The Narrow Path Ministries

Does anyone know what documantation there is for this belief?

I've recently come across some fairly convincing evidence that Jesus' ministry was only 2 1/2 years. As well as addressing the question of when Jesus was born, this online book also answers when His ministry began and when He died:

The Star that Astonished the World by Dr. Ernest Martin

The author makes a few unjustified assumptions, but on the whole his research is excellent. To sum up, Jesus' ministry began in a Sabbatical year, when grain was growing in the fields but was not allowed to be harvested. For instance, when Jesus made the comment that it was "another four months until harvest" but "the fields are already ripe for harvest", this wasn't just a spiritual reference, but an agricultural one as well, as grain was not to be harvested until the present Sabbatical year ended, four months after Jesus made this statement. This Sabbatical year was from the fall of 27 AD to the fall of 28 AD. (See Appendix 4, above.)

During Jesus' ministry, there were a total of three Passovers mentioned. (The Passover is an annual feast which occurs in the Spring, listed among the feasts found in Leviticus 23.) One Passover is found in John 2:13 and 23. The second is found in John 6:4. The third and final one is the one which is mentioned is all four Gospels, when Jesus was killed.

From His ministry, which began in the fall, to the first Passover was half a year. From the first Passover to the final one was two years. So, Jesus' ministry lasted two and a half years, and He died in 30 AD.

Damon

This is quite possibly correct.

The view that Jesus' ministry was a year longer rests, partly, on the assumption that "a feast" mentioned in John 5:1 was yet another Passover, making a total of three years between the first and fourth Passovers, and the half year explained by Daimon (above). There is no basis for certainty that the feast in John 5:1 was indeed a Passover, since there were other feasts during the years for which Jews made pilgrimages to Jerusalem (e.g., Pentecost and Succoth).

There is supportive evidence for a 3 1/2 year ministry in a couple of disputable references elsewhere. For example, if the seventieth week of Daniel (Dan.9:24-27) began with the ministry of Jesus, and "in the midst of the week" (3 1/2 years) He brought the sacrificial system to an end, then this might support the longer estimate. Obviously, many Christians would not agree with this interpretation of the seventieth week.

Also, there is a parable of Jesus which some think may make a reference to the length of His ministry:

"Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:7-9)

Nothing definitive can be proven by these data, but they might point in the direction of a ministry of 3 1/2 years.

Thank you, Steve and Damon. Steve i heard you on BAM you were really good as usual. Hopefully Hank will start calling you Steve instead of Gregg.

People who don't know me real well make that slip quite frequently. Actually, I think Hank only did it twice—once yesterday, and once the first time I was on his show (he had only met me once before that. It doesn't bother me, of course. It's very understandable. Most people who make that mistake don't have the embarrassment of doing so in front od seven-million listeners, though.