Week 39 Luke 3
Luke wrote his gospel to a man named Theophilus and he told him that: since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good…to write an orderly account for you.
That orderly approach is what’s likely behind Luke’s details in chapter three about when John the Baptist began his ministry – which he says was: in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.
I had to do a quick detour outside of the bible to look for Tiberius Caesar. I checked three sources and they all agreed that Tiberius lived from 42 BC to 37 AD (so about 78 years). They also said that Tiberius ruled as emperor from 14 to 37 AD.
That’s a very useful detail to know because Luke says that John began his public preaching and baptizing in Tiberius’ 15th year.
So…14 AD + 15 more years = 29 AD. I don’t know exactly how dates were calculated in Luke’s scheme but I’ll ball-park 29 AD as the year that John began his prophetic work (it could have been 28 AD).
Anyway that confirms the general sense I have that the Lord Jesus began his public ministry in ~30 AD. I’d be stalled if Tiberius’ 15th year was (for instance) 70 AD. 29 AD is close enough.
Note: quotes from Luke 1:3 3:1 (NIV). I could try cross-referencing the other names in Luke’s list: Pontius Pilate (Judea). Herod (Galilee). Philip (Itrurea-Trachonitis). Lysanias (Abilene). But 29 AD is good enough for me.