How Old Was Jesus When He Started His Ministry
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The exact age of Jesus when He began His ministry is an open question. The New Testament provides few details about Jesus’ life between His birth and the beginning of His ministry.
Based on the timeline of Jesus’ life provided in the Gospels, scholars believe He may have been around 30 years old when He began His ministry. Some believe He was as old as 33 (the traditional ‘age of the Messiah’).
The start of Jesus’ ministry is thought to be marked by His baptism by John the Baptist. According to the Gospel of Luke, this happened “when [Jesus] was about thirty years of age”, which would make Him roughly 30 years old. However, it is possible that Jesus was a few years older.
The Gospel of Mark mentions an incident where Jesus was “about twelve years old” at a Passover feast in Jerusalem. Based on this information, some scholars believe Jesus was closer to 33 when He began His ministry.
There is also the possibility that Jesus’ ministry began as late as 35. This theory is based on a teaching of the rabbis of Jesus’ time, who held that a rabbi must be at least 35 years of age.
No matter how old He was, what is certain is that Jesus began His ministry at a pivotal moment in history. He left the safety of His family’s carpentry business and took on the greatest challenge of His life— the teaching and spreading of the gospel.