The objective of the issues considered here is to establish when the anointing of Jesus occurred and to show that this constituted his coming.  Then show that this fulfilled the prophecy at the right time.

The Anointing of Jesus
Did It Occur at His Baptism?

At the baptism of Jesus, the Bible records that the Holy Spirit came down from heaven in the form of a dove and came to Jesus.  At the same time, a voice was heard from Heaven saying "...You are My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have been delighting." (Mark 1:11)  This is a very visible and audible sign of Jesus’ anointing with the Holy Spirit. 

Now, consider the word Messiah in Daniel 9:25.  What does the Hebrew word translated as "Messiah" mean in the original Hebrew?  The author checked on this with a Hebrew-English dictionary and found that it means, "anointed" or "anointed one".  Therefore, when the angel said that it was 69 weeks until the Messiah, he was really saying it was 69 weeks until the "anointed one.”   Obviously, this could mean an anointing of some kind would mark Jesus’ arrival. Any time before that anointing would not count because he was not then the anointed one. 

One suggestion that this is probably true is found in the previous verse, Daniel 9:24 which says: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."   The phrase "most Holy" usually refers to things, but it can also refer to a saint.  In this case, the author believes that it is reasonable to see it referring to Jesus, but it is not provable from the information present in Daniel 9. 

Anointing in the Old Testament, particularly with respect to the sanctuary and its services, was for one of two purposes. First, to set apart for a sacred purpose or religious use, the word consecrate (meaning dedicated to a sacred purpose) would fit well for this purpose. Second, anointing is a way of freeing from or purifying from sin. Jesus did not sin, so the only purpose for which anointing could appear to serve would be to consecrate his life for the work ahead of him.

One has to remember that one purpose of prophecy is to show that God knows events ahead of time with great accuracy.  God does this to demonstrate that he is real, and that he can plan our lives accurately enough to guide us safely into heaven.  If God's predictions are imprecise, then this lowers the credibility of God's claim to be the ruler of this universe. In this particular case, it would seem that God wants everyone to have clear evidence of who Jesus was and when he would arrive so that there would be no question about it.  Therefore, it seems logical that God would provide a way for us to be certain of when he came and it would be a definite time with a clearly marked event. The baptism of Jesus with the voice from heaven and the Spirit coming down on Jesus in the form of a dove certainly qualifies.

Part of a priest's work consisted of offering sacrifices for the sins of the people.   However, a priest could NOT offer up any sacrifice in the temple unless previously set apart or anointed for doing the work of a Priest. Consequently, his anointing for office had to occur before he could offer a sacrifice for others.  Jesus offered up his own life as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.  Since the priesthood teaches us about the life work of Jesus, both here on earth and after he returned to heaven. Thus, it is clear that like the priests before Him, Jesus required anointing BEFORE He could offer himself as the sacrifice for the sins of others, or His sacrifice would be unacceptable.

Was the baptism, the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the declaration of God at that time the consecration or anointing of Jesus?  We must answer this question in order to know whether the baptism of Jesus is the arrival time of the Messiah.

In answer to that question, one needs to consider that when consecrating a priest for his priestly duties, he went through a public ceremony that indicated to the public at large that he was dedicating his life to a specific purpose.  In the case of the priests, God defined how to perform the consecration ceremony, so by following His guidelines on ceremonial procedures, the person was indicating acceptance of the conditions that God placed upon becoming a priest.  Because the priests followed the procedure outlined by God, people would expect that God would accept the priest as the mediator for the people.  One would also expect that the Holy Spirit would come upon the person in a stronger way than before because the priest now dedicated his life to work for God.

It would seem that these same things happened at the baptism of Jesus.  We can understand from his actions that He had made a decision to proceed with the plan that God had outlined in the Bible for his life.  He went through a public ceremony that had come to symbolize turning towards a new life in God, which He did to set an example for us of what we are to do.  This dedicated His life to a specific purpose, which was His mission that was yet before Him.  The Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove, indicating it was now present in His life in a special way.  People heard the voice of God declaring that Jesus was God's son and God's acceptance of Jesus.  This means God also accepted Jesus as the mediator for humanity.  Therefore, it would appear that Jesus met all the requirements of consecration or anointing.  Hence, this was the anointing of Jesus for His ministry.  Nothing else in His life would qualify because only at His baptism were all these elements present.

