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