Chronology of the Life of Jesus Christ
In the following paragraphs we
shall endeavour to establish the absolute and
relative chronology of our Lord's life, i.e. we shall show first how certain
facts connected with the history of Jesus Christ fit in with the course of
universal history, and secondly how the rest of the life of Jesus must be
arranged according to the inter relation of its single elements.
A. ABSOLUTE CHRONOLOGY
The incidents whose absolute chronology
may be determined with more or less probability are the year of Christ's
nativity, of the beginning of His public life, and of His death. As we cannot
fully examine the data entering into these several problems, the reader ought
to compare what has been said on these points in the article BIBLICAL
CHRONOLOGY.
(1) The Nativity
St. Matthew (ii, 1) tells us
that Jesus was born "in the days of king Herod". Josephus (
(2) Beginning of the Public Ministry
The date of the beginning of
Christ's ministry may be calculated from three different data found
respectively in Luke, iii, 23; Josephus, "Bel.
Jud." I, xxi, 1; or "
(3) The Year of the Death of Christ
According to the Evangelists, Jesus
suffered under the high priest Caiphas (A.U.C. 772-90, or A.D. 18-36), during the governorship of
Pontius Pilate A.U.C. 780 90). But this leaves the
time rather indefinite. Tradition, the patristic testimonies for which have
been collected by Patrizi (De Evangeliis),
places the death of Jesus in the fifteenth (or sixteenth) year of Tiberius, in
the consulship of the Gemini, forty two years before the destruction of
(4) The Day of the Death of Christ
Jesus died on Friday, the
fifteenth day of Nisan. That He died on Friday is clearly stated by Mark (xv,
42), Luke (xxiii, 54), and John (xix, 31). The few writers who assign another
day for Christ's death are ptactically lost in the
multitude of authorities who place it on Friday. What is more, they do not even
agree among themselves: Epiphanius, e.g., places the Crucifixion on Tuesday;
Lactantius, on Saturday; Westcott, on Thursday; Cassiodorus and Gregory of
B. RELATIVE CHRONOLOGY
No student of the life of Jesus
will question the chronological order of its principal divisions: infancy,
hidden life, public life, passion, glory. But the order of events in the single
divisions is not always clear beyond dispute.
(1) The Infancy of Jesus
The history of the infancy, for
instance, is recorded only in the First Gospel and in the Third. Each
Evangelist contents himself with five pictures: St. Mathew describes the birth
of Jesus, the adoration of the Magi, the flight into Egypt, the slaughter of
the Holy Innocents, and the return to Nazareth. St. Luke gives a sketch of the
birth, of the adoration of the shepherds, of the circumcision, of the
purification of the Virgin, and of the return to
* The birth, the adoration of
the shepherds, the circumcision, the adoration of the Magi, the flight into
Egypt, the slaughter of the Innocents, the purification, the return to
Nazareth. This order implies that either the purification was delayed beyond
the fortieth day, which seems to contradict Luke, ii, 22 sqq.,
or that Jesus was born shortly before Herod's death. so that the Holy Family
could return from
* The birth, the adoration of
the shepherds, the circumcision, the adoration of the Magi, the purification,
the flight into Egypt, the slaughter of the Innocents, the return to Nazareth.
According to this order the Magi either arrived a few days before the
purification or they came on 6 Jan.; but in neither case can we understand why
the Holy Family should have offered the sacrifice of the poor, after receiving
the offrings of the Magi. Moreover, the firsr Evangelist intimates that the angel appeared to
* As Luke 2:39 appears to
exclude the possibility of placing the adoration of the Magi between the
presentation and return to Nazareth, there are interpreters who have located
the advent of the wise men, the flight to Egypt, the slaughter of the
Innocents, and the return from Egypt after the events as told in St. luke. They agree in the opinion that the Holy Family
returned to
(2) The Hidden Life of Jesus
It was in the seclusion of
(3) The Public Life of Jesus
The chronology of the public
life offers a number of problems to the interpreter; we shall touch upon only
two, the duration of the public life, and the successive journeys it contains.
