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Eat my flesh

the bread of heaven

Lesson Six

John 6:1-40

Background:

(Gospel Harmony) – The key subject of John chapter six is the feeding of the five thousand, the
single miracle found in all four Gospels. The account is harmonious in all the gospels apart from
two items. The time of day when the feeding commenced is harmonious in three of the four
gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all use expression to identify the start time late in day or
evening. In John’s gospel the evening follows the feeding, placing the event much earlier in the
day. The second item that is not presented in all four gospels is the lad to whom the fish and
loaves belonged; he is only mentioned by John.
(Parenthetical timestamp) – The timestamp of feeding the five thousand is built upon the
death of John the Baptist, as the study research will later reveal, John’s death is the reason
Jesus and His disciples make the journey to desert place where the miracle happens. (Matthew
14:13)

The complication created by this connection comes with reviewing the Biblical record of John’s
death. The details of his death are recorded in three of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
but it is a post-dated reference. It is recorded as an event being retold after it has already
occurred without providing a specific timestamp of the death itself.
The timing for each gospel author inserting the reference to John’s death into their record of
historic events is handled differently which makes the account parenthetical and not
chronological. The reference to John’s death in the gospels is not made in real time it is a
review of a past event.
General research confirms that historic records cannot provide an absolute date for John’s
death and it remains unknown. The common proposed time of death is a series of dates
including as early as 28 B.C. placing his death before the official beginning of the Ministry of
Jesus-Messiah or as late as 36 BCE implying a date beyond the His death. (see research data)
Without a fixed date for the death of John the Baptist, applying an accurate timestamp to the
events and locations in John chapter six is difficult. With certainty it can be said that the events
in this chapter must occur before the Passover in the second year of the Ministry of Jesus-
Messiah, as the timestamp in 6:4 clearly established the Passover is nigh.

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