Thursday, October 24, 2013

John 6, Chronology, and the Lord's Supper


         One sometimes hears that in his gospel John is not concerned with time or with timing.  That is simply false.  I often hear this assertion when I argue that the so-called “bread of life discourse” in John 6 is not about the Passover, the Last Supper, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, which are many chapters and much time away. Consider the following items:

Day one:  1:19-28
         “on the morrow”:  1: 29-34
         “on the morrow”:  1: 35-42
         “on the morrow”:  1: 43-50
Day three:                       2: 1-11
         “after this:              2: 12
         “abode not many days”
The Passover at hand:  2: 13-22
During Passover             2: 23-3: 21
During activity of John the Baptist 4: 1ff
         “after two days”:   4: 43
         “after these things”: 5: 1-47
         “after these things”: 6: 1-21
Passover at hand:  6: 4
         “on the morrow”:    6: 22-59
         “after these things”: 7:1-13
Feast of the tabernacles:  7: 2
         “the midst of the feast” 7: 14
Feast of dedication:  10: 22-39
Passover at hand:  11: 54-57
         “six days before the Passover”:  12: 1-11
         “on the morrow”:  12: 12-36a
Before the Feast of the Passover (13:1)
         “sixth hour”: 19:14
         “preparation”: 19: 31
         first day: 20: 1-18
                  evening: 20: 19-25
         eighth day: 20: 26-29
“After these things”: 21: 1-23

*from Merrill C. Tenney,  John:  The Gospel of Belief, pp. 40, 41
        

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