(a) Duration of the Public Life
There are two extreme views as
to the length of the ministry of Jesus: St. Irenaeus (Contra Haer., II, xxii, 3-6) appears to suggest a period of fifteen
years; the prophetic phrases, "the year of recompenses", "the
year of my redemption" (Is., xxxiv, 8; lxiii,
4), appear to have induced Clement of Alexandria, Julius Africanus, Philastrius, Hilarion, and two or
three other patristic writers to allow only one year for the public life. This
latter opinion has found advocates among certain recent students: von Soden, for instance, defends it in Cheyne's
"Encyclopaedia Biblica".
But the text of the Gospels demands a more extensive duration.
history of Christ's ministry
(ii, 13; vi, 4; xi, 55). The first of the three occurs shortly after the
baptism of Jesus, the last coincides with His Passion, so that at least two
years must have intervened between the two events to give us the necessary room
for the passover mentioned in vi, 4. Westcott and Hort omit the expression "the pasch"
in vi, 4 to compress the ministry of Jesus within the space of one year; but
all the manuscripts, the versions, and nearly all the
Fathers testify for the reading
"En de eggysto pascha heeorteton Ioudaion":
"Now the pasch, the festival day of the Jews,
was near at hand". Thus far then everything tends to favour
the view of those writers and more recent commentators who extend the period of
Christ's ministry a little over two years.
But a comparison of
(b) Journeys of Jesus during
His Public Life
The journeys made during His
public life may be grouped under nine heads: the first six were mainly
performed in Galilee and had Capharnaum for their
central point; the last three bring Jesus into
(i) First Journey -- December, A.U.C.
778- Spring, 779. (Cf. John, i, ii; Matt.,iii, iv; Mark, i; Luke,
iii, iv.) Jesus abandons His hidden life in Nazareth, and goes to Bethania across the Jordan, where He is baptized by John
and receives the Baptist's first testimony to His Divine mission. He then
withdraws into the
(ii)
Second Journey -- Passover, A.U. C. 779 - about
Pentecost , 780. (Cf. John, ii-v; Mark, i-iii; Luke,
iv-vii; Matt., iv-ix.) Jesus goes from Capharnaum to
Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover; here he expels the buyers and sellers
from the Temple, and is questioned by the Jewish authorities. Many believed in
Jesus, and Nicodemus came to converse with Him during the night. After the
festival days He remained in
(iii)
Third Journey -- About Pentecost, A.U.C. 780- Autumn,
780. (Cf. Luke, vii, viii; Mark, iii, iv; Matt., iv, viii, ix, xii, xiii.)
Jesus makes another missionary tour through Galilee; He resuscitates the son of
the widow at Naim, and shortly afterwards receives
the messengers sent by John from his prison in Machaerus.
Then follows the scene of the merciful reception of the sinful woman who
anoints the feet of the Lord while He rests at table in Magdala or perhaps in Capharnaum; for the rest of His missionary tour Jesus is
followed by a band of pious women who minister to the wants of the Apostles.
After returning to Capharnaum, Jesus expels the mute
devil, is charged by the Pharisees with casting out devils by the prince of
devils, and encounters the remonstrances of His
kinsmen. Withdrawing to the sea, He preaches what may be called the "Lake
Sermon", consisting of seven parables.
(iv)
Fourth Journey -- Autumn, A.U.C. 780- about Passover,
781. (Cf. Luke, viii, ix; Mark, iv-vi; Matt., viii, ix, x, xiii, xiv.) After a
laborious day of ministry in the city of Capharnaum
and on the lake, Jesus with His Apostles crosses the waters. As a great storm
overtakes them, the frightened Apostles awaken their sleeping Master, Who
commands the winds and the waves. Towards morning they meet in the country of
the Gerasens, on the east of the lake, two demoniacs.
Jesus expels the evil spirits, but allows them to enter into a herd of swine.
