The first Passover festival mentioned by John takes place on 14 Nisan 3790, beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday, 6 April 30. Passover lasts seven days, thus ending on Thursday, 13 April. The Jews regarded the Feast of Unleavened Bread, beginning the following day, as part of Passover. We wish to analyse this information, crucial to our study, and make three observations.
The first, and most important for us, is this reference to the time of Passover. Using the perpetual Jewish calendar, it allows us to date the day precisely to 7 April 30. In his Gospel, John places events in chronological context three times by specifying Passover festivals attended by and his disciples (John 2.13; John 6.4; John 11.55). One festival is therefore missing from this list, and we must place it according to the information available. We have in mind the festival mentioned in John 5.1. This is how he confirms the prophet Daniel’s predictions of a three-and-a-half-year ministry.
Here are the references and dates of the four Passover festivals mentioned by John:
- First Passover: Friday, 7 April 30 (John 2.13)
- Second Passover: Monday, 24 March 31 (John 5.1)
- Third Passover: Monday, 12 April 32 (John 6.4)
- Fourth Passover: Friday, 1 April 33 (John 11.55).
The second observation concerns John’s distinction in specifying that this is the Passover of the Jews. We find the same distinction for the second, and even for the festival mentioned in John 5:1. Only the last escapes this rule, probably because it is changing with Jesus the Messiah’s crucifixion. It becomes the Passover of all humanity (1 Corinthians 5.7).
The third observation is that Jesus the Messiah observes Jewish law. He participates in the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for this important festival. The law of Moses (Numbers 9.1-14) did not prescribe going to Jerusalem, since this city did not exist when the text was written.
The pilgrimage was therefore established much later as a Jewish rite rather than a prescription of the law of Moses. Jesus the Messiah and his disciples extend their stay, since John reports events that could only take place over several days. This festival occurs four months after the , the last event John recorded. We know nothing of what happened in the intervening period.
We have suggested that Jesus the Messiah spent this time working with John the Baptist in the region of Aenon near Salim, in northern Judea.