Era 12 of 13

The life of Christ

5 BC – AD 3337 years

Matthew – John

The birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

How the dates are set: Ussher: birth in autumn 5 BC (4,000 years after creation); baptism early AD 27; a public ministry spanning four Passovers (AD 30–33); crucifixion on Friday, 3 April AD 33; ascension on 14 May AD 33. The era ends at Pentecost, 24 May AD 33. Many scholars date the birth between 6 and 4 BC and the crucifixion to AD 30 or 33. The era begins with the promise of John’s birth in 6 BC.

Events 57

• An angel promises Zechariah a son 6 BC
  As the elderly priest Zechariah burned incense in the temple, the angel Gabriel told him that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son who would prepare the way for the Lord.
• Gabriel announces Jesus' birth to Mary 5 BC
  Gabriel told Mary, a young woman of Nazareth engaged to Joseph of David's family, that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear the Son of God, who would reign on David's throne forever.
• Mary visits Elizabeth: the Magnificat 5 BC
  Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth. The unborn John leaped at her greeting, and Mary praised God in a song that echoes Hannah's prayer.
• John the Baptist is born 5 BC
  Elizabeth gave birth to a son. When relatives wanted to name him after his father, Zechariah wrote, “His name is John,” and his voice returned as he prophesied.
• Jesus is born in Bethlehem 5 BC
  Augustus's decree of a census took Joseph and the pregnant Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, David's town. There Jesus was born and laid in a manger, and angels announced his birth to shepherds.
• Simeon and Anna welcome the child in the temple 5 BC
  Forty days after the birth, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple. The aged Simeon took him in his arms and blessed God, and the prophetess Anna spoke of him to all who were waiting for redemption.
• Wise men from the east worship the child 4 BC
  Guided by a star, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem asking for the newborn King of the Jews. Directed to Bethlehem, they found the child with Mary and offered him gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
• The flight to Egypt; Herod kills the boys of Bethlehem 4 BC
  Warned in a dream, Joseph took Mary and the child by night to Egypt. Herod, realizing the wise men had not returned, ordered every boy two years old and under in and around Bethlehem to be killed.
• Herod the Great dies 4 BC
  Herod died at Jericho after a painful illness, five days after having his son Antipater executed. His kingdom was divided among three sons: Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip.
• The family settles in Nazareth 3 BC
  Returning from Egypt, Joseph learned that Herod's harsh son Archelaus ruled Judea. Warned in a dream, he took his family to Galilee and settled in the small village of Nazareth.
• Judea becomes a Roman province; Judas the Galilean revolts AD 6
  Augustus deposed Archelaus and put Judea under a Roman governor. When Quirinius took a census for taxation, Judas the Galilean led a revolt, teaching that God alone was Israel's master.
• The boy Jesus in the temple AD 8
  At twelve, Jesus went with his parents to Jerusalem for the Passover and stayed behind. After three days they found him in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking them questions.
• John the Baptist begins preaching AD 26
  In the fifteenth year of Tiberius, the word of God came to John in the wilderness. He preached repentance and baptized crowds in the Jordan River, announcing that one far greater was coming.
• Jesus is baptized by John AD 27
  Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptized in the Jordan. As he came up from the water, the Spirit descended on him like a dove, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son.”
• Jesus is tempted in the wilderness AD 27
  Led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Jesus fasted forty days. The devil tempted him three times, and each time Jesus answered with Scripture.
• “Behold, the Lamb of God”: the first disciples follow Jesus AD 30
  When John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, two of John's disciples followed him. One, Andrew, brought his brother Simon, whom Jesus named Peter; then Philip and Nathanael joined them.
• Water turned into wine at Cana AD 30
  At a wedding in Cana of Galilee the wine ran out. Jesus had the servants fill six stone water jars, and the water became excellent wine: the first of his signs.
• Jesus clears the temple at his first Passover AD 30
  At the Passover in Jerusalem Jesus made a whip of cords and drove the traders and money changers out of the temple courts. Asked for a sign, he said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
• Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night AD 30
  Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the ruling council, came to Jesus at night. Jesus told him that no one can see God's Kingdom without being born anew, of water and the Spirit.
• Herod Antipas imprisons John the Baptist AD 30
