In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene … - Luke 3:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 14, 2017): Luke 3

As Prince Philip begins his retirement, the next questions continue to be this – how long will his wife, Queen Elizabeth, continue to reign. Maybe not how long will she live, she continues to seem to be going strong. But is there a point where either she voluntarily steps down from the throne and begins to occupy a more peripheral role as well as enjoying a little retirement with her husband, or a time when she invites one of the heirs, most likely Charles, to reign with her. In ancient times, the idea of an heir becoming a co-heir seems to be common. Co-reigning almost served as a time of apprenticeship for the king to be under the guidance of the currently reigning sovereign.

Of course, in the case of Elizabeth, the unfortunate truth is that she has a much higher approval rating than any of the heirs that follow her, with maybe the exception of George - because everyone loves a toddler. And it might be this single fact that stays Elizabeth’s hands - and keeps her sitting solidly, and solitarily, on the Throne of England.

Luke 3:1 has caused no end of trouble for scholars trying to date the ministry of the Christ. Our Calendar was originally intended to count the years from the Birth of Christ, so the year 2017 should mean that 2017 years have passed since the birth of Jesus. The system was devised early in the 6^th century by counting the years back to the time of Christ. But we now know that the original assumptions were wrong, and so Jesus was born earlier than the beginning of the Current or Common Era.

But Luke 3:1 caused a problem in the arrival of our dates – and the problem is actually in dating the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Strictly speaking, the reign of Tiberius began in 14 C.E., and that is the assumption that is made by our Calendar. That would date the beginning of John’s ministry to 29 C.E. and the crucifixion of Jesus to somewhere around 33 C.E. But not all the facts fit that kind of dating. One of the most commonly accepted dates for the Crucifixion is April 6, 29 C.E. But that means that the ministry of John and the baptism would have had to start much earlier than the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius.

So was Luke wrong in his dating? Not necessarily. What has been missed is that Tiberius actually appears to have started to co-reign with his father, Caesar Augustus in 11 C.E. Luke has dated his comment from the beginning of that co-reign which would move the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry to 26 C.E. which meshes perfectly with a Crucifixion date in 29 or 30 C.E. The year 26 C.E. also matches perfectly with the beginning of the Pontius Pilate term as Governor in Judea.

But Luke has set the stage for the life of Jesus in a particular historical time, and that increases our confidence in the other details of the story that he is about to tell.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 4