The beasts destroy themselves in the waters of the lake, and frightened
inhabitants beg Jesus not to remain among them. After returning to Capharnaum he heals the woman who had touched the hem of
His garment, resuscitates the daughter of Jairus, and
gives sight to two blind men. The second Gospel places here Christ's last visit
to and rejection by the people of Nazareth. Then follows the ministry of the
Apostles who are sent two by two, while Jesus Himself makes another missionary
tour through Galilee. It seems to have been the martyrdom of John the Baptist
that occasioned the return of the Apostles and their gathering around the
Master in Capharnaum. But, however depressing this
event may have been, it did not damp the enthusiasm of the Apostles over their
success.
(v)
Fifth Journey -- Spring, A.U.C. 781. (Cf. John, vi;
Luke, ix; Mark, vi; and Matt., xiv.) Jesus invites the Apostles, tired out from
their missionary labours, to rest awhile. They cross
the northern part of the Sea of Galilee, but, instead of finding the desired
solitude, they are met by multitudes of people who had preceded them by land or
by boat, and who were eager for instruction. Jesus taught them throughout the
day, and towards evening did not wish to dismiss them hungry. On the other
hand, there were only five loaves and two fishes at the disposal of Jesus;
after His blessing, these scanty supplies satisfied the hunger of five thousand
men, besides women and children, and remnants filled twelve baskets of
fragments. Jesus sent the Apostles back to their boats, and escaped from the
enthusiastic multitudes, who wished to make Him king, into the mountain where
He prayed till far into the night. Meanwhile the Apostles were facing a contrary
wind till the fourth watch in the morning, when they saw Jesus walking upon the
waters. The Apostles first fear, and then recognize Jesus; Peter walks upon the
water as long as his confidence lasts; the storm ceases when Jesus has entered
the boat. The next day brings Jesus and His Apostles to Capharnaum,
where He speaks to the assembly about the Bread of Life and promises the Holy
Eucharist, with the result that some of His followers leave Him, while the
faith of His true disciples is strenghened.
(vi)
Sixth Journey -- About May, A.U.C. 781- Sept., 781.
(Cf. Lk., ix; Mk., vii-ix; Matt., xiv- xviii; John,
vii.) It may be owing to the enmity stirred up against Jesus by His Eucharistic
discourse in Capharnaum that He began now a more
extensive missionary tour than He had made in the preceding years of His life.
Passing through the country of Genesar, He expressed
His disapproval of the Pharisaic practices of legal purity. Within the boarders
of Tyre and Sidon He exorcized the daughter of the Syrophenician woman. From here Jesus travelled first
towards the north, then towards the east, then south-eastward through the
northern part of Decapolis, probably along the foot of the Labanon,
till He came to the eastern part of Galilee. While in Decapolis Jesus healed a
deaf-mute, employing a ceremonial more elaborate than He had used at any of His
previous miracles; in the eastern part of Galilee, probably not far from Dalmanutha and Magedan, He fed
four thousand men, besides children and women, with seven loaves and a few
little fishes, the remaining fragments filling seven baskets. The multitudes
had listened for three days to the teaching of Jesus, previously to the
miracle. In spite of the many cures performed by Jesus, during this journey, on
the blind, the dumb, the lame, the maimed, and on many others, the Pharisees
and Sadduces asked Him for a sign from heaven,
tempting Him. He promised them the sign of Jonas the Prophet. After Jesus and
the Apostles had crossed the lake, He warned them to beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees; then they passed through Bethsaida Julias
where Jesus gave sight to a blind man. Next we find Jesus in the confines of
Caesarea Philippi, where Peter professes his faith in Christ, the Son of the
living God, and in his turn receives from Jesus the promise of the power of the
keys. Jesus here predicts His passion, and about a week later is transfigured
before Peter, James, and John, probably on the top of Mt. Thabor.
On descending from the mountain, Jesus exorcizes the mute devil whom His
disciples had not been able to expel. Bending his way towards Capharnaum, Jesus predicts His Passion for the second time,
and in the city pays the tribute-money for Himself and Peter. This occasions
the discussion as to the greater in the kingdom of heaven, and the allied
discourses. Finally, Jesus refuses His brethren's invitation to go publicly to
the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.