  John rebuked Herod Antipas for marrying Herodias, his half-brother's wife, and for his other evils. Herod had him arrested and imprisoned.
• The woman at the well in Samaria AD 30
  On his way to Galilee, Jesus rested at Jacob's well near Sychar and asked a Samaritan woman for a drink. He offered her living water and revealed that he was the Messiah; many in her town believed.
• Rejected at Nazareth, Jesus makes Capernaum his home AD 30
  In the synagogue of his hometown Jesus read from Isaiah 61 and announced, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The townspeople turned on him and tried to throw him off a cliff.
• “Fishers for men”: Peter, Andrew, James, and John leave their nets AD 31
  After teaching from Peter's boat, Jesus told the fishermen to let down their nets. They caught so many fish the nets began to break. Peter fell at his feet, and the four left everything to follow him.
• A paralyzed man is lowered through the roof AD 31
  In Capernaum, four men dug through a roof to lower their paralyzed friend to Jesus. Jesus first forgave his sins, then healed him, to show that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.
• Jesus calls Matthew the tax collector AD 31
  Jesus called Levi, also named Matthew, from his tax booth, and he followed. At the banquet Matthew gave, Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, to the Pharisees' dismay.
• A lame man healed at the pool of Bethesda AD 31
  At a feast in Jerusalem, Jesus healed a man who had been disabled for thirty-eight years as he lay by the pool of Bethesda. Because it was the Sabbath, the leaders began to seek to kill him.
• Jesus chooses the twelve apostles AD 31
  After a night of prayer on a mountain, Jesus chose twelve of his disciples and named them apostles, to be with him and to be sent out to preach.
• The Sermon on the Mount AD 31
  Jesus taught his disciples and the crowds the way of life in God's Kingdom: the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, love for enemies, and the call to build on his words as on rock.
• Jesus calms the storm AD 31
  Crossing the Sea of Galilee at evening, the disciples were caught in a violent storm while Jesus slept on a cushion. He rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
• Jairus's daughter is raised AD 31
  Jairus, a synagogue leader, begged Jesus to heal his dying twelve-year-old daughter. On the way, a woman who had suffered bleeding for twelve years was healed by touching his clothes. Then word came that the girl had died.
• The Twelve are sent out two by two AD 31
  Jesus sent the Twelve out in pairs to the towns of Israel, giving them authority to heal and to cast out demons, and telling them to take no money or spare clothing.
• John the Baptist is beheaded AD 32
  At Herod Antipas's birthday banquet, the daughter of Herodias danced and pleased him so much that he promised her anything. Prompted by her mother, she asked for John the Baptist's head on a platter.
• Jesus feeds the five thousand AD 32
  Near the Passover, a crowd followed Jesus to a remote place by the Sea of Galilee. From a boy's five barley loaves and two fish he fed about five thousand men, besides women and children, and twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered.
• Jesus walks on the water AD 32
  That night, as the disciples rowed against the wind, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. Peter stepped out to meet him, began to sink when he saw the wind, and was caught by Jesus' hand.
• Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ AD 32
  Near Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples who they said he was. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” From then on Jesus began to tell them that he must suffer, be killed, and rise on the third day.
• The Transfiguration AD 32
  On a high mountain, Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Moses and Elijah appeared, talking with him, and a voice from a bright cloud said, “Listen to him.”
• At the Feast of Tabernacles: “I am the light of the world” AD 32
  Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and taught openly in the temple. On the last day he cried out that anyone thirsty should come to him and drink, and he declared himself the light of the world.
• The Good Samaritan and the lost son: parables on the road to Jerusalem AD 32
  On his final journeys toward Jerusalem, Jesus told some of his best-known parables: the Samaritan who showed mercy to a wounded stranger, and the father who ran to welcome his lost son home.
• At the Feast of Dedication: “I and the Father are one” AD 32
  In winter, at the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), Jesus walked in Solomon's porch in the temple. Pressed to say plainly whether he was the Christ, he pointed to his works and said, “I and the Father are one.”
• Lazarus is raised from the dead AD 33
  Jesus' friend Lazarus of Bethany had been dead four days when Jesus arrived. After weeping with his sisters Martha and Mary, Jesus called him out of the tomb. The council then resolved to put Jesus to death.
• Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus at Jericho AD 33
  On his last journey up to Jerusalem, Jesus gave sight to blind Bartimaeus at Jericho and invited himself to the house of Zacchaeus, a rich chief tax collector who had climbed a sycamore tree to see him.
• Mary anoints Jesus at Bethany Saturday, 28 March AD 33
  Six days before the Passover, at a supper in Bethany with Lazarus at the table, Mary poured a pound of costly perfume of pure nard on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair.
• Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey Sunday, 29 March AD 33
  Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey from the Mount of Olives. Crowds spread their cloaks and palm branches on the road and shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
• The fig tree cursed and the temple cleared Monday, 30 March AD 33
  On the way from Bethany Jesus cursed a fig tree full of leaves but without fruit. In the temple he overturned the tables of the money changers and drove out those buying and selling.
• Debates in the temple and the Olivet Discourse Tuesday, 31 March AD 33
  Religious leaders tested Jesus with question after question: his authority, taxes to Caesar, the resurrection, and the greatest commandment. That evening on the Mount of Olives he foretold the temple's destruction.
• Judas agrees to betray Jesus Wednesday, 1 April AD 33
  Two days before the Passover, the chief priests plotted to arrest Jesus quietly. Judas Iscariot went to them and agreed to hand him over for thirty pieces of silver.
• The Last Supper Thursday, 2 April AD 33
  On the evening the Passover lambs were sacrificed, Jesus ate the Passover with the Twelve in an upper room. He washed their feet, foretold his betrayal, and gave them bread and wine as his body and blood of the new covenant.
• Agony in Gethsemane and arrest Thursday, 2 April AD 33
  After the supper Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley to the garden of Gethsemane and prayed in anguish while his disciples slept. Judas arrived with an armed crowd and betrayed him with a kiss.
• Jesus is tried before Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod Friday, 3 April AD 33
  Through the night Jesus was questioned by Annas and by Caiaphas and the council, who condemned him for blasphemy. At dawn they took him to Pilate, who sent him to Herod Antipas and back, then gave in to the crowd and handed him over to be crucified.
• The crucifixion Friday, 3 April AD 33
  Jesus was crucified at Golgotha between two criminals. Darkness covered the land from noon until three in the afternoon. Then Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” and gave up his spirit. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
• Jesus is buried; the tomb is sealed and guarded Saturday, 4 April AD 33
  Before the Sabbath began, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid Jesus' body in Joseph's new tomb cut in the rock. The next day the chief priests had Pilate seal the stone and post a guard.
• Jesus rises from the dead Sunday, 5 April AD 33
  Early on the first day of the week, women coming to anoint the body found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Angels told them Jesus had risen, and the risen Lord appeared first to Mary Magdalene.
• On the road to Emmaus Sunday, 5 April AD 33
  That afternoon two disciples walking to Emmaus were joined by a stranger who explained from the Scriptures why the Christ had to suffer. When he broke bread with them they recognized Jesus, and he vanished.
• Jesus appears to the disciples; Thomas believes Sunday, 12 April AD 33
  On the evening of the resurrection Jesus stood among his disciples behind locked doors. Thomas, absent that night, refused to believe until eight days later, when Jesus invited him to touch his wounds.
• By the Sea of Galilee: “Feed my sheep” and the Great Commission AD 33
  Back in Galilee, Jesus appeared to seven disciples by the lake, gave them a great catch of fish, and three times asked Peter, “Do you love me?” On a mountain he sent the eleven to make disciples of all nations.
• Jesus ascends to heaven Thursday, 14 May AD 33
  Forty days after he rose, Jesus led his disciples out toward Bethany on the Mount of Olives, blessed them, and was taken up into heaven. Angels told them he would come back in the same way.
• Matthias is chosen to replace Judas AD 33
  Between the ascension and Pentecost, about 120 believers met in Jerusalem. Peter proposed that someone who had been with them from John's baptism to the ascension take Judas's place, and the lot fell on Matthias.

People alive in these years 23

Mary, mother of JesusJesusJohn the BaptistSimon PeterJames, the Lord's brotherAndrewJames, son of ZebedeePhilipBartholomew (Nathanael)ThomasMatthew (Levi)James, son of AlphaeusThaddaeus (Judas, son of James)Simon the ZealotJudas IscariotStephenBarnabasPaul (Saul of Tarsus)Silas (Silvanus)John, son of ZebedeeLukeJohn MarkTimothy

Kings and rulers 8

Herod the GreatAugustusArchelausHerod AntipasPhilip the tetrarchRoman prefects of Judea (AD 6-26)TiberiusPontius Pilate

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