Evidently early Christians were as confused as we seem to be about the age
of Christ. I offer the following passage from a thirteenth-century
anti-Jewish treatise I am studying:
"John Chrysostom says that Jesus fulfilled the justice of the Law for thirty
years. After thirty years he was baptised, which seems to be contrary to
the Gospel where Luke says, " Jesus was beginning his thirtieth year," (Lc
3,23). Thus he had not finished his thirtieth year, but he had begun the
thirtieth, and a year is counted for the whole, and afterwards he taught the
justice of the Gospel in that thirtieth year and in the two folllowing
years. And thus for three years he fulfilled the justice of the Gospel."
This passage shows that the question whether Jesus died at age thirty-two or
thirty-three is an old one. I haven't found the citation to Chrysostom (but
I haven't looked very hard). If someone recognizes it, I would love to
know. I suspect that a look at the the _Glossa ordinaria_ for the passage
from Luke might turn up a discussion of patristic opinion on the question.
Lucy K. Pick
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Lucy K. Pick
Nuveen Instructor
Divinity School
University of Chicago
1025 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
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