From: David Moore (dvdmoore@dcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us)
Date: Mon Dec 18 1995 - 21:00:37 EST
In making what I hope is a timely reference to Jesus's attendance
in Jerusalem at the feast of Hanukkah (John 10:22), and also, possibly, at
John 5:1, If we read according to the Nestle 27th text (i.e. "*a* feast of
the Jews" in stead of "*the* feast of the Jews"). Let me suggest that the
narrative of the Fourth Gospel may contain a plausible chronological
record of Jesus' ministry. There are a number of references to different
holidays and times of the year in John as follows: three Passovers
(including that of His crucifixion) referred to in 2:13; 6:4; and 11:55.
What appears to be another identifiable time reference is found in John
4:35, "Say not ye, there are yet four months and then cometh the
harvest..." Four months before the barley and flax harvest would
correspond to the time of sowing (cf. 4:36, 37) about the month of Chislev
(=Nov.-Dec.).
If we take John 5:1 according to the Nestle 27th text (i.e. "*a*
feast of the Jews" in stead of "*the* feast of the Jews"), the feast
referred to could be that of the dedication (Hanukkah), which, coming at
the end of Chislev would allow time for Jesus to have returned to
Jerusalem from Galilee if the events of Jn. 4:4-42 took place toward the
first part of that month. The Passover mentioned in 6:4 would then be the
second one of His ministry. And the feeding of the five thousand would
have taken place in the first two weeks of the following Nisan, or just
before that in late Adar,. This time of year would agree with what
Matthew and Mark say about the (green [Mk.]) grass on which the crowds
reclined. This would have been present in the spring about the time of
the latter rains which would correspond to the time mentioned (Mat. 14:19;
Mk. 6:39).
John 7:2 would refer to the feast of Tabernacles of the same year,
and vv. 37, 38 are probably a reference to the pouring out of water which
was prominent at that feast. The festival in winter in Jn. 10:22, as
mentioned above, would be the feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) on 25 Chislev
(Nov.-Dec.), in the latter part of that same Julian year. And the
Passover of Jn. 11:5, on the eve of which Jesus died, most probably
corresponds to that of the following spring.
Eusebius's cites Papius to the effect that Mark's Gospel renders
the Gospel information faithfully but does not preserve a careful ordering
of the events of the Lord's life (Eusebius III:39). If this testimony be
credible, and if Luke and Matthew (at least in the form we have the
latter) were influenced by Mark's ordering of the material, John may
represent the best testimony we have regarding the chronology of the life
of Christ.
Raymond Brown, in his commentary on John, notes the possibility of
the historicity of the chronology of the Fourth Gospel but mainly discounts
it on theoretical redactional grounds (R. Brown, _The Gospel According to
John_ [Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1966], pp. xlvi-li).
Nevertheless, I find these references in John intriguing -
especially from the standpoint that they can be fit into a plausible
chronology. Also, the reference to 46 years for the building of the
temple provides a plausible figure for the number of years the temple
would have been under construction from Herod's initiating its building in
19 BC (Josephus, Antiq. XV 380), if the words recorded in Jn. 2:20 had
been spoken in 28 AD. This, of course, would be taking the aorist
OIKODOMHQH as referring to the building as an event accomplished in so
many years. The imperfect would probably not be required here, although
the temple was not yet complete, for Jesus had referred to TO NAON TOUTON
(v. 19) indicating what was then standing.
Regards,
David L. Moore Southeastern Spanish District
Miami, Florida of the Assemblies of God
dvdmoore@dcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us Department of Education
http://members.aol.com/dvdmoore
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