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John does not address the death of John the Baptist but by providing the timestamp for the
Passover which we must assume is in the second year of the Messiah’s ministry otherwise it
would have been previously capture between chapters 1-4. The next mention of Passover in
John will be the final Passover in during the ministry of Jesus-Messiah, occurring much later
than the events that succeed chapter six.

Timestamp – This chapter opens with the words “After these things…”. The reference to “these
things” does not correspond to the chronological events of the previous chapter. There is a
span of six months between the end of the chapter five and the beginning of chapter six. The
Messiah’s encounter opens in Bethesda during the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in
the month of Tishri (Sept-Oct). Although as stated in the parenthetical notes an absolute date
cannot be established for this chapter, it is certain that the events that occur here are prior to
the Passover in the second year of the Messiah’s ministry. The timestamp in verse four of this
chapter signals the second the Jewish Passover for the Messiah, marking the start of a new year
of ministry. The Jewish month for Passover is Nisan (Mar-Apr) which puts six months between
the end of chapter five and the events in chapter six.
The key events during the six months between John five and six are chronicled in Matthew’s
gospel:
(Matthew cps 5-13) - the detailed ministry tour in Galilee, which continued after the
controversial Sabbath miracle of healing the lame man in the pool of Bethesda.
(Matthew13:53-58) - the ministry tour in Nazareth, the hometown of the Messiah
(Matthew 14:1-12) – the death of John the Baptist, be-headed by Herod
The death of John the Baptist is a keystone event because it precipitates the journey from
Nazareth to Galilee. Matthew 14:13 After receiving the news about John, the Messiah and His
disciples seek to find solitude and relief from the multitude of followers accumulated during the
ministry tour in Galilee. Mark chapter six and Matthew chapter 14 are parallel accounts of the
events that led to the feeding of the five thousand. Greater emphasis is placed upon the
Messiah commanding the disciples to go away with Him to desert place “to rest awhile” in
Marks account. (Mark 6:30-31) The gospel of Luke adds travel details, providing a location of
the desert place as belonging to the city of Bethsaida. (Luke 9:10-11)

The Great Multitude – Numerically, this traveling audience could be the largest gathering of
people to have an encounter with the Messiah. Five thousand men or head of households are
counted the number of women and children are not captured but could be estimated to be at
least twice the number or more, totaling up to fifteen thousand.

TEACHERS NOTE:

The Desert Place – Extensive research has determined no single, absolute, geographic location for the remote desert
place Jesus and His disciples found for refuge or the feeding of the five thousand. There are multiple implied locations in the
north west-eastern circumference of the Sea of Galilee. The location had to be accessible to the nearby cities to
accommodate the throngs following Him that would find the location the Messiah used to find solitude for Himself
and the disciples. The desert place subsequently became the location for feeding the five thousand as stated in
the three synoptic gospels, Matthew 14:15, Mark 6:35, and Luke 9:12
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