This continuation of my study of the miracles in the Gospel of John will focus on them in conjunction with the appointed feast and sacred assemblies found in Leviticus 23. In Chapter 20:30,31 John states the reason he was writing: 1. To highlight SOME of the miracles Jesus did. 2. To show these miracles as proof that Jesus was the Son of God. (I feel John was making a defense and creating an offense against the ‘false brothers’ who were coming.)

Who, why, and how someone decided that there were only seven miracles must have been a product of Common Core math (that is a joke). I will repeat some information from my first post and from +1, +1, +1. There are many books, articles, videos, and sermons on the Feast; please read several because of the vast number of viewpoints on this subject.

See Leviticus 23, Exodus 23:10-17, and 34:18-23 for these special days. In keeping with why John wrote his gospel, these feasts speak to and about Jesus’ mission.

1. Sabbath, the day of rest each week.
2. Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits are together in the first month of the Jewish religious year.
3. Feast of Weeks or Pentecost is fifty days/seven weeks (plus one day) after the wave offering of Firstfruits. This is around the barley harvest that we find in the Book of Ruth.
4. The seventh month has three feasts on different days: Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement/Yon Kippur, Feast of Tabernacles. The Day of Atonement is/was the most important, and these kept you involved from the 1^st to the 21^st of that month. This was after all of the harvesting was done, so it was a big deal each year.
5. Hanukkah or the Feast of Dedication is not in Leviticus or Exodus. It is a celebration when a miracle of the temple lamp stayed burning for eight days on a one-day supply of oil. In Father God’s Song that miracle of oil and light could be the birthtime of Jesus. Yes, I calculated the months/days from the information in Luke and the 12 Days of Christmas, December 25^th to January 6 or Epiphany, are reasonable.

I have heard there is a list of things the Messiah had to do to prove Himself to Israel and become ‘the Man’ in Psalm 110. So, in John 2:8 when the leaders asked for a sign, and in 6:30 the people asked for a sign, this is what they were looking for; Jesus did not perform for them. However, in John 2:23 Jesus did miracles and the people believed, I guess some of the leaders were not paying attention. Nicodemus did pay attention, so in Chapter Three he talked to Jesus. In John 6, Jesus had given them the sign of feeding 5,000 men and their families, with leftovers just like Elisha in 2 Kings 4:42,43.

This is lagniappe, John the Baptist is compared to Elijah; that would make Jesus like Elisha. In my first post many of those signs I attributed to Elisha. The Elisha connect may explain why John added 4:54 about Cana/Galilee and leaving Judea; Elisha started his ministry at the Jordan near Jericho which is the territory of Judea (These are really the only two numbered miracles and they are specific to Cana).

John | The amazing name John: meaning and etymology

I will tell on myself, the first two times through this list I did not include the Sabbath. Jesus did miracles on the Sabbath to show that the Son of Man was Lord of the Sabbath. Reflect on John 5:17 “My Father is always at work…” and John 6:29 “The work of God is to believe in the one He has sent.”

Now, I will attempt to sort out the Feast and Miracles in John.

• Chapter 1 tells of Creation 1:3, Jesus’ birth 1:14, John the Baptist 1:15, and Nathanal’s vision 1:47.
• Hanukkah to Passover, Chapter 2, the miracle of the wine
• The first Passover in His forty months of ministry. 2:23, Jesus did miraculous signs that the people and Nicodemus saw. 3:14-15, Jesus’ foretells how He dies for our salvation.
• Pentecost to Day of Atonement may be indicated by 4:35 with the “months to harvest”. In 4:46 Jesus has returned to Cana and does a long-distance healing of the son in Capernaum.
• Seventh month- the Day of Atonement, 5:1, and a special Sabbath 5:9 Jesus heals an invalid of 38 years and in verse 25 may foretell of raising Lazarus. 38 years is the length of time the Children wandered after Mt. Sinai.
• Second Passover is approaching, 6:4, 6:5 starts the feeding of the 5,000 and 6:16 has Him walking on water. 6:2 crowds followed Him because of healings. 6:14 because of this sign the people knew this answered a sign.
• Day of Atonement/Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus is in Jerusalem for several chapters. 7:22,23 are questions about the Sabbath. 9:1 starts the narrative on the man born blind and his healing; verse 16 concerns the sabbath, again.
• Hanukkah, 10:22 and 22-42 centers on the sabbath again.
• The final Passover and its time of purification, 11:1 to 19:31 (indicates a special sabbath). 11:1 is the story of raising Lazarus; Jesus was on the east bank of the Jordan. He crossed the river and went back. His ride into Jerusalem is like Joshua, David and Elisha’s crossing the Jordan. 12:12 starts His final Passover and ends with His death and resurrection.
• Firstfruits, 20:19 is Jesus appearing to the Eleven and others in a locked room.
• Firstfruits to Pentecost, Peter’s second catch of fish and his restoration.

Remember John’s purpose in writing, he chose certain things to prove Jesus as the Son of God. He does not write a complete history, as is seen by Chapters 6 and 7. Celebrating the second Passover and Pentecost is not mentioned but goes to the Day of Atonement in Chapter 7.

Observations and Reflections

1. John does not talk about Jesus and the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost; what are your thoughts as to why.
2. Matthew, Mark and Luke share some of the same miracles as John, but include many others. Why?
3. You can extend this study by going through Matthew and see how miracles and feasts are handled in that Gospel.