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Earthly Life of Christ

Excerpt from James Ussher’s ‘Annals of the World’, about the four Passovers:

6303. Now we have arrived at the public ministry of Christ, whose acts we have recorded according to the four distinct Passovers, which we can gather from the harmony of the four gospels, as written by that learned man who has laboured much in the studies of the Holy Scriptures, John Richardson, Doctor of Divinity and worthy Bishop of Ardah, in our province of Armagh. In this record, it is noteworthy that only Matthew neglected the order of time, which is constantly observed by the other three gospels (if you exclude the parenthesis when John was cast into prison by Herod.) {#Lu 3:19,20} [E820]

I do see where this work should help us to study God’s Word on its own merit. Paul in Acts 17 (11. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.) commended the Bereans for their zeal about the study of God’s Word. Each time I go through the items in this program, I get a sense of actually being with Jesus, hearing what he said, when he said it, to whom he said it, and the responses to what he said. Also by comparing each item from parallel accounts, I see a consensus of what happened and get a deeper understanding of Christ’s Earthly Life.

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“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Doctor John Richardson (born Linton, Cambridgeshire — died 1625) was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1615 until his death. He was first made a Fellow of Emmanuel College, and then Master of Peterhouse before accepting the same position at Trinity, where he was also Regius Professor of Divinity, and served in 1617 and 1618 as Vice-Chancellor of the University.

Richardson was a skilled linguist, and he served in the "First Cambridge Company", charged by James I of England with the translation of the books of the Old Testament from the Books of Chronicles to Song of Songs (comprising most of the Ketuvim).

Note: http Links lifeofchrist0 to 4 are KJV Text.

Arrow back to return to this page.

http://historyreally.org/loc0.html

http://historyreally.org/loc1.html

http://historyreally.org/loc2.html

http://historyreally.org/loc3.html

http://historyreally.org/loc4.html

* Note (have to say this):  Ussher's 'well documented' Chronology demonstrates Christ's earthly life to be 36 years. 

Luke 3:23 says Jesus began his ministry at age 30. It would seem at this point that the 4 Passovers would indicate 3 more years until his Crucifixion and 33 years of life.

If we are to trust Ussher's chronology, how do we account for 3 more years? Luke 4:14-15 may be a clue as what Jesus did for these three extra years before officially calling His disciples.

Luke 4

 13.  Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

 14.  Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

 15.  And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

 16.  So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  

First, how long did Jesus teach in the synagogues and why is it mentioned?

Second, could any 'layman' teach in the synagogues (and would they let Jesus read from Isaiah in Capernaum)?

Third, how long would it take to gain 'praise' from 'everyone' for His teaching. Later on Jesus seemed to have a good reputation as a Teacher or Rabbi? Could this be an apprenticeship period?

Fourth, why is Luke 2:41-52 recorded? At age 12 were the Jewish leadership and Jesus' parents alerted to fact that Jesus needed more time to learn the Scriptures. A good pattern for all of us.

I believe Jesus was more than just a carpenter (if He ever was a carpenter), and spent His whole life 'learning the law (or the Scriptures)' and then fulfilling it in every way.

Heroes of Faith Link:

http://historyreally.org/hof.html