Is it true that Jesus was 37 years OLD not 33?

Answer 1

If the only information we know about the date of Jesus' birth is that he was born during the long reign of Herod the Great, we can not possibly know how old Jesus was when he died. Herod died early in the year 4 BCE, so if Jesus was crucified in 30 CE as some believe, then he was at least 35 years old, possibly much more. Based on John's Gospel, some believe that Jesus was crucified in 33 CE, in which case Jesus would have been at least 38 years old and, again, possibly much more.

Answer 2

Just how old Jesus when he died was is guesswork based on a few clues that may or may not be useful.

Luke 3:23 says that when Jesus was baptised, he was "about thirty years of age." Luke 3:1 says this was in the fifteenth year pof the reign of Tiberius, therefore about 29 CE. The reference to Tiberius presumably means that the age of Jesus could only have been approximate, since if Jesus was born during the reign of King Herod, he would have already been at least 34 years old.

John's Gospel describes the mission of Jesus as taking three years (although the synoptic gospels arguably only have one year), so from Luke's "about thirty years of age," Jesus would have been about 33 years old when he was crucified.