(vii)
Seventh Journey -- Sept., A.U.C. 781- December, 781.
(Cf. Luke, ix-xiii; Mark, x; Matt., vi, vii, viii, x, xi, xii, xxiv; John,
vii-x.) Jesus now "steadfastly set His face to go Jerusalem", and as
the Samaritans refused Him hospitality, He had to take the east of the Jordan.
While still in Galilee, He refused the discipleship of several half-hearted candidates,
and about the same time He sent other seventy-two, two by two, before His face
into every city and place whither He Himself was to come. Probably in the lower
part of Peraea, the seventy-two returned with joy,
rejoicing in the miraculous power that had been exercised by them. It must have
been in the vicinity of Jerico that Jesus answered
the lawer's question, "Who is my neighbour?" by the parable of the Good Samaritan. Next
Jesus was received in the hospitable home of Mary and Martha, where He declares
Mary to have chosen the better part. From Bethania
went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, where he became involved in
discussions with the Jews. The Scribes and Pharisees endeavoured
to catch Him in the sentence which they asked Him to pronounce in the case of
the woman taken in adultary. When Jesus had avoided
this snare, He continued His discussions with the hostile Jews. Their enmity
was intensified because Jesus restored sight to a blind man on the Sabbath day.
Jesus appears to have His stay in Jerusalem with the beautiful discourse on the
Good Shepherd. A little later He teaches His Apostles the Our Father , probably
somewhere on Mt. Olivet. On a subsequent missionary tour through Judea and Peraea He defends Himself against the charges of Pharisees,
and reproves their hypocrisy. On the same journey Jesus warned against
hypocrisy, covetousness, worldly care; He exhorted to watchfulness, patience
under contradictions, and to penance. About this time, too, He healed the woman
who had the spirit of infirmity.
(viii)
Eighth Journey-- December, A.U.C. 781-February, 782.
(Cf. Luke, xiii-xvii; John, x, xi.) The Feast of Dedication brought Jesus again
to Jerusalem, and occasioned another discussion with the Jews. This is followed
by another missionary tour through Peraea, during
which Jesus explained a number of important points of doctrine: the number of
the elect, the choice of one's place at table, the guests to be invited, the
parable of the great supper, resoluteness in the service of God, the parables
of the hundred sheep, the lost groat, and the
prodigal son, of the unjust steward, of Dives and Lazarus, of the unmerciful
servant, besides the duty of fraternal correction, and the efficacy of faith.
During this period, too, the Pharisees attempted to frighten Jesus with the menance of Herod's persecution; on his part, Jesus healed a
man who had drospy, on a Sabbath day, while at table
in the house of a certain prince of the Pharisees. Finally Mary and Martha send
messengers to Jesus, asking Him to come and cure their brother Lazarus; Jesus
went after two days, and resuscitated His friend who had been several days in
the grave. The Jews are exasperated over this miracle, and they decree Jesus
must die for the people. Hence He withdrew "into a country near the
desert, unto a city that is called Ephrem". (ix)
Ninth Journey.-- February, A.U.C. 782- Passover, 782.
