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Evidence from Luke's Gospel
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, (Luke 3:1-3)
Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea from 26 A.D. to 36 A.D. Therefore, John could have begun his ministry in 26 A.D., but not before that date.
According to Luke, John the Baptist began his ministry in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.
Any good textbook covering Roman history will reflect that Tiberius became ruler in 14 A.D.
That's true from a Roman perspective. However, we are viewing history from the perspective of the Jewish people.
As a reward for his military conquests, Caesar Augustus made Tiberius ruler over Judea in 11 A.D.
In the world of Jesus and John the Baptist, the first year of Tiberius' rule is 11 A.D.
15 years forward from 11 A.D. is 26 A.D.
More Evidence from Luke's Gospel
When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, (Luke 3:21-23)
Luke tells us that, after being baptized, Jesus began his ministry at about 30 years of age.
In what year was Jesus 30 years old?
We know that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod (Matthew 2:1).
Herod probably died in the spring of 4 B.C.
Jesus was probably born in 5 B.C. some time prior to Herod's death.
From 5 B.C. to 26 A.D. is 30 years which coincides perfectly with Jesus being about 30 years old at the time of His baptism.
This further confirms 26 A.D. as the year He began His ministry.
Evidence from a listener's comment
At Passover the year after Jesus' baptism, after Jesus "cleansed" the temple as recorded in the second chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus made the statement: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19)
We know that he was speaking of his own body and his resurrection three days after his coming crucifixion.
However, those who heard him believed that he was talking about the temple building in Jerusalem from which he had just cast the money changers.
His hearers mad an interesting statement. They remarked that, "it has taken 46 years to build this temple." (John 2:20)
This statement is misleading if it is taken at face value because it implies a completed temple which was 46 years in construction.
Yet, the temple was not completed at all in Jesus' day.
The temple was not completed until shortly before it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. And, by then, it had been under construction many more than 46 years.
The statement in John 2:20 is generally taken to mean that, at this time, the temple had been under construction for 46 years, and portions of the work were now completed. This is a reasonable interpretation given that we know construction would not be completed until several years into the future, yet a significant amount of work must have been completed because the temple was already in regular use and it was already regarded as a structure to be admired. (Matt. 24:1).
Remember, we are looking at a statement made the year after Christ began His ministry.
- The temple work began in 20 B.C.
- 46 years from 20 B.C. brings us to 27 A.D.
- Since this is the year, 27 A.D., after Jesus began His ministry, this provides further confirmation that He began his ministry in 26 A.D.
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