interpreters do not understand the meaning of the
second-first (deuteroprwtw) Sabbath. Modern translations have dropped second-first
because they have not understood it.[1]
It does not mean the second Sabbath after the first (KJV); otherwise, it would say
simply the second Sabbath. Sabbaths were only numbered from the Sabbath
following Passover until the Sabbath before Pentecost (Lev
The consensus of scholars is that the most viable option for
the length of Jesus’ public ministry was three years and a few months.[4]
The synoptic gospels only require Jesus’ public ministry to be about one year
long, but they imply a two-year ministry.[5]
John’s gospel gives a framework for a longer ministry. He directly mentioned
three Passovers (
Jesus public ministry did not start at his baptism, and there is nothing in the gospels that require more than three months from Jesus’ baptism until his first Passover. Jesus’ public ministry begins at Passover. For one month before that, Passover six disciples of John accompanied Jesus for a time.
The principle argument for adding a fourth Passover to
Jesus’ ministry follows this line of reasoning. After His first Passover (John
The argument is extended with Luke 6:1 (Mat 12:1; Mark
If Jesus’ public ministry was three years long, much of the
first year of that ministry would be in
Those who have argued for a two-year ministry typically transpose John chapters 5 and 6. This argument is weak because there is no textual evidence for this transposition.[8] What does transposing these chapters do for a two-year ministry; they eliminate a feast after January that must be placed before Passover. If Luke 6:1 occurs the previous spring and the yet four months until the harvest statement occurs the previous spring there is no problem fitting in this feast and there is no reason to transpose these chapters.
After Jesus talked to the woman at the well, Jesus talked to
his disciples while the people of Sychar came out of the city toward them. He
said, “Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you,
open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John
The feast of Tabernacles in early October celebrates the end of the harvest. Four months before a harvest starting in early August would be early April. God timed this appointment to have the physical and spiritual harvest match up.
Another verse bears on the season in which this event
occurred. Immediately following Jesus’ visit to Sychar, “After the two days he
left for
The unnamed feast in John 5:1 is often proposed to be a Passover. John referred to the feast of Passover ten times, why in one case did he refer to it as a feast of the Jews? The correct view is this unnamed feast is the feast of Weeks or Pentecost. It fits naturally in the chronology of Jesus’ ministry. The gospels never mention the feast of Pentecost. John did mention both the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication. During the unnamed ‘feast of the Jews’ Jesus heals an invalid resting in the colonnades (John 5:2). An invalid seeking healing would be unlikely to be resting in the colonnades during the winter, as it would be too cold.[11] In late May after Pentecost, it would be much more reasonable to wait there.
Now we come back to the deciding passage, Luke 6:1. In this passage, Jesus’ disciples are criticized for harvesting grain on the Sabbath, not for eating it before the allowed day. This means that this Sabbath occurred after the Omer and before the grain harvest was complete. If this event occurred during spring, there is no reason for requiring that Jesus’ visit to Sychar was any time other than the spring.
As long as Jesus' visit to Sychar did not occur during the winter, there is no need for the unnamed feast to require an additional year. Since the event of the woman at the well occurred in the spring, any of the feasts except Passover would not require additional time to pass.
Another reason used to extend Jesus’ ministry is many believe that Jesus’ ministry was exactly half of the seven-year period described in Daniel 9:26-27. The Bible does not state this. Second, if Jesus’ ministry was three and a half years then the next three and a half years of the seven years would immediately follow, there is no evidence that it did.
A strong argument against the three-year view is Jesus’
first year of ministry is almost completely missing in the synoptic gospels.
