John 5:1

“After this there was a feast of the Jews, etc.] After Christ had been in Samaria, which was four months ago, (<430435>John 4:35), and had been in Galilee for that time, and had cured the nobleman’s son, and had done other mighty works, the time came on for one of the three festivals of the Jews; either the feast of Pentecost, as some think; or as others, the feast of tabernacles; or rather, the feast of the passover, so called, in (<430445>John 4:45) since John is very particular, in giving an account of the several passovers, in Christ’s ministry: and Jesus went up to Jerusalem; according to the law of God, which obliged all the males to appear there at that time; and to show his compliance…”

“THE IMPOTENT MAN HEALED--DISCOURSE OCCASIONED BY THE PERSECUTION ARISING THEREUPON. (John 5:1-47) a feast of the Jews--What feast? No question has more divided the Harmonists of the Gospels, and the duration of our Lord's ministry may be said to hinge on it. For if, as the majority have thought (until of late years) it was a Passover, His ministry lasted three and a half years; if not, probably a year less. Those who are dissatisfied with the Passover-view all differ among themselves what other feast it was, and some of the most acute think there are no grounds for deciding. In our judgment the evidence is in favor of its being a Passover, but the reasons cannot be stated here.”

“A feast - Probably the Passover, though it is not certain. There were two other feasts - the Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles - at which all the males were required to be present, and it might have been one of them. It is of no consequence, however, which of them is intended. return to 'Top of Page'”

“A feast - Pentecost. John 5:2”

“5:1–10:42 In this section Jesus appears at a series of Jewish festivals and uses their imagery to reveal more profound truths about himself. He appears at a Sabbath (ch 5), Passover (ch 6), the Festival of Shelters (chs 7–9), and Hanukkah (ch 10). In each case, Jesus himself replaces some vital element in the ceremonies of the festival. 5:1-40 This chapter reads like a courtroom drama, with a description of the crime (5:1-15), followed by a decision to prosecute (5:16), a description of the charges (5:18), and Jesus’ defense (5:17, 19-40). 5:1 one of the Jewish holy days: Because Jesus returned to Jerusalem for the celebration, it was probably one of the three pilgrimage festivals of Judaism…”

“Joh 2:13; Exo 23:14-17, Exo 34:23; Lev 23:2-4; Deu 16:16; Mat 3:15; Gal 4:4 John 5:2”