Page 112 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

in 33 AD, then He would have been around 34 when He died, which makes for a 4-year ministry. The
traditional view is that Jesus had a 3-year ministry.

Where in the Bible do scholars conclude that Jesus’ ministry was only three years? In John’s Gospel, he
references three Passovers in John 2, 6, and 11. Another feast is referenced in 5:1 which they think was
the Passover, so that makes a span of four Passovers or three years. Some scholars even propose a
shorter ministry of one to two years.

That is the only evidence we have for the length of Jesus’ ministry. According to Johnston M. Cheney,
one of the most questionable features of the traditional three-year ministry is that it “compresses too
many events into the last six months of Jesus’s ministry. “The usual approach is to tacitly assume the
Jesus’ departure from Galilee to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7 is the same departure as that
related by Luke in 9:51. No reconciliation is made with the fact that in John 7, Jesus went directly to
Jerusalem within a few days, whereas in Luke 9 and the following, the journey involved at least several
months.” (Johnston M. Cheney, The Life of Christ in Stereo, p. 231). We really cannot build a chronology
of Jesus’ ministry from any of the four Gospels or even by looking at them stereoscopically.

The alternative is obvious. Jesus had a longer ministry than three years, probably 4 years. In fact, John

as he closed his gospel, said, “ And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they
should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should
be written.” (John 21:25). The length of Jesus’ ministry is a total mystery, but by trying to ascertain His
birth date, and knowing His death date, it is probably evident that His ministry extended much longer
than 3 years-- maybe 4 years.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was hailed by the crowds as a decisive event. His foreknowledge of where to
find a colt on which to ride indicates that this event played a predetermined role in His mission. But why
did Jesus choose the lowly donkey instead of getting a magnificent horse to ride on?

Jesus rode a donkey for three reasons. The first one is a fulfillment
of the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, making his triumphant entry while
riding a lowly animal a symbol of peace. When horses are
mentioned in the Bible they are almost always in relation to kings
and war, while donkeys are mentioned in relation to common
people. The donkey’s purpose was to work in agriculture as well as
in trade. Jesus was not entering Jerusalem as a conqueror, but as a
servant of the people. The donkey symbolized the common people.

Smaller than horses and gifted with cautiousness that can
sometimes be mistaken for stubbornness, donkeys were not usually
used during times of war. Zechariah 9:9 prophesied the coming of a
king “righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a
colt, the foal of a donkey”. This prophecy was fulfilled in Matthew
21:1-11 when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, and it was,
considered triumphant because he had done so without bloodshed on the side of the people.

Secondly, in the ancient Biblical world, a leader rode on a horse if he was coming in war, but on a
donkey to signify peace.

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