I suppose my question is why do so many Christians cite 33 A.D. as the crucifixion date? And if King Herod died in ~3 B.C., would Jesus not have lived to be 36-38 years old?
Herod died in 4BC. People gravitate toward 3BC or 1BC for Jesus's birth (which is impossible since Jesus was a toddler when Herod died), and 30AD or 33AD for the crucifixion because of signs in the heavens. There were eclipses or something on specific dates. Problem is that not a single one of them is on the right date for the event people are trying to match it with. But to your point, yes, Jesus was 36ish years old when He died. The about 30 years of age is from Matthew 2:23 to the beginning of His ministry, not from His birth. That is also in that chart.
@@heatherr4825I read somewhere that the Olympics were actually being played in Athens, Greece in 32-33 A.D. (I think they lasted a year), and there is historical evidence of the unexplained darkness when Christ was being crucified at that event.
I looked it up, and I think that was more attributed to the solar eclipse in April of 33AD. The darkness that occurred at Jesus's death wasn't attributed to an eclipse, but to a supernatural event. This is one of those signs in the heavens things that people point to on Friday April 3, 33AD to say that's when Christ died. But Jesus didn't die on a Friday. The Triumphal Entry (Nisan 10) was April 6, 32AD, so He would have died on April 10 in 32D which was a Thursday - Nisan 14, four days after Nisan 10.
@@heatherr4825 I couldn't recall which year but just remember commentary alluding to it not being a natural darkness such as an anticipated eclipse. Not disputing your research but that's what I recall reading. There could have been darkness in the Spring of '32, but not certain of dates of games. Might revisit it again, but I do believe it was an unexplained darkness. Wanted to run something else by you, to see if you knew. Grant Jeffrey was one of my favorite writers (passed away prematurely...I highly recommend his book "Armageddon"), and he points out that where Ezekiel says to "lay on your right side 390 days for Israel's sins and 40 for Judah's"... then when Israel went into captivity to Babylon (not sure which date he used...606-538B.C.) they had 430 years that they would not possess the land. After 70 years Cyrus (Medes/Persians) was going to let the Israeli captives return, but most everyone stayed. They had 360 years remaining of their penalty, but as Jeffrey pointed out, their disobedience in returning triggered the "seven times" punishment in Leviticus (not looking it up so won't lose this post). There were yet 360 years of that left, so 360 x 7 = 2520 years. And he uses the 360 day calendar to come to the year of 1948, which of course is when they became a nation again. So I'm thinking 606B.C. -70 = 536B.C. + 2520 (360 day years) works out to that timeline. I may be off on years but need to refer to Jeffrey's book. I think it would make for a great podcast as that account has always resonated with me. I've used it a few times in the jail ministry I do locally, and even the inmates who have little biblical knowledge seem to "get" the significance of that. But again, need to refer to Jeffrey's book "Armageddon", unless someone has posted it online somewhere.