The Sign at the Pool of Bethesda

1. After this Better, After these things, a more indefinite sequence.

a feast of the Jews This is the reading of highest authority, although some important MSS. read - thefeast of the Jews," probably because from very early times this feast was believed to be the Passover. If - afeast" is the true reading, this alone is almost conclusive against its being the Passover; S. John would not call the Passover -a feast of the Jews." Moreover in all other cases where he mentions Passovers he lets us know that they are Passovers and not simply feasts, John 2:13; John 6:4; John 11:55, &c. He gives us three Passovers; to make this a fourth would be to put an extra year into our Lord's ministry for which scarcely any events can be found, and of which there is no trace elsewhere. Almost every other feast, and even the Day of Atonement, have been suggested; but the only one which fits in satisfactorily is Purim. We saw from John 4:35 that the two days in Samaria were either in December or January. The next certain date Isaiah 6:4, the eve of the Passover, i.e. April. Purim, which was celebrated in March (14th and 15th Adar), falls just in the right place in the interval. This feast commemorated the deliverance of the Jews from Haman, and took its name from the lotswhich he caused to be cast (Esther 3:7; Esther 9:24; Esther 9:26; Esther 9:28). It was a boisterous feast, and some have thought it unlikely that Christ would have anything to do with it. But we are not told that He went to Jerusalem in order to keep the feast; Purim might be kept anywhere. More probably He went because the multitudes at the feast would afford great opportunities for teaching. Moreover, it does not follow that because some made this feast a scene of unseemly jollity, therefore Christ would discountenance the feast itself.

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