Summary: As we would expect from truthful, accurate reporting, New Testament events fit a discernible timeline… with a surprising clue from the sky.
“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” – Luke 24:49 (ESV)
Patterns During Pentecost
If you have been following the Patterns of Evidence documentary films related to the Exodus (The Exodus, The Moses Controversy, Red Sea Miracle 1 and 2, and Journey to Mount Sinai 1 and 2) you already know that such investigations have a lot to do with time. Evidence for the biblical stories is discoverable when we look within the proper time period, but not outside it.
In this Thinker Update we will look at the New Testament and recognize that a congruity of time references becomes yet another kind of pattern of evidence which weighs in favor of the truth of the biblical texts.
Many Christians around the world will be celebrating Pentecost soon. It is the day when the Holy Spirit fell upon the gathered believers after Jesus’ resurrection. There were only about 120 of them…waiting, waiting in the city at Jesus’ direction. He had told them they would receive “power from on high” (Luke 24:49). That power came with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Pentecost would be the birth of the Church! But when was it? Can we know anything beyond: just some day long ago?
Pentecost was already an important feast within Judaism; Christians did not invent it. On the second full day of Passover each year, Nisan 16, Jewish people began to “count the omer.” That day was observed as Firstfruits, when a priest waved a barley sheaf, marking the beginning of the barley harvest. Jesus’ resurrection “on the third day” actually fell on Firstfruits. No wonder Paul when writing about the resurrection of the dead referred to Jesus’ resurrection as “firstfruits” (1 Corinthians 15:23).
Jewish people in their homes “counted the omer” each day until the forty-ninth day. The fiftieth day was Pentecost, called Shavuot, and it was one of three feasts that brought thousands of pilgrims to the city, even from other countries. So let’s remember that when Pentecost arrived not even two months had gone by since the crucifixion of Jesus at Passover, along with the first reports that he had risen from the dead.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” – Acts 2:1-13
Establishing a Timeline
Our first step toward establishing a timeline will be to place the stories about Jesus within the years of Pontius Pilate. Since Pilate was the governor of Syria who sentenced Jesus to the cross, the date of the crucifixion would have to fall within his tenure. If we could determine the date of the crucifixion and the date of the resurrection, the date of Pentecost might then be ascertained. Almost all historians place Pilate in Syria from the years 26 to 36 A.D. That is our window. The crucifixion and resurrection happened sometime within those years.
Jesus was on the cross at the time the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple. Even an ancient Jewish source says as much. “On the eve of Passover Yeshu was hanged” (Baraita to Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 43a).
Jesus was raised “on the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:4; Matthew 16:21; Luke 9:22), and this was the first day of the week, Sunday (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). Jesus therefore died on a Friday which was the eve of Passover within our ten year span. Therefore we can say there are only two possible times when all these requirements were met: April 7, 30 A.D., and April 3, 33 A.D.
A number of biblical scholars have made a case for the 30 A.D. date, but biblical chronologist Jack Finegan takes his readers through a convincing and thorough assessment of all the relevant data, and Finegan says April 3, 33 A.D. is likely to be the correct date for the crucifixion (Handbook of Biblical Chronology, Revised Edition). It’s largely because of the way the historical data fits together. A summary of that data follows here.
The multiple feasts in John’s Gospel…
How long did the public work of Jesus last? None of the Gospels simply states that for us. The Gospel of John, however, appears to be more interested in chronology than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John places Jesus at three different Passover feasts within Jerusalem. That has caused most to conclude that the public work of Jesus lasted three years plus a fraction of a fourth year.
Forty-six years…
The same Gospel of John reports that early on in his ministry Jesus was confronted by opponents who demanded a sign to justify his “cleansing” of the Temple.
So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. – John 2:18-22
This passage clearly contains a time reference. The usual Greek word for temple is hieron, but John’s Greek identifies the building in question as the naos. The naos was the magnificent edifice at the center of the temple complex. Sacrifices were conducted on the great altar which stood directly in front of the naos.
We are told in the history of Josephus that when King Herod the Great built this naos, priests were trained as stone masons, and stones were cut off-site. This was all done to maintain the holiness of this sanctuary against uncleanness and noise. Josephus says it took those priests one and a half years to build the naos.
