I have been talking about Jesus’ life before he was baptized, the so-called “Lost Years.” But how many years was that? How old was he when he met up with John the Baptist? And beyond that, how long did his ministry last? How old was he when he died?
The standard line is that Jesus started his ministry when he was thirty and was executed three years later when he was thirty-three. But none of the Gospels says all that. So why is it the common view?
It’ll take a bit to explain how it’s calculated (and a bit more to explain why it’s highly uncertain).
Only one of the Gospels
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50 and never married? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Dr. Ehrman, was it possible Jesus was only in his early or mid 20’s when he was killed? His younger brother James was killed in 62 CE and was probably younger than age 62 suggesting he was born in the 10’s CE. Jesus was probably born just before James. If Luke had reliable information that Jesus was born around the time of the 6 CE Roman census (Luke 2:1) than he would have been in his early to mid 20’s when he was crucified. Plus there is no mention of his disciples having children and with only Peter being married I would assume his disciples where all in their 20’s too. If Jesus was only in his early 20’s or maybe 26 when he was killed, that might help explain why he wasn’t married yet when most Jewish men were married by their mid 20’s.
We don’t know how old Jesus would have been when he was born. And I don’t think we can trust Luke’s dating in relation to the census (esp. since it’s Luke alone who says Jesus was 30 or so! I.e., it’s probably not right to use his mention of a census that he does not date — or indicate which one it was — in order to show that his explicit dating of something else, Jesus’ age, is wrong. I just don’t think we can provide reliable dates for Jesus’ age or activieis. And there were plenty of Jewish men who remained single their entire lives.
I think we can probably assume Jesus was under one years old “when he was born”. hahahahahaha
According to the Mishna, fifty was the age when one was considered qualified to give counsel. Could it be that what Jesus’ opponents were saying was that Jesus wasn’t yet old enough and wise enough to be speaking authoritatively? Precisely that Jesus was young – too young?
Possibly — but his oppenoents were not objecting to council he was giving. (And I don’t think we can rely on the Mishnah to know about what Jewish teachers in Jesus day were saying)
Wow!
So if Herod reigned from 36 to 4 BCE and Pilate was in office from 26 to 36 CE, does that mean Jesus could have been anywhere between 30 and 72 years old when his ministry ended and he was crucified?
If he was born during the reign of Herod and killed under Pilate, yup, those would be the chronological brackets within which he would have been born, lived, and died.
I often think of what JS Spong suggested: That the gospels were written as a kind of liturgy to lead the congregations through the liturgical year. If this is so, could they have shrunk Jesus’s ministry down to the one- or two-year scenario that we get from the gospels?
It’s rather odd that a person could have had such an enormous effect on the world and only have taught and preached for one or two years.
Is it possible that Jesus’s ministry could have been longer, even much longer than what we commonly understand from the gospels?
It’s possible — but I don’t know of any evidence for it or other reason to think so. What made the big impact on the world was belief in his resurrection, not the preaching of his ministry. (You’ll notice that Paul, for example, seems to know very little about what Jesus preached.)
You think that it was belief in the resurrection that made a big impact, not the belief in his spirit, energy, light, & things like that?
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I guess that includes being eternal…
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Like when Paul says he was so full of light or free of sin that death could not keep a hold on him – or something like that (that’s not a direct quote)
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Isn’t there more to it than just being resurrected?
I would never say “just” being resurrected. I explain some of the complex strings of events in my book How Jesus Became God. (And no, Paul doesn’t talk about being filled with light)
Don’t a lot of people get to be eternal? Isn’t that what the NT says? (unless we are reading the book of Revelation, that is.)
Perhaps what Paul said was that Jesus “was so free of sin” or something like that?
“Jesus was so free of sin that death could not keep a hold of him”. ? .
(I can’t remember chapter and verse, or what book everything is in. I’ve had to work full time and haven’t had the time some people have to remember things on that level.)
Some passages of the NT indicate that eveyone will in the end be saved. (Romans 5:18, e.g.) . More commonly, the mass of humanity is said to be doomed to destruction (Jesus, Paul, and everyone else; for example Matthew 7:13-14)
Wow, I feel like Ireneus’ take is really significant, but is there really a case to make for an old Jesus?
