More About Jesus
When I was about nine years old, I had a conversation with a man in my neighborhood who had been drinking. He asked me, “Do you know who Jesus is?” I gave him a simple answer. He looked at me and said, “You’re really smart.” Looking back, it didn’t mean I was particularly smart; it just showed that I had a basic understanding of who Jesus is.
Let’s dive into some things about Jesus you may or may not have heard before.
When was Jesus born?
As I write this it is the year 2025 AD. I used to think BC stood for “Before Christ.” Right! I also thought AD meant “After Death,” as in after Jesus died. Wrong! AD actually stands for Anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning “in the year of our Lord.” This refers to the time starting from Jesus’ birth.
If AD begins with Jesus’ birth, you might assume Jesus was born in the year 1 AD. That’s not quite right. Based on historical evidence, Jesus was most likely born between 4 BC and 6 BC. This timing lines up with the reign of King Herod, who died in 4 BC and while Jesus was alive.
How did we get this wrong. A monk came up with the AD/BC system in the 6th century, but he made some mistakes when calculating the year Jesus was born. We’ve just gone with his system ever since.
Does it really matter if Jesus was born in 4 BC or 1 AD? Not at all. What truly matters is that He was born. That’s the most important part of the story!
I’m Lonnie Davis and these are thoughts worth thinking.