It is interesting what the Bible has to say about the anointing of King David.  Here is what it says:

1 Sam 16:13  Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

At the anointing of David, the Spirit of God came upon him from then on.  When the Spirit of God came upon Jesus in the form of a dove, is this not a visible sign of his anointing?  The Spirit of God came upon him from that day forward, just as it did upon David at his anointing.  Is this telling us something?  The author believes that this verse is telling us that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus is the anointing, and that in the case of David, anointing him with oil was a symbol of what God was doing at that moment in his mind.  Likewise, at the baptism of Jesus, the baptism was a symbol of what God was doing at that moment.

WWe cannot set our life apart for a sacred purpose by merely exercising our human will. We can will it but cannot carry it out want proof?  See: Rom 8:7  "because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God's law, neither indeed can it be."   That requires the Spirit of God to change the life and make it so that it will follow through with the dedication towards a sacred purpose on an ongoing basis.  Therefore, in any consecration, if the Holy Spirit is missing, it will not last and therefore has no value.  The ultimate point of this is that anointing is actually something that occurs inwardly through the agency of the Holy Spirit.  We may see the outward act, but the inward process is what really counts.  Anything less is worthless.

Here in the words of Jesus is proof that the anointing had to have occurred before His entry into Jerusalem on a donkey:

Luke 4:18  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,"

Notice that in this verse, Jesus connects the presence of the Holy Spirit to the anointing that He HAD ALREADY RECEIVED FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT.    Notice that carefully.  He said His anointing came from the Holy Spirit and that it had already happened.  This makes it clear that anointing is an act involving the Holy Spirit.  He uses the verb "hath" meaning a past tense verb indicating this is something already accomplished.  When did He say this?  This verse, in chapter four of Luke, follows the chapter detailing the baptism of Jesus.  This would strongly suggest that the event associated with the event in Luke 4:18 happened soon after the baptism of Jesus, and certainly long before His entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. 

Since Jesus began His public work almost immediately after His baptism,  it is clear from His own behavior that His anointing had already occurred.  Jesus situation is similar to that of a priest, who would need anointing first and then he could begin his work.

The audible voice from God out of the heavens declaring Jesus to be His son is the same as a declaration of Jesus as the Messiah.  Nobody else has ever had this happen to him or her.  Here is evidence that this voice declaring Jesus the son of God is the same as declaring him the Messiah.  To the Jewish high priest in charge of his trial, it is clear that being the "son of God" was equivalent to being the Messiah.  The Greek word Christ means the same thing as Messiah, a Hebrew word.  Here is what the high priest said at the trial in regards to this issue (he said it in the form of a question but it reveals his thinking by the choice of words he uses):

Mat 26:63  "But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God."

Here the high priest equates being the Son of God with being the Christ.  Hence, when God stated at the baptism of Jesus that this was his son, he was announcing to the world "WAKE UP WORLD - HERE IS THE MESSIAH!"   Therefore, this announcement at His baptism IS the coming of the Messiah.  There can be no doubt about it.  No other event later in the life of Jesus can claim to be His first public arrival as the Messiah.  This is clearly the event spoken of by the prophet Daniel in Daniel 9:24-27.

Therefore, his coming was at his baptism.  No other event can count.

Dating the Baptism of Jesus - When Was It?

Now that we know what actually happened at the baptism of Jesus, let us turn our attention to the evidence for dating that event.  We can date the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist to the autumn of 27 A.D, based on the historical information recorded in Luke 3.  It is reasonable to believe that Jesus came to John for baptism soon after.  Here is evidence by which we know that to be true:  the book of John seems to indicate that the ministry of Jesus lasted about 3 1/2 years.  We know that He died the day after celebrating the Passover with His disciples, which means He would have died in the spring.  His public ministry had to have started roughly 3 1/2 years before in the autumn.  Now think about this carefully.  If Jesus came to John for baptism in the autumn of 27 A.D, then his ministry of 3 1/2 years would have taken him to his death in the spring of 31 A.D.  It also would have fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel exactly. 

Here is a graphic illustration of this (time not to scale):

|----69 weeks/years----|--------------70th week----------------|
|-------483 years------|----3 1/2 years----|----3 1/2 years----|
Decree issued in         Baptism in                        34 A.D.
Autumn of 457 B.C.      Autumn of 27 A.D.  Death in spring of 31 A.D.

There is no absolute proof in Luke that John baptized Jesus in the autumn of 27 A.D, but it is clear just from the historical record that it was soon after John the Baptist came into public view.  However, Jesus Himself provides a clue about the dating of the baptism, that His baptism came at the end of the 483-year period.  He provided this clue when he went about preaching that "...The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15  He did this right after His baptism. 

