"Gospel Quest" (or The Jesus Timeline)

[DeistPaladin]

Last and least, we have the Gospel of John.

And you thought Matt and Luke were incompatible...

John's Jesus first makes his appearance at his baptism but John still hints that Jesus is almost 50.

8:57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

Now Christian apologists will object saying they priests don't specify that Jesus is almost 50 years old, they just say he's not yet 50. He could be 30. However, saying such a thing to a 30 year old would solicit a "LOL, Wut?" response. Conversationally, such a line makes no sense except that Jesus was pushing 50. Even so, I was reluctant to point out this verse as a decisive proof until I found there was extra-biblical material that indicated that John may have believed Jesus was indeed pushing 50 at his crucifixion, as outlined in this video.





Iraneus, alleged disciple of Polycarp who was an alleged disciple of John, wrote in "Against Heresies" that "...the Gospels and all the Elders testify; those who were in Asia conversant with John, the disciple of the Lord, affirmed that John conveyed to them that Jesus of Nazareth lived until and was crucified at or about the age of 50."

Edit: Thanks to ProfMth for this video and the information.

I have not yet dug up that quote myself but I trust ProfMth as a thorough researcher. Nonetheless, I plan to try to find a copy of this apologetic publication and be ready to cite the page and paragraph.

So when was John's Jesus crucified? That was easier to determine to the exact year. We can know this because John reports an argument Jesus had with "the Jews" during the first Passover holiday of JC's ministry.

2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

The temple in question had begun construction in 20 BCE, placing the date of the argument during the Passover holiday of 27 CE (there was on year 0). John's Gospel specifies that there were 3 Passover holidays during the course of JC's ministry. Therefore, John's Jesus was crucified in 29 CE.

So here's when the different Gospels say Jesus was born:

• Matt's Jesus was born before 6 BCE
  
• Luke's Jesus was born after 6 CE.
  
• John's Jesus was born circa 20 BCE.
  

Now the Synoptic Gospels say that Jesus began his career after John the Baptist was put into prison. But JtB didn't even START his career until 28/29 CE, which means that John's Jesus would have gotten crucified potentially before JtB could even get started.

Further, John begins his record of the life of Jesus with his baptism by JtB and then follows with his "Cleansing of the Temple" when he has that very quoted argument with "the Jews". This very argument happened in 27 CE, a year before JtB could have even started his baptism ministry.

Other contradictions between John and the Synopics are legion, but two of the most prominent are (1) whether or not John the Baptist was jailed before Jesus started his ministry and (2) what Jesus immediately did after the baptism.

The Synoptics tell us that John the Baptist was jailed before Jesus started his ministry. However, according to John, Jesus' ministry was already well under way before JtB was arrested.

3:24 For John was not yet cast into prison.

According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus, after his baptism, immediately went into the Wilderness for 40 days.

1:12 And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness.

...but John's Gospel tells us that Jesus spent the next two days gathering disciples and the third day going to a wedding.

1:34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
1:35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
...
1:43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
...
2:1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

So having established that the timeline is a mess, we now turn to the feeble excuses, flimsy rationalizations and endless stream of ad hoc hypotheses that the apologists propose to square the circle.

To be continued...