Did John Use Roman Time?
Farrell Till jftill@midwest.net
Wed, 03 Dec 1997 23:19:31 -0800 (00881241571, 2.2.32.19971204071931.00677aec@midwest.net)
TILL
My understanding is that Ducq (whoever he is) thinks that he can reconcile
the inconsistencies in the resurrection narratives, Acts, and 1 Corinthians
15. The "reward" in question was offered to anyone who could write a
consistent, coherent composite of all of the narratives, Acts, and 1
Corinthians 15 without omitting any details or resorting to speculation.
Since the reward was offered for a consistent resurrection composite, I
don't understand all of the discussion about when Jesus was tried and
crucified. The resurrection narratives are those sections of the gospels
that concern events that happened from the burial to the ascension of Jesus.
What happened at the trail isn't relative. When I have finished setting up
the latest issue of TSR (probably tomorrow), I intend to address the part
of Ducq's "harmonization" that concerns the resurrection narratives and show
how that it does not satisfy the requirements that were published with the
offer of a reward.
Meanwhile, with a few moments of time on my hands, I want to address the
question of what time "system" the writer of John used. Some may remember
that this question came up about a year ago, and I cited incidents recorded
in John 4 that make it unlikely that the writer was using Roman time.
Notice the following quotation from this chapter.
>4:1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more
disciples than John,
>2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.
>3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to
Galilee.
>4 Now he had to go through Samaria.
>5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground
Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
>6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat
down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Notice that the last verse states that this was happening at the sixth hour,
which would have been 6:00 in the morning if the writer was using Roman
time, which counted the hours of the day from midnight. It wouldn't have
been impossible that Jesus was at a well outside of a town this early in the
morning, but as the passage continues, we read things that makes it very
unlikely that all this was happening at 6:00 in the morning.
>7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you
give me a drink?"
>8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
Notice that Jesus was alone at the sixth hour of the day, because his
disciples had gone into the town to buy food. Again, it wouldn't be
impossible that they had gone into town this early, but as the story
continues, we will see that it was very unlikely that they had.
>9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan
woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with
Samaritans.)
>10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that
asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you
living water."
>11 "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is
deep. Where can you get this living water?
>12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank
from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
>13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
>14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the
water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal
life."
>15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get
thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
>16 He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
>17 "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right
when you say you have no husband.
>18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is
not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
>19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet.
>20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the
place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
>21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will
worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
>22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do
know, for salvation is from the Jews.
>23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers
the Father seeks.
>24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
>25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When
he comes, he will explain everything to us."
>26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
>27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking
with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking
with her?"
So the situation in this story was that Jesus sat down at the sixth hour by
a well outside of a town. He was alone because his disciples had gone into
the town to buy food. While he was sitting at the well, a woman came to
draw water, and Jesus had the short conversation with her that was quoted
above. As the conversation was ending, his disciples returned from the
town. Now how likely is it that his disciples could have gone into the
town, found markets open, bought food, and returned by 6:00 in the morning?
Would markets have been open this early in the morning?
That the disciples had been successful in buying food is indicated in verse
31, where, after the woman had left, they urged Jesus to eat.
An examination of the time references in the trial of Jesus will also show
that it was unlikely that the writer of John was using Roman time, but that
analysis will have to wait.
Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net