The Length of Yeshua's Ministry

In the Biblical chronology constructed in Chapter 10, we have included the timeline of Yeshua. His timeline can be constructed based on the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of John, and the book of Revelation. These books are believed to be written by two of Yeshua's twelve disciples. The authenticity of Yeshua's story in these books can be verified by the self-consistency of the timeline and the perfect fulfillment of the numerical prophecies foretold by Yeshua himself and by the prophets of God.

From these reliable Gospels, we can also determine that the length of Yeshua's ministry was about three years. In particular, the Gospel of John explicitly recorded Yeshua's ministry during the first, third, and fourth Passover Festival. Apostle John also recorded a story which took place in a spring between the first and third Passover Festival. Below we will describe them in detail.

Yeshua's first Passover (John 2:13) was the one that immediately followed declaration of the Lamb of God by John the Baptist (John 1:29-36) and the first miracle he performed in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-11). According to the Law (Exodus 12:3), a Passover lamb must be selected on Nisan 10. If Yeshua is the Passover Lamb of God, he must be selected by God on Nisan 10. John the Baptist declared that Yeshua was the Lamb of God when he saw Yeshua coming toward him (John 1:29-34). This declaration should have been made on Nisan 10 in order for Yeshua to be the true Passover Lamb of God. Forty days before John's declaration, Yeshua was baptized (anointed by God Father) and "then was Yeshua led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry." (Matthew 4:1-2). Here, we assume that Yeshua went to John right after he had fasted 40 days and nights.

During Yeshua's first Passover the Jews asked for a sign, and he responded, "'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' The Jews therefore said, 'It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?' But he was speaking of the temple of his body." (John 2:19-21). These passages provide an important clue to establishing the year of Yeshua's first Passover Festival.

What did Yeshua mean by "temple" and how did the Jews interpret his meaning? Yeshua referred to his own body as a temple or shrine as he was standing in the front of the main temple. The Jews thought that he was referring to the physical temple and not to his body. They thought that if Yeshua were to destroy the physical temple, it would not be possible for him to build it again in three days. They responded to Yeshua with the same word "temple," which had taken forty-six years in building. They confronted Yeshua with the impossibility of rebuilding it in three days in contrast to forty-six years in building their physical temple. The Jews knew when the physical temple had begun to be rebuilt but did not understand the spiritual implication of Yeshua's words.

The month and year in which the rebuilding of the temple began can be inferred from the history of Josephus. He wrote: "Now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, and after the acts already mentioned, undertook a very great work, that is, to build of himself the temple of God." (Antiq. bk. 15, ch. 11, sect. 1). Herod started his public speech, announcing his intention to rebuild the temple. He promised not to begin the actual rebuilding process until everything was prepared. The preparations would have taken some time, and the actual rebuilding should have begun during Herod's eighteenth year. That is why Josephus emphasized the eighteenth year.

To establish the exact time the temple began to be built during his eighteenth year, it is necessary to backdate from the completion of the Holy of Holies. Josephus wrote, "The temple itself was built by the priests in a year and six months.... They feasted and celebrated this rebuilding of the temple... for at the same time with this celebration for the work about the temple, fell also the day of the king's inauguration." (Antiq. bk. 15, ch. 11, sect. 6). The month that fell a year and six months before the anniversary of Herod's inauguration should have been the month of Nisan (the first month) because his inauguration took place in the month of Tishri (the 7^th month) of 38 BC, soon after he took Jerusalem in the summertime of 38 BC (see Herod's reign in Chapter 13). Therefore, Herod should have announced his intention to rebuild the temple probably in the beginning of his 18^th year (in Tishri of 21 BC) and started to rebuild it in Nisan of 20 BC (in the middle of his 18^th year). The construction of the Holy of Holies should have been finished in Tishri of 19 BC and in the 20^th anniversary of Herod's inauguration. From the spring of 20 BC to the spring of 27 AD, 46 years had elapsed. This suggests that Yeshua's first Passover was in the spring of 27 AD. From the calendar of 27 AD in Appendix D, we see that Nisan 10 of 27 AD was on 5 April and 40 days before that day was February 24. Yeshua started his earthly ministry in the daytime of Nisan 11 (John 1:35-42), which was on April 6 of 27 AD.

John 6:4-14 records another story in the third Passover:

This story of feeding the five thousand was also recorded in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 14:13-21). This story took place after John the Baptist was beheaded by Herod the Tetrarch (Matthew 14:1-12). After this story, both John and Matthew recorded the crucifixion and resurrection of Yeshua during the fourth Passover. Thus, John the Baptist was beheaded about one year before Yeshua's crucifixion.