The rest of the Temple continued under construction for years, well past the time of Jesus. In fact, the temple was only finished a short time before it was destroyed in 70 A.D. Historians have determined that the naos was completed in 18/17 B.C.
The footnote to John 2:20 in the English Standard Version gives another way to translate the words of the Jewish authorities: “This temple was built forty-six years ago.” In other words, it had been forty-six years since the priests finished the central part of the temple, the naos. This means that Jesus and his opponents held this discussion forty-six years later, in the year 30 A.D.
John presents this confrontation very early in Jesus’ ministry, with numerous feasts ahead. So, judging from John’s Gospel, a 33 A.D. Good Friday fits, but a 30 A.D. date does not.
About thirty years of age…
Luke provides a detailed time reference for the beginning of the work of John the Baptist, during whose ministry Jesus was baptized.
“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” – Luke 3:1-2
This year was probably 29 A.D. Since Jesus was baptized soon after John began his work, this would strongly suggest that Jesus began his public ministry around the year 29. Now, we have a “fit.” John and Luke in their own ways each have Jesus coming on the scene in 30 A.D. (See John’s Baptism Site: Finds Beneath the Surface).
Luke also says: “Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli…” In another Thinker Update (Herod’s Death Year, Key to Jesus’ Birth) we discussed the birth year of Jesus. There we introduced new evidence into a long-standing debate.
This new evidence practically requires Jesus to have been born closer to 2 B.C. than to 5 or 6 B.C. which many have accepted for so long. If Jesus was born around 2 B.C., and John the Baptist began his work in 29 A.D., baptizing Jesus soon afterward, Jesus was in fact about thirty years of age at that time. Another fit.
These deductions taken together practically eliminate 30 A.D. as the year of the crucifixion, because the three-plus-year-long ministry of Jesus was only beginning in the year 30. Now let’s return to the Pentecost event in Acts 2.
Prophecy of Joel 2 in Acts 2
“But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words” (Acts 2:14). Thus began the first Christian sermon heard on earth. Peter went on to cite Joel 2.
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Joel 2:28-30
Peter was claiming that the words of Joel’s prophecy had now been fulfilled in recent events. One of those events was “the moon (turned) to blood” (2:20). This was a way of speaking of a penumbral lunar eclipse, during which the moon takes on a rusty red color. On April 3, 33 A.D., such an eclipse was visible at sunset to people in Jerusalem. Remember, this was one of only two possible dates when Jesus’ crucifixion could have occurred. So, we have another fit—a most fascinating one.
Some question the strength of the eclipse as a reference datum. They say other phenomena in the Joel prophecy have no corresponding, observable fulfillment, so why should we be concerned with a barely visible eclipse. But in fact, all the Joel phenomena have their counterparts:
1. The prophesying and speaking in tongues among the disciples corresponds to all flesh seeing visions, dreaming, and prophesying in the Joel text. That is Peter’s main point.
2. The sun turned to darkness corresponds to the darkness at the crucifixion just weeks before this (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44).
3. The blood and fire and columns of smoke in Joel 2 correspond to the slaughter of the Passover lambs at Passover when Jesus died. Thousands of lambs were killed, and portions were burned on the great altar as pilgrims to Jerusalem took the lambs back to their families to be roasted and eaten that night; more fires were to be found throughout the city wherever lambs were roasted. Smoke was everywhere, like the smoke of a modern barbecue grill, multiplied by thousands. A channel built into the temple became necessary to bring the blood of so many lambs into the valley below. The blood, fire, and columns of smoke are all accounted for in the sights of Passover. That’s when Jesus had died.
Conclusion
We are entitled to say that Pentecost, the fiftieth day, took place 49 days after Passover on May 24 in 33 A.D. On that day the Church was born. The discernible timeline we have established can hardly be the product of fiction. A pattern of evidence here is difficult to deny. We are on the ground of history, not fantasy. Keep thinking.
Fred Baltz is Pastor Emeritus of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Galena, Illinois, and author of many books including When the Bible Meets the Sky and A Faith to Suit You Well.
TOP PHOTO: Pentecost. (credit: Juan Bautista Maíno (1615 – 1620), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
NOTE: Not every view expressed by scholars contributing Thinker articles necessarily reflects the views of Patterns of Evidence. We include perspectives from various sides of debates on biblical matters so that readers can become familiar with the different arguments involved. – Keep Thinking!
