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| JOHN 5:1, The Feast of 28 A.D. |
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JOHN 5:1 The Feast of 28 A.D.
As
usual, William Hendriksen provides a good analysis. Hence, we do not know just when the great miracle on which our attention is fixed in this chapter occurred. We do know that it was when there was a feast of the Jews; but this indication, too, is rather indefinite. To which feast does the author refer? In discussing this question the following Table of Jewish Festivals which require consideration in this connection may be helpful. The names of the months are, of course, approximate; i.e., they do not correspond exactly to those of the Jewish religious calendar. The period covered extends from Christ's baptism to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
During the Year 27 A.D.
Purim
Passover Pentecost
Tabernacles Dedication
Purim Passover Pentecost Tabernacles Dedication
Purim Passover Pentecost Tabernacles Dedication
12:1; 13:1; Acts 2:1 By glancing at this Table it is immediately obvious that the feast indicated in 5:1 cannot belong to the year 26 A.D. or even to the year 27 A.D., for 4:35 already carried us to December of 27 A.D. It has been suggested that the Passover mentioned in 6:4 is that of 28 A. D., and that, accordingly, the feast of 5:1 is Purim of that year.
Against this view we present the following objections: (2) Purim was not a pilgrim feast. It was celebrated in the local synagogues where for that occasion the book of Esther was read amid great joy. (3) The Passover mentioned in 6:4 carries us to the close of the Great Galilean Ministry. Now if that Passover occurred in 28 A.D., this entire lengthy ministry, during which so very many events occurred, would be crowded into a period of four months. This will never do. Now if the feast of 5:1 was not Purim of 28 A.D., and if (as is clear from 6:1: after these things) it cannot be the Passover of 6:4, then the latter must be dated in the year 29 A.D. We arrive at the conclusion, therefore, that the feast of 5:1, if it was one of the three Jewish pilgrim feasts,(111) must have been either Passover or Pentecost or Tabernacles of the year 28 A.D. Of these three the term feast of the Jews (5:1) is used elsewhere in the Fourth Gospel to indicate either Passover (6:4) or feast of Tabernacles (7:2). In both cases, moreover, the original has the definite article preceding the noun feast. Accordingly, the omission of that article here in 5:1 according to the best textual evidence, does not decide the question either way. We conclude, therefore, by stating as our opinion that this unnamed feast a. was one of the three pilgrim feasts; b. must be dated in the year 28 A.D.; and c. was, in all probability either Passover or feast of Tabernacles (without ruling out the possibility that it was Pentecost). In favor of the Passover two additional arguments are sometimes presented: 1. this is supported by the tradition of Ireneus, and 2. this was the only feast which the Israelites were required to attend. However, the evidence is not entirely conclusive. (111) It is hard to believe that at this time Jesus would have gone to Jerusalem to attend one of the lesser feasts, such as that of Wood-offering or even that of Trumpets, though these too are favored by some commentators. | ||
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İRon Wallace, http://www.biblefragrances.com.
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