Re-teaching the Jewish Feasts

In the Sermon on the Mount, as has been argued by Dr. Walter Kaiser and other Old Testament scholars, Jesus re-teaches Torah. The formula He uses there, 'you have heard it said....but I say' takes a number of mis-taught portions of the Old Testament and re-states them as they are to be understood by the Christian. He also takes on a number of controversial topics like divorce and lust and re-teaches those as well. This re-teaching of Torah is a key component of the gospel of Matthew in his effort to reach out to the Jewish community of his time.

The gospel of John, on the other hand, is quite different from Matthew and indeed from all of the 3 synoptics. As I have recently been reviewing the Jewish festivals and their connection to the New Testament, I took another look at the gospel of John. It is in the gospel of John that 3 Passovers are mentioned, and from that we know that Jesus ministry lasted about 3 years. Some say there were 4 Passovers, thinking that the 'feast of the Jews' mentioned in chapter 5 was another Passover, though I think that unlikely. I tend to agree with Irenaeus on that matter, thinking Pentecost more likely for the event in chapter 5.  What I have not heard taught or have read much about is how John seems to organize his entire gospel around the festivals of the Jews. The first Passover mentioned is in Chapter 2; then in Chapter 5 is this unspecified 'feast of the Jews'; in chapter 6 another Passover; in chapter 7 is Tabernacles; in chapter 10 is the 'feast of Dedication', which we know as Hanukkah; and then from chapter 12 until the crucifixion is the final Passover. The other gospels take place primarily in Galilee with short episodes at Jerusalem until the Passion, but in John the action takes place primarily in Jerusalem at these various feasts with periodic episodes in Galilee. This is quite stunning to me yet is rarely even commented upon by preachers or commentaries. John builds his whole story around the times in Jerusalem for these feasts. What's more, the teaching in each feast section aligns exceedingly well with the content of that feast if you know anything about the feast. For example, at Tabernacles  Jesus talks about the Light of the World and living water, both of which are dominant themes in the 'last, great day of the feast' as 'living water' is ceremoniously drawn from the spring of Gihon, marched 7 times around the altar and then poured out on the altar, and as giant candelabra with wicks made of old priests garments are lit on the last day that light up the city of Jerusalem so much that it could be seen for miles as it stood on the hill of Zion. Clear connection with the feasts can be made in the other sections as well.

It seems to me that we have overlooked a key aspect of John's gospel. Just as the re-teaching of Torah is a key aspect to the gospel of Matthew, a re-teaching of the meaning of the feasts seems to be central to what John is doing in his gospel. It seems to me that as John presents Jesus as the Christ, part of his argument is based on the feasts, showing how Jesus fulfills the feasts and how he re-taught the feasts to show His fulfillment. This part of his gospel, it seems to me, would be aimed at Jews, not Gentiles. Only Jews would readily make those kinds of connections. That seems to be true still: we Gentiles seem to totally overlook the importance of the feasts in John.