considering birthday party ideas ...lol

The Jews and Sabbatical Years

The Jews before and during the time of Jesus were following the Mosaic Law for agricultural inactivity every seventh year in the land of Palestine. Because of this practice, it affords us some excellent chronological clues regarding the time that certain historical events occurred in Palestine. This is because the records show that these events happened in association with Sabbatical Years. Thankfully, it is possible from the Bible and history to accurately determine those years in which the Jews refrained from agricultural activity. Once the cycle of those seven years is understood, then those Sabbatical Years can be used as chronological benchmarks in determining important events in Jewish history during the time of Jesus.

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It was also in the Sabbatical Year of C.E. 27 to C.E. 28 that Jesus was 30 years of age. At the Passover of C.E. 28, when He officially began his ministry, He was within His year 30. It would be rather a strange way for us westerners to reckon the years of a person's life. During the whole of a person's 30^th year the word meaning "about" or "as if " was used to denote the year. Luke records: "Jesus began [his ministry] about thirty years of age."³¹ Irenaeus, however, shows what Luke meant. "For when he [Jesus] was baptized, he had not yet completed his thirtieth year [He was indeed 30 already, but He had not completed year 30], but was beginning to be about thirty years of age." ³² Irenaeus had just said He was already 30 in paragraph 4, so "beginning to be about 30" was used of a person all the way from the beginning to the ending of a person's year 30.

During the whole of a person's year 30, the word meaning "about" or "as if" was applied. When His year 30 ended, He had then concluded his year 30. This means that Jesus was indeed 30 when He began His ministry, but He had not yet completed His 30^th year. Irenaeus said this was the time that the Jews called a man a "Master." ³³ It may appear strange to us that the word "about" is used to indicate something like our word "being," but this is the way it was interpreted by Irenaeus and he spoke Greek in the idiom that was near that of the New Testament. Gregory Nazianzen also understood the idiom to signify the fact that Jesus was a full 30 years of age. He said: "Christ was thirty years old when he was baptized." ³⁴ A man had to be fully 30 to be a "Master."