Jesus’ disciples meet and follow Him, but wait nearly a year before recording
the day-by-day, week-by-week events of His ministry. The most memorable events would
be during the period following the disciples’ first encounter with Jesus. They
would remember best the first observed miracles and unique teachings of this
remarkable man. In Mark, an early nine months of Jesus’ ministry disappears
between verses
The visit to Sychar, gives evidence of a two-year ministry. When
the second-first Sabbath occurs about a month after the first Passover of Jesus’
public ministry, there is no reason to stretch the events of the early part of
The forth assumption is that a three year ministry better
fits the correct historical period. A purpose for making Jesus ministry longer
is to make up years to account for the belief Jesus was born in 4 B.C. and was thirty
year old when He began to minister and died in A.D. 30 or 33. The Bible nowhere
states the length of Jesus’ ministry. A strong argument can be made the eclipse
of 4 B.C. is far less likely than eclipse of December 1 B.C. to be the eclipse
that preceded the death of Herod the Great. Herod died after an eclipse of the
moon and Jesus was born before Herod died. The eclipse that occurred in March 4
B.C. was a minor partial eclipse only visible from two to
The length of Jesus public ministry appears to be two years,
rather than the standard figure of three years, for the following reasons. The
number of Passovers celebrated during His ministry fixes the length of His
ministry. Three Passovers occurred during His ministry (John
The Star of Bethlehem has long been sought to help identify
the start of Jesus’ ministry. The only explanation that fits all the criteria
was the Magi on August 24, 2 B.C. saw the Morning Star rise shortly before dawn
marking a scepter formed by three other wandering stars in the constellation of
the Lion, fulfilling the prophesies given by Jacob in Gen 49:9-10 and Balaam in
Numbers 24:17. The Magi came 1.6 years later on Passover A.D. 1 to acknowledge
the newborn king of the Jews who would rule the whole world. [15]
The only eclipse of the moon the people were likely to see and mentioned by
Josephus was December 29, 1 B.C just after sunset.[16]
There was a significant sign the heavens to signal the start of Jesus’ ministry
on
Lunar-solar calendar was assumed when generating this chronology of Jesus’ ministry. As the study continued, more problems with this assumption were found. The clearest problem is there were two Passovers celebrated during the week Jesus was crucified. A careful study of Jesus’ ministry reveals that for many or all the Jewish Feasts He followed a solar rather than a lunar-solar calendar. This has not been widely recognized, but Annie Jaubert[19] did propose this as the solution to the dating of the Last Supper. From the Dead Sea Scrolls she discovered the Essenes used a solar calendar. The number of days in each year was always divisible by seven and was normally 364. The year always started on Wednesday and the major feasts days were all on Wednesday. This is based on several things most notably Genesis 1:14. The year starts on Wednesday (actually Tuesday evening), because on the fourth day the greater and lesser lights and the stars were made (Gen 1:14-19). Before the sun and the moon exist, there cannot be days and years, as we know them. Genesis does not have the moon control the length of the month.[20] The Essenes following what they strongly believed was the correct sacred calendar divided the year into four seasons where each season is divided into three months, the first two of thirty days each and the third of thirty-one days. Some times these two calendars aligned and at other times, they were divergent. This shows up most clearly in that Jesus celebrated Passover on the day specified by the Priests in the Temple (typically Sadducees) when it agreed with the solar calendar and chose to be traveling when Passover could be celebrated on Wednesday in the second month. This way Jesus could both celebrate the Passover Seder meal and be crucified on the Passover. It was discovered years after this chronology was done that most of the days that Jesus celebrates feasts occur on Wednesdays.[21]
1. Some believe the announcement of the acceptable year of the Lord, announced by Jesus refers to a Jubilee year, which must occur in the fall. Here it is proposed Jesus rather announced a Sabbath rest year immediately preceding a Jubilee rest year. The Jubilee year was always preceded by six month by a start of a Sabbath year. The Jubilee year was the time slaves were to be released. On a Sabbath Jesus said, “This day this is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4: 21). Jesus was announcing a dual message, Time to celebrate the Jubilee and freedom from the slavery to sin. While the Jubilee was to be announced in the fall, the Sabbath year started in the spring. Jesus was calling attention to a calendar problem. He makes this announcement on the first day of the second month—but had the calendar been set correctly it should have been the first month of the year. The reason that there should have been an additional month inserted before Nisan was to prevent the feast of Tabernacles from occurring too early. The feast of Tabernacles starts on the Tishri 15. In the year A.D. 31, Tishri 15 occurred on September 22. This is three days before the Autumnal Equinox marking the beginning of fall. The feast would fall too early. This is especially important because this Tishri was the time of the start of a Jubilee year. [22]
2. Some believe the interpretation of the parable of the fig tree (Luke 13:6) requires a four-year ministry for Jesus.[23] This is an interpretation it is not so stated in the Bible, but Jesus does minister in parts of four years, the very end of one year, two full years and the very beginning of the fourth. The Jews normally counted any part of a year as the whole of the year.
3.
John the Baptist’s ministry was to be the forerunner.
If his ministry continued long after the start of Jesus’ ministry, the people
would be confused. Also, many people halfway through Jesus’ ministry thought
Jesus was John the Baptist returned from the dead, a position they would not
hold if Jesus and John ministered side-by-side for six months at the
1. The Apostles memory for the sequence of events of Jesus' ministry would be the sharpest at the beginning and end of their time with Jesus and for unusual events. The disciples would remember the first healing of a particular type better than the tenth healing.
2. Jesus' purpose was to announce the kingdom, train His apostles, establish and build His church. The sooner the apostles were chosen, the more time Jesus could spend training them. The sooner they were trained the sooner the Church could be established.
3. Jesus and disciples kept the Old Covenant law, so they attended the three weeklong festivals each year: Passover, Pentecost and Booths.[24] Jesus and the disciples did not travel a significant distance on the Sabbath.
4.
The ministry of John the Baptist began about five to six
months before Jesus’ ministry, because John was between five and six months
older than Jesus was.
