The
Chronology of Jesus depicts the attempt to establish a historical
chronology for the events of the life of
Jesus depicted in the four canonical
gospels (which allude to various dates for several events). Relating those externally known events to the chronology in the gospels themselves produces the following reconstructed chronology.
When correlated with external secular sources, the accounts of the four canonical gospels describe something like the following outline
See Historicity of Jesus and Historical Jesus for an exploration of the factuality of the gospels and the results of attempts to apply historical methodology to understanding the life of Jesus.
The chronology of Jesus is linked to a number of Jewish festivals. There are numerous references to specific times, people, and places in the four canonical gospels, but only a few tie events to a specific year, leaving exact timing uncertain and perhaps impossible to ascertain definitively. For example, the specific years of Jesus's birth, and death are not known. Some events and dates given can be cross-referenced to other sources, such as the tenure of rulers and high priests. The gospels do, however, provide clear references to specific days of the year associated with the yearly Jewish festivals, and provide much evidence to build upon.
