Was Jesus born in the year 0? I guess the BC-AD thing means he was, but I have never read the actual date in the Bible. Also, I am wondering what year he was killed. Can you help me?
700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied his birth and sacrificial death in great detail (Isaiah 7, 9, 11, 53, etc). Copies of Isaiah have survived from 150-100 BC, and are on display in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Yet the Old Testament prophecies never specified the exact year. Christ was most likely born in Bethlehem around 2-1 BC. (Herod the Great, who tried to kill him, died in 1 BC). This fulfilled the prophecy of Micah 5, many centuries earlier.
Our calendar, which was created in the Middle Ages and is based on several chronological errors, has Jesus being born before his true birthday! Keep in mind also that there is no "year zero." B.C. conventionally means "before Christ," but A.D. means "Anno Domini"—Latin for in the year of our Lord. That's why there is no year zero.
Jesus began his public ministry when he was "about 30," probably in 29 AD, based on the chronology of Luke 2 and 3. He ministered in an area about 10,000 mi2, similar in size to the very smallest state of the United States. (In other words, he ministered to a region far smaller than 1% of 1% of the planet -- but what an impact!)
As for his death, Jesus was likely crucified in 33 AD. Crucifixion was never inflicted on Roman citizens (except for treason). It was a more common method of execution for slaves, revolutionaries, and hardened criminals.
