When was Jesus actually born?

In order to arrive at the correct year of our Lord’s birth we need to look at the Seventy Weeks of years prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, equaling 490 years (70 x 7). The Seventy Weeks begin with “the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem,” and reach to “Messiah the Prince,” including his death on the cross. 

All students of the Bible agree that Jesus began his ministry and became Messiah at his baptism in the autumn of 29 AD, and died in the spring of 33 AD (the seventieth week). How do we arrive at 29 AD? 

Since John the Baptist was six months older than our Lord (Luke 1:26,36), he was of age (thirty years, according to the Law—Numbers 4:3) and began to preach six months before our Lord became of age and began his ministry. The date of the beginning of John’s ministry is clearly stated to have been the “fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,” the third emperor of Rome. (Luke 3:1) 

This is a clearly fixed date of which there can be no reasonable doubt. Tiberius became emperor at the death of Augustus Caesar, in the year 14 AD. Therefore, the fifteenth year of Tiberius’ reign would have been 29 AD. 

How old was Jesus in the autumn of 29 AD? We learn in Luke 3:23 that Jesus was about thirty years old when he was baptized by his cousin John, thus beginning his ministry in early October of 29 AD. 

Because there is no zero year, that would mean that Jesus was born in 2 BC, most likely late summer or early autumn. Luke 2:1 confirms this thought. “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed [registered].” Here, ‘taxed’ means ‘to register’. Caesar Augustus was planning to celebrate his 25th anniversary as Roman emperor in 2 BC and he wanted an accounting of all his subjects. 

‘All the world’ indicates that the Roman Empire was very vast. Such registrations as these were typically conducted during the time when the season was mild enough for traveling, usually summer or early autumn. 

When was Jesus actually born? From the information thus presented we believe that Jesus was born either in the summer or early autumn of 2 BC. 

To learn more about Jesus’ birth listen to, “How Do We Keep Jesus at the Center of Christmas?”