the Creator of all things provides and uses to restore us to the happy, blessed family of our heavenly Father. Within that universal family circle we shall enjoy life in bliss forever, abounding in his love and care and lovingly worshiping and serving him to all ages.​—1 Cor. 15:28; John 14:6; Acts 4:12.

What Was the Length of Jesus’ Ministry?

THE question as to the length of Jesus’ ministry receives various answers from Bible scholars. Some claim that it was just one year long, others say two years, and still others hold that it was three or three and a half years long. Bible prophecy and Bible history combine to show that it was indeed three and a half years from the time Jesus was baptized, and received God’s holy spirit under the symbol of a dove, this making him the Messiah, until the time of his death on the stake.​—Luke 3:21, 22; 23:46.

Most conclusive as to the time of Jesus’ ministry is the prophecy found at Daniel 9:24-27. It pinpoints both the very year of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the length of his ministry and is known as the prophecy of “seventy weeks.” These “weeks” are generally recognized as being “weeks of years.” An American Translation reads: “Seventy weeks of years are destined for your people.” (See also Encyclopædia Judaica, Vol. 5, col. 1281.) The prophecy further states that “from the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks.” In other words, the Messiah would come at the end of sixty-nine “weeks.”

LOCATING THE “WEEKS OF YEARS”

When did those “weeks of years” begin? In the year that Governor Nehemiah was authorized to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, the exact year being 455 B.C.E. (Neh. 2:3-9) Sixty-nine weeks of years are 483 years, which reach from 455 B.C.E. to 29 C.E. That Jesus did come as Messiah in 29 C.E. is indicated by a comparison of Luke 3:1, 2, 23 with the dates of the rulership of Tiberius Caesar, who is mentioned there in Luke’s account.

Daniel’s prophecy further states that the “Messiah will be cut off, with nothing for himself.” Just when would he be cut off, that is, put to death? Da 9 Verse 27 tells us, for it states that “at the half of the week he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease.” What is meant by his causing these two things to cease? That the sacrifices and gift offerings required by the Mosaic law would no longer be of any value or have any merit with Jehovah God. No longer would they serve to cleanse in a typical way the sins of those who offered them. Why? Because “by means of his flesh,” that is, his human sacrifice, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, “abolished . . . the Law of commandments.” (Eph. 2:15) The law of Moses with its animal sacrifices and gift offerings, being merely “a shadow of the good things to come,” ceased to be effective after the coming of the reality, namely, the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God.​—Heb. 10:1-10; John 1:29.

Thus from Daniel’s prophecy we see that the Messiah came at the end of the sixty-nine weeks of years, in 29 C.E., and that in the midst of the seventieth week, or after three and a half years, he was sacrificed, thereby making the sacrifices of the law of Moses no longer necessary. So we have the length of Jesus’ ministry given to us by divine prophecy: from the time of Jesus’ becoming the Messiah until his death, three and a half years.