(Cf. Luke, xvii-xxii; Mark., x, xiv; Matt., xix-xxvi; John, xi, xii.) This last
journey took Jesus from Ephrem northward through
Samaria, then eastward along the border of Galilee into Peraea,
then southward through Peraea, westward across the
Jordan, through Jericho, Bethania on Mt. Olivet, Bethphage, and finally to Jerusalem. While in the most
northern part of the journey, He cured ten lepers; a little later, He answered
the questions raised by the Pharisees concerning the kingdom of God. Then He
urged the need of incessant prayer by proposing the parable of the unjust
judge; here too belong the parable of the Pharisee and Publican, the discourse on
marriage, on the attitude of the Church towards the children, on the right use
of riches as illustrated by the story of the rich young ruler, and the parable
of the labourers in the vineyard. After beginning His
route towards Jerusalem, He predicted His Passion for the third time; James and
John betray their ambition, but they are taught the true standard of greatness
in the Church. At Jerico Jesus heals two blind men,
and receives the repentance of Zacheus the publican;
here He proposed also the parable of the pounds entrusted to the servants by
the master. Six days before the pasch we find Jesus
at Bethania on Mt. Olivet, as the guest of Simon the
leper; Mary anoints His feet, and the disciples at the instigation of Judas are
indignant at this seeming waste of ointment. A great multitude assembles at Bethania, not to see Jesus only but also Lazarus; hence the
chief priests think of killing Lazarus too. On the following day Jesus solemnly
entered Jerusalem and was received by the Hosanna cries of all classes of
people. In the afternoon He met a delegation of Gentiles in the court of the
Temple. On Monday Jesus curses the barren fig tree, and during the morning He
drives the buyers and sellers from the Temple. On Tuesday the wonder of the
disciples at the sudden withering of the fig tree provokes their Master's
instruction on the efficacy of faith. Jesus answers the enemies' questions as
to His authority; then He proposes the parable of the two sons, of the wicked
husbandmen, and of the marriage feast. Next follows a triple snare: the
politicians ask whether it is lawful to pay tribute to Caesar; the scoffers
inquire whose wife a woman, who has had several husbands, will be after ressurection; the Jewish theologians propose the question:
Which is the first commandment, the great commandment of the law? Then Jesus
proposes His last question to the Jews: "What think you of Christ? whose
son is he?" This is followed by the eightfold woe against the Scribes and
Pharisees, and by the denunciation of Jerusalem. The last words of Christ in
the Temple were expressions of praise for the poor widow who had made an
offering of two mites in spite of her poverty. Jesus ended this day by uttering
the prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, His second coming, and the
future judgement; these predictions are interrupted
by the parable of the ten virgins and the talents. On wednesday
Jesus again predicted His Passion; probably it was on the same day that Judas
made his agreement with the Jews to betray Jesus.
(4) The Passion of Jesus
The history of Christ's Passion
comprises three parts: the preparation for the Passion, the trial of Jesus, and
His death.
(a) Preparation for the Passion
Jesus prepares His disciples
for the Passion, He prepares Himself for the ordeal and His enemies prepare
themselves for the destruction of Jesus.
(i) Preparation of the Apostles -- Jesus prepares His
Apostles for the Passion by the eating of the paschal lamb, the institution of
the Holy Eucharist, the concomitant ceremonies, and His lengthy discourses held
during and after the Last Supper. Special mention should be made of the
prediction of the Passion, and of the betrayal one of the Apostles and the
denial by another. Peter, james, and John are
prepared in a more particular manner by witnessing the Sorrow of Jesus on Mt.
Olivet.
(ii)
Preparation of Jesus -- Jesus must have found an indirect preparation in all He
did and said to strengthen His Apostles. But the preparation that was pecularly His own consisted in His prayer in the grotto of
His Agony where the angel came to strengthen Him. The sleep of His favoured Apostles during the hours of His bitter struggle
must have prepared Him too for the complete abandonment He was soon to
experience.
(iii)
Preparation of the Enemies -- Judas leaves the Master during the Last Supper.
The chief priests and Pharisees hastily collect a detachment of the Roman
cohort stationed in the castle of Antonia, of the Jewish temple-watch, and of
the officials of the Temple. To these are added a number of the servants and
dependents of the high-priest, and a miscellaneous multitude of fanatics with
lanterns and torches, with swords and clubs, who were to follow the leadership
of Judas. They took Christ, bound Him, and led Him to the high-priest's house.
(b) Trial of Jesus
Jesus was tried first before an
ecclesiastical and then before a civil tribunal.