The last Passover of Yeshua's ministry is the most documented Passover of all. John 11:55) records, "And the Jews' Passover was near at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves."

All the Gospels recorded that Yeshua and his disciples had the Passover supper in the beginning of the preparation day (Nisan 14). It seems very difficult to understand why they celebrated the Passover one day earlier than the Pharisees. This mystery can be naturally resolved since Yeshua's disciples were Essenes who followed Enoch's solar calendar. It is remarkable that only in 30 AD did the Essenes' Passover fall one day before the Pharisees' one (see the calendar of 30 AD in Appendix D). In other years around 30 AD, they fell in different weeks. Consequently, 30 AD was the only year in which Yeshua and his disciples could have observed the Essenes' Passover exactly one day before the Pharisees' Passover, and himself be the Passover Lamb of God in the preparation day of the Pharisees' Passover.

From the astronomical data of new moons and full moons, we can unambiguously determine the Hebrew lunisolar calendar (see Appendix D). In the years from 27 to 34 AD, there were two years, 30 and 33 AD, in which Nisan 14 (the preparation day) was on Wednesday. The 15^th day of Enoch's first solar month of 30 AD was on Nisan 14 while the 15^th day of Enoch's first solar month of 33 AD was on Nisan 21. Only in 30 AD, could Yeshua and his disciples have observed the Essenes' Passover exactly one day before the Pharisees' Passover and then himself be crucified on Wednesday. In Chapter 31, we will prove that Yeshua was crucified on 5 April 30 AD (Wednesday) and resurrected at sunset on 8 April (Saturday). From the day he was declared to be the Lamb of God to the day of his crucifixion, there are exactly three solar years.

After he resurrected in the beginning of Sunday (April 9), he revealed to Marys right after his resurrection (Matthew 28:9; John 20:14-17). He revealed to his disciples in Galilee (Matthew 26:32; Matthew 28:10,16) in the evening of a Sunday (John 20:19). Because it took at least 4 days for Yeshua's disciples to travel from Jerusalem to Galilee on foot, it was impossible for Yeshua to meet his disciples in Galilee on April 9 (right after his resurrection). Therefore, their first meeting must have taken place in the following Sunday evening, which was on April 16 (after sunset of April 15). After he stayed with his disciples for 40 days (Acts 1:3), he then ascended to heaven on 26 May 30 AD (after sunset of May 25), right on the feast day of Pentecost. Before he ascended to heaven, he gave a great commission to his disciples (Matthew 28:19-20): "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Yeshua's disciples would bear witness of him and make disciples of all the nations because they had stayed with him from the beginning (John 15:27). Those who believe in Yeshua through the words of his disciples will be in union with the Father and the Son (John 17:20-21).

The Julian day numbers for 26 May 30 AD and 6 April 27 AD are JD 1732161 and JD 1731015, respectively. From 6 April 27 AD to 26 May 30 AD, there were 1,732,161–1,731,015 = 1,146 days. Since Yeshua spent three days and three nights in the grave, the total length of his ministry on the earth in his first advent was 1,146 – 3 = 1,143 days. The length of his ministry was about three years.

Apostle John clearly recorded Yeshua's ministry in the first, third, and fourth Passover. There appeared to be no direct record of Yeshua's work in the second Passover. Instead, John recorded a story in the spring between the first and third Passover (John 4:31-38):

Verse 35 implies that the story happened at the time when the fields Yeshua and his disciples passed had already whitened for harvest and there would have been about 4 months until the major harvest. If we know the harvest seasons of Israel, we can pin down the time of the story.

The agricultural year in Israel begins in the fall (after the harvest Festival of Tabernacles) with plowing and sowing. Harvests in Israel begin in the spring in the month of Adar (February/March). The harvest times in the ancient Israel are listed in Table X, which is obtained from the website: http://www.joybysurprise.com/harvest_times_in_israel_.html.

From Table X, one can see that the harvest season in ancient Israel began in Adar (Feb/March) and continued by stages into the fall. The barley harvest begins in the first month Nisan (March-April). The major wheat harvest completes in the 4^th month.

Yeshua said that the fields were already white (John 4:35). The color of the barley seeds is white when they are ripe. The color of flax seeds is dark brown or light brown when they are ripe. Therefore, we can conclude that this story should have taken place in the month of Nisan (possibly in the Passover) when the barley harvest began. After about 4 months in the 4^th/5^th lunar month, the major harvests (wheat and grape harvests) were complete.