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WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?: M. M. NINAN<br />
CHAPTER FIVE<br />
TEMPLE SERVICE OF ZACHARIAH<br />
AND<br />
LUKE’S DATING<br />
The temple service of Zachariah<br />
Luke the historian starts the gospel narrative itself with the story of the<br />
birth of John the Baprist and connects this with the birth of <strong>Jesus</strong>. As a<br />
historian writing to a Roman nobleman who <strong>was</strong> contemperory with<br />
the events Luke is the most reliable person in historical matters. This is<br />
how Luke starts the gospel itself emphasizing this fact.<br />
“Dear Theophilus: Many people have done their best to write a report<br />
of the things that have taken place among us. They wrote what we have<br />
been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who<br />
proclaimed the message. And so, Your Excellency, because I have<br />
carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it<br />
would be good to write an orderly account for you. “<br />
(Luk 1:1-3)<br />
Relying on this assertion, this calculation is based on the temple service<br />
of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. According to Luke 1:5 he<br />
<strong>was</strong> a priest of the order of Abijah. He <strong>was</strong> performing his duties,<br />
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