(i) Before Ecclesiastical Court -- The ecclesiastical trial
includes Christ's appearance before Annas, before Caiphas, and again before Caiphas,
who appears to have acted in each case as head of the Sanhedrin. The Jewish
court found Jesus guilty of blasphemy, and condemned Him to death, though its
proceedings were illegal from more than one point of view. During the trial
took place Peter's triple denial of Jesus; Jesus is insulted and mocked,
especially between the second and third session; and after His final
condemnation Judas despaired and met his tragic death
(ii)
Before the Civil Court.-- The civil trial, too, comprised three sessions, the
first before Pilate, the second before Herod, the third again before Pilate.
Jesus is not charged with blasphemy before the court of Pilate, but with
stirring up the people, forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and claiming to
be Christ the king. Pilate ignores the first two charges; the third he finds
harmless when he sees that Jesus does not claim royalty in the Roman sense of
the word. But in order not to incur the odium of the Jewish leaders, the Roman
governor sends his prisoner to Herod. As Jesus did not humour
the curiosity of Herod, He was mocked and set at naught by Tetrach
of Galilee and his court, and sent back to Pilate. The Roman procurator
declares the prisoner innocent for the second time, but, instead of setting Him
free, gives the people the alternative to choose either Jesus or Barabbas for
their paschal freedman. Pilate pronounced Jesus innocent for the third time
with the more solemn ceremony of washing his hands; he had recourse to a third
scheme of ridding himself of the burden of pronouncing an unjust sentence
against his prisoner. He had the prisoner scourged, thus annihilating, as far
as human means could do so, any hope that Jesus could ever attain to the royal
dignity. But even this device miscarried, and Pilate allowed his political
ambition to prevail over his sense of evident justice; he condemned Jesus to be
crucified.
(c)
Death of Jesus
Jesus
carried His Cross to the place of execution. Simon of Cyrene is forced to
assist Him in bearing the heavy burden. On the way Jesus addresses his last words
to the weeping women who sympathized with His suffering. He is nailed to the
Cross, his garments are divided, and an inscription is placed over His head.
While His enemies mock Him, He pronounces the well-known "Seven
Words". Of the two robbers crucified with Jesus, one was converted, and
the other died impenitent. The sun was darkened, and Jesus surrendered His soul
into the hands of His Father. The veil of the Temple was rent into two, the
earth quaked, the rocks were riven, and many bodies
of the saints that had slept arose and appeared to many. The Roman centurion
testified that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. The Heart of Jesus was pierced
so as to make sure of His death. The Sacred Body was taken from the Cross by
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, and was buried in
the new sepulchre of Joseph, and the Sabbath drew
near.
(5) The Glory of Jesus
After the burial of Jesus, the
Holy women returned and prepared spices and ointments. The next day, the chief
priests and Pharisees made the sepulchre secure with
guards, sealing the stone. When the Sabbath was passed, the Holy women brought
sweet spices that they might anoint Jesus. But Jesus rose early the first day
of the week, and there was a great earthquake, and an angel descended from
heaven, and rolled back the stone. The guards were struck with terror, and
became as dead men. On arriving at the sepulchre the
holy women found the grave empty; Mary Magdalen ran
to tell the Apostles Peter and John, while the other women were told by an
angel that the Lord had arisen from the dead. Peter and John hasten to the sepulchre, and find everything as Magdalen
has reported. Magdalen too returns, and, while
weeping at the sepulchre, is approached by the arisen
Saviour Who appears to her and speaks with her. On
the same day Jesus appeared to the other Holy Women, to Peter, to the two
disciples on their way to Emmaus, and to all the Apostles excepting Thomas. A
week later He appeared to all the Apostles, Thomas included; later still He
appeared in Galilee near the Lake of Genesareth to
seven disciples, on a mountain in Galilee to a multitude of disciples, to
James, and finally to His disciples on the Mount Olivet whence He ascended into
heaven. But these apparitions do not exhaust the record of the Gospels,
according to which Jesus showed Himself alive after His Passion by many proofs,
for forty days appearing to the disciples and speaking of the kingdom of God.
Source;
A. J. MAAS Transcribed by
Joseph P. Thomas In Memory of Archbishop Mathew Kavukatt
[New Advent Catholic
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From the Catholic
Encyclopedia, copyright © 1913 by the Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic
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