Dating John

There is a very interesting passage in the gospel of John which, while it will not show when the gospel of John was written, it most certainly shows when it COULD NOT have been written.

In John Chapter Five there is an account of Jesus healing an impotent man. He finds the man lying beside the pool of Bethesda, which had five porches. The bible says that a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt and withered, lay waiting for the moving of the water. An angel went down at a certain season and troubled the water and whosoever stepped into the water first, after the troubling, was healed. But the impotent man couldn't move and had no one to put him into the water. So the Lord healed the man. Immediately he was made whole and took up his bed and walked. This caused trouble from the Jews because it was a Sabbath day and they said that it was not lawful for the man to carry his bed on the Sabbath. The Lord had said, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk," and he did.

But the first two verses of John chapter five is where we find our information:

John 5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Notice that in the context a feast of the Jews is taking place. The only place that could be done is at the Temple, the Jewish temple, which was at Jerusalem. If you notice John 5:14 the man who had been healed is later found by Jesus in the Temple.

John 5:2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

The key words are the phrase, "NOW there is at Jerusalem." But the question is...when is NOW? It certainly could not be today's date on the calendar. How do we know that? Because in AD70 the Roman Army, led by it's General, Titus, came to Jerusalem. They destroyed not only the Jewish Temple but the city itself. The Temple was totally demolished and the city was burned to the ground and then plowed under.

Hence, after the time of AD70 there could be no sheep market and no pool in existence. That would also hold true of the "pool of Siloam" of John 9:7.Therefore, the gospel of John must have been written prior to that time, and not at a later date as some have suggested.