Dating Jesus?

This little visit will be shorter than the others but as much to the issue as any of them…

Have you seen today’s paper?

If you have then you are privy to a clue into the puzzle of a carpenters’ life and his claim of divinity…

 

As I put these words in this post, there is a thud outside my front door, the Sunday paper has arrived.  The date across the top of the paper is August 10, 2014.  Do you know why it is that date?  Not the month, although that may hold clues I am not at this time wondering about.  Not the day of the month, again, it may have significance for a later discussion.  I reference the year.  In days gone by this was said more often, some still use this language.  “In the year of our Lord, two thousand fourteen.”

Yep, that’s the ticket, in the year of our Lord.  This format is referenced in most calendars even if they don’t use the term, in the year of our Lord.  When conducting business, most societies today use this format.  The format has been worked on and adjusted or used in coincidence with this commonly used format.

Some call the dates AD and BC, others use CE and BCE.  Regardless of the format, they refer to an event that happened approximately 2014 years ago.  I say approximately because this event, even among its supporters, has some wondering about days of the week and months of the years, so the debate still lives.  What is interesting is that even it was a year off, the only reason the letters AD, BC, CE or BCE even have any meaning is because of this event.

What is that event?  Jesus.

The calendar you use, the newspaper you read, the TV guide you look to for your favorite show has value because of the life of a carpenter that lived around 2014 years ago. 

You may need exact dates and I can respect that, but I ask you to stop for a moment and ponder this.  We celebrate July 4 each year.  Why?  It is because of a document that was crafted by men who led a young country named the United States.  We know that because of the historical writings of many during that era.   The news was recorded by those who supported the newly formed nation as well as those who opposed.

The same is true of the historical Jesus.  He was written about by those who supported and those who opposed.  You can check it out.

So, I close my short post (written by a short man) with this thought.  If Jesus’ arrival put into place a time measuring system that your company uses for its fiscal policies, governments around the world use for their treaties and documents, newspapers around this globe use for their distribution of news (including TV news) then maybe you should allow yourself to investigate this phenomenon.

Till next time, you have a glorious August 10, 2014…