As I understand, all our canonical Passion narratives place Jesus’ execution under Pontius Pilate. Now, Matthew directly and Luke indirectly (and problematically) tell us of Jesus‘ birth under Herod the Great. Even if we accept the Herod chronology and place Jesus’ birth before 4 BCE, that makes Irenaeus’ claim of a Jesus approaching fifty hard to reconcile with an execution under Pilate before 36 CE. We are talking at least 46 CE. Are Matthew and Luke wrong and Jesus was born a decade or more earlier then we think? Or are all our sources wrong about Jesus beeing crucified under Pontius Pialate and the Gospels were written much closer to the life time of Jesus than we think? Might Jesus have been around in the 40s? But that all would mean rejecting the Gospels and Tacitus. And we can‘t push the date further since Paul is starting to write at the end of the 40s after the whole movement persecution and conversion thing. Ireneus does not make things easier with this one but maybe he didn‘t even mean it?
Right: if he was crucified under Pontius Pilate (i.e., between 26-36 CE) and was nearly 50, then he would have been born sometime in the late 20s or early 10s BCE. That seems unlikely, but offhand I’m not sure what would make it impossible.
So do I!
I wonder whether “fifty” in John 8:57 was a generous round number. For those who survived childhood, the average age at death may have been around fifty. Even if Jesus was thirty-three, it would be hard to tell from his appearance that he was “not yet forty.” “Not yet fifty” would safely mean that he was not an old man, without estimating his age precisely.
I also wonder whether Jesus made only one journey to Jerusalem during his public ministry. Given the movement’s limited economic base, perhaps he remained around Galilee for a considerable time, developing a local reputation as a healer while his disciples obtained food and relatively prosperous supporters assisted them. Then some crisis—financial difficulty, family conflict, or something else—may have prompted his bold journey to Jerusalem. I realize that pilgrimage from Galilee was common, so economics cannot prove this.
Josephus also seems to portray John the Baptist as more widely influential than Jesus during their lifetimes, although the textual problems in Josephus’s passage about Jesus make any direct comparison uncertain. Perhaps Jesus’ reputation remained largely regional and expanded dramatically only after his death.
Do you think the two-by-two mission that Mark has Jesus sending his disciples on is historical? If so, how much time would it have taken?
It sounds possibly like a story invented by later Christians explaining that their missionary work was originally authorized by Jesus. On the other hand, since Jesus was serious in thinking that the end was near and people needed to repent — it would make sense that he had his colleagues spread the word…. So I’m not sure.
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Irenaeus lost me at “old age after 40”… 🙄
Doctor,
You bullseyed the Irenaeus commentary on John 8:57. I remember this from decades ago. I want to re-visit the pro and con commentary before commenting directly on Irenaeus though. However, if I were building a hypothesis it would be based upon these things which I assume are facts.
#1- The census of Quirinius was 6ad
Jesus was an infant at this time?
#2- Pontius Pilate ruled from 26-36ad
Pilate had Jesus executed
#3- Luke 3:23 records Jesus being 30 at the time of his baptism
and the start of his ministry
Would we consider these three points facts?
I’d consider #2 a fact. The others not.
I re-read your comments about Luke 3:23. But why do you reject the census of Quirinius?
There was a census of Quirinius in 6 CE. If Jesus was born during the reign of Herod he would have been anywhere from 10-30 years old at the time I guess.
Is it well enough attested that Jesus’s mother Mary was still alive at the time of his crucifixion to utilize the age she would have had to have been for him to be in his late 40’s? If Jesus was 48 years old, Mary would have to have been at least 62 or 63 years old even assuming she was only 14 or 15 when he was born. If she were closer to 20 when he was born, she would be in her late 60’s. Even 62 or 63 would have been considered quite old for the time right?
I don’t think it’s well enough attested and seems highly doubtful to me. It’s found only in John’s account (where she is called his mother, but not named).
Dear Dr Ehrman-The effects of the death of Jesus upon the early Christian community are particularly. If I may beg for clarification, would I be correct that you hold that Paul and the Epistle of James are not necessarily opposed on the question of faith and works? If so, may I ask why?
That’s right. It’s because they mean different things when they use both the words. Faith for Paul is trust in Christ’s death and resurrectoin for salvation; for James it’s knowledge about God; works for Paul means keeping the laws of Torah; for James it means doing good deeds. They use the same words but mean different things, and so are not contradicting each other.
Chinese astronomers saw the great star 5-7bc. so Jesus died when he was 33. I am confused. where was student Saul?
but gamaliel would definitely talk about it & the residents of jerusalem & travelers over passover
I don’t think the star they saw could be what is described in Matthew as leading the magi to the house in which Jesus was born.