5. Jesus and disciples could easily travel about twenty-five miles (40km) per day, and family caravans move about twenty miles/day (32km).
6. The Apostles memories for events would also be heightened by travel, especially foreign travel.
7. It is assumed John the Baptist and Jesus did not start ministering until each turned thirty years of age.
8. John was in his sixth month of ministry when Jesus now thirty years old came to him to be baptized in January A.D. 31 (Luke 1:26, 36).
9. The term Jesus ‘was about thirty years old’ means He was almost exactly thirty, but His baptism did not occur “on” His birthday. See calendar page 19.
Most chronographers record that
Tiberius Caesar came to the throne in September A.D. 14 after Augustus Caesar
died on
If Jesus turned thirty in late
December A.D. 30, then John would be thirty in August A.D. 30. It is here
inferred that John the Baptist’s ministry started in October A.D. 30 and had
been going for about three months at the time Jesus was baptized. John fasted
when he turned thirty for forty days, then he served as priest with all the
priests during the feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth). After this, he served as a
priest in his course (Abijah), then he started to baptize in the
Few attempt to give a meaning to deuteroproto, therefore researching the meaning of this deuteroproto word is difficult. Archibald Robertson says, “It is undoubtedly spurious,” and “If it were genuine we should not know what it means.”[29] The United Bible Society committee majority proposed a scribe added the word first; another added the word second canceling out the word first. A third scribe misunderstood and combined the words into second-first and inserted it into the text,[30] a convoluted explanation. Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich and Danker say, “occurs no where else”, “word of doubtful meaning. Even ancient interpreters understandably could make nothing of it.”[31] Joseph Thayer is unusual in defining this word, “seem to be, the second of the first Sabbaths after the feast of Passover.”[32] This makes some sense because the Israelites were to start a new count of weeks on the day following the first Sabbath following Passover. But the better understanding is how the command to count the weeks was done.[33] Each of these days or weeks is called counting the Omer, so rather than the second first Sabbath; it would be called the first Omer Sabbath.
Harold Hoehner says, using this passage to add a Passover “is dubious for not only is the textual reading highly questionable, but also even if one accepts the reading, there are many different interpretations as to its meaning and so one cannot say that it pinpoints the occasion of the second Passover.” “To hold a view that is based on a questionable interpretation which in turn is built upon a questionable textual reading is immediately suspect.”[34] Hoehner is referring to adding a Passover due to this passage, not what is being done here using this passage to correct the addition of a Passover.
David Brown says, “Second sabbath after the first—an obscure expression, occurring here only, generally understood to mean, the first Sabbath after the second day of unleavened bread. The reasons cannot be stated here, nor is the opinion itself quite free from difficulty.”[35]
No one was found that defined deuteroproto as the first Sabbath after the second Passover as done here properly placing this passage in Jesus’ ministry.
Most dates are approximate. About
During the period of His fast, Jesus was in the wilderness
of
The fourth day following the end of Jesus’ fast was the
feast of Purim. This was the fiftieth day since Jesus’ baptism, almost like a
jubilee day for the start of His ministry. Enough time for Jesus to rest on the
Sabbath and then hustle north 130 miles (210km) to the
A
further link to this time was discovered. There was sign in the heavens to mark
the start of Jesus’ ministry. On the evening of
The third day (we would say the day after tomorrow) they
arrived in Cana of Galilee and went to a wedding feast. However, there is a
second way to look at this third day. The traditional Jewish wedding was on
Tuesday, the third day of the week, because in on the third day of creation God
said, “It is good” twice (Gen
Jesus then journeyed to Capernaum for a few days including
the new moon festival, at which time He joined the caravan of pilgrims as they
journeyed to Jerusalem for the Passover (John 2:12-13). It is assumed the term
‘the Passover was near’ means they had celebrated the new moon festival of the
month of Abib/Nisan. The journey to
During Christ’s public ministry, this is the one Passover that occurred on a Wednesday, so it is the one Passover that may qualify as a Passover celebrated on a solar calendar this point becomes important later on in this article. The Essenes celebrated the festivals on a solar calendar and on that calendar; the first of Nissan was always on a Wednesday so Passover was always on a Wednesday.
After the Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread
including the Omer (or wave offering), Jesus and disciples journeyed to the
There was no considerable time between Jesus’ temptation and
the arrest of John the Baptist—Matthew 4:11-12, Mark 1:13-14 and Luke 4:13-14
apparently make these sequential events. Most chronologies of Jesus’ ministry
have the ministry of John the Baptist continuing in parallel with Jesus’
ministry for at least six months. This can be shown wrong, Luke says, ‘As John was completing his work, he said: 'Who
do you think I am? I am not that one. No, but He is coming after me, whose
sandals I am not worthy to untie’ (Acts
Jesus and His disciples returned from the