What time is he talking about here?  There were over 300 prophecies of the coming of Jesus, but none of them except the prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27 gave any indication of Exactly When this would happen, so it is only reasonable to believe that He must have had that prophecy of Daniel 9 in mind when He made the statement recorded in Mark 1:15.  Jesus would certainly know whether He had fulfilled that prophecy and he would know whether the timing of the prophecy is the right time.  Now, the only time that can reasonably be right is 27 A.D, at the end of the 483 years, only if we use 457 B.C. as the starting date.  Therefore, this is a clue that Jesus baptism occurred in the autumn of 27 A.D.   Certainly, the evidence here is indirect, but it does lend support to the case.

The ultimate point of when the anointing occurred is that there is no other date than the 457 BC decree date and going forward 483 solar years, by which you arrive at the baptism of Jesus.  Any other decree date, specifically 444 B.C, and you will NOT arrive at his baptism so far as is known, even with the use of a shorter year (such as the 360-day year).  Based on the evidence above, it is imperative that the date fall on his baptism.

How long is it from 457 B.C. to 27 A.D?   We know it is 483 years.  Here is how the math works for calculating this: Number of Years = AD Date - BC Date - 1 = 27 - (-457) - 1 = 483.  Remember according to the formula, we define BC Dates as negative numbers, which explains the -457 in the formula.

Since Jesus was about 30 years of age when he was baptized (Luke 3:23 "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,") this could only have happened if He was baptized in the fall of 27 A.D. This is so because He was born no later than 4 B.C, before Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. The time between 4 B.C. and 27 A.D. is 30 years.  Hence, baptism in the autumn of 27 A.D. is the most logical choice, as it would fit the evidence for His age and the dating of the work of John the Baptist.

If His baptism occurred in say, 31 A.D, then He would have been about 34 years old, probably too old to say He was "about thirty years of age."   Priests usually began their work at 30 years of age.  Hence, Jesus’ baptism occurred earlier and any use of a later decree date and shorter year would have missed His baptism, which is when He came as the Messiah.  Therefore, all these other dating methods fail to make the mark, so we reject them as fallacious ideas.

To summarize, the following evidences are available to support the idea that the baptism occurred in 27 A.D, which clearly implies that the beginning date for the 70-weeks must be 457 B.C:

1. Jesus said that the time was fulfilled, which was said soon after His baptism, implying that the prophecy of Daniel 9 of the 69 weeks was complete.

2. John baptized Jesus, when Jesus was about 30 years of age.  Since He was born no later than 4 B.C, this clearly suggests that the baptism must have happened about 30 years later, or 27 A.D.

3. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was upon him and anointed Jesus to carry out a mission from God.  He said this anointing was from the Holy Spirit and had already occurred when He made this statement shortly after His baptism.  This made Him the "anointed one" - the Messiah.  Jesus statement indicates that He had arrived as the Messiah long before entering Jerusalem on a donkey.

4. The high priest equated being the Son of God with being the Messiah.  God announced at the baptism of Jesus that this was His son, so by doing that, He was indicating that the Messiah had arrived at that moment in time.

5. Jesus began his ministry only after His baptism. Like the priests, God consecrated Jesus before He started His work and His sacrifice. The anointing of a priest occurred before they begin their work, at the baptism of Jesus the Holy Spirit anointed Him, thus God through the Holy Spirit anointed Jesus before he started his ministry.

6. We know that John began his work in the autumn of 27 A.D.  3 1/2 years of ministry would carry Jesus forward to the spring of 31 A.D. when He died.  If John baptized Jesus shortly after John started His work, then all would work out according to prophecy.  While one cannot prove conclusively that Jesus' baptism took place in the autumn of 27 A.D, it is very logical that His baptism did take place then, considering the time constraints and the time given by the prophecy in Daniel.

7. Use of the 444 B.C. date for the decree and even use of a shorter calendar year (360 days) overshoots the time for the baptism of Jesus by several years because it places the end of the 69 weeks in 33 A.D.  With his age and other factors pointing towards a baptism in 27 A.D, the evidence is against use of a shortened year and a 444 B.C. decree date.

8. Given all the evidences above, it is logical that Jesus' baptism occurred in the autumn of 27 A.D.  Given that this is reasonably true, it is also reasonably true then that the starting date for the 70-week prophecy must be 457 B.C.  You cannot work backwards using anything other than solar years and the termination date of 27 A.D. and come to any date that has a decree attached to it from the Persian kings, including the 444 B.C. date.