More Christian Parallels in the Gospel of John to the Jewish festival of Sukkoth

We are once again approaching Sukkoth. In a former post (dated October 8, 2012), I noted why it was important not to rely entirely on the witness of the New Testament since it seems to mix up its Jewish holidays, namely Sukkoth and Pesach (Passover).

Something I neglected to mention, but is particularly important to the argument that Palm Sunday happened during Sukkoth September-October and not on Easter March-April-May (as is commemorated in the Christian calendar) is again from the historic ritualism associated with Sukkoth and the Gospel of John.

Orthodox Jews commemorating Sukkoth with Lulav and Etrog.

In John 12:13-14, Jesus is depicted as riding into Jerusalem on a donkey six days before Passover (John 12:1). The gospel reads:

“They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the king of Israel!"

To take the palm branches (lambanō) only means to carry them out. There is nothing too interesting going on in the Greek here, just the act of carrying (non-violently, it should be mentioned).

Now in the Jewish ritualism of Sukkoth, there is a very specific idea associated with the holiday.  Four species of plants are identified, one of them being palms (lulav).  This, we are told by the Talmudists, is based primarily on Leviticus 23:40

“And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.”

Would palms have been readily available on Sukkoth during Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem? You bet! Even the Talmud mentions the waving ceremony known as na'anu'im – נענועים in which participants waved the branches in the Temple. Myrtle and willow were also used, but the bundle was often referred to collectively as lulav. A possible reason why the church retained only the palm branch in its ritualism without the collective meaning implied by lulav was that the reference was most like not Talmudically sourced and was biblically sourced, e.g., temarin used in the Jewish Bible was the Hebrew for palm trees. Because this was also an agricultural festival, there is a sense that the selection of fruits and trees had to do with honoring God’s power over creation. There are movements involved with the Jewish festival. Not so much with Palm Sunday. Had the author of John added that those who went out to see Jesus were waving their branches at him, Jesus might have been stoned on the spot, given the implication. But the crowd does say something just as controversial, and the author of John is no amateur to creating drama in his gospel.

Like John, the tradition of Sukkoth also kept the word Hosanah. Jews today still walk around the synagogue reciting “Save us.” In John, Hosanna is left untranslated as Ὡσαννά. Most Christians read it as a name, and not as an action “save us.” Now you see why the author of John goes far, but not far enough as to be specific, to create the circumstances that will increasing rile the powers-that-be against him.

Like the chicken and the egg quandary, it is unclear if Christians are borrowing from Jewish lore or Jews are taking something from the Christians, namely the word Hosanah and adding it to their own ritual. It is interesting that Tractate Sanhedrin (see my previous post in October 2012) does in fact try to answer the gospel directly on the charge that Jesus was tried and sentenced in one day. Learned Jews were mostly likely not unfamiliar with the stories being told, and so it is not unthinkable that one who heard the word Hosanah incorporated it into the larger holiday. At best, what we can say is that the parallels do not seem coincidental or forced.

Incidentally, Sukkoth’s last day of celebration is traditionally called Hosanah Rabbah (or perhaps best translated as the “Great Salvation” – some translate it as “Great Supplication,” but this doesn’t fully grasp what the word implies).

Hosanah Rabbah is not placed here coincidental to what comes next. On the tail end of this great salvation is the holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Why is this so important to Christians? Because John’s writer understands that Jesus enters for both the salvation of the people and as atonement for their sins. Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is the time of self-judgment. How perfectly all this fits into the Christian theological narrative of death and life! To have Easter occur at any time other than Sukkoth would be strange, except that this is precisely what the author of John tells us happens! Despite all the ritualism and intrinsic meaning of these three holidays, Jesus is said to enter at Passover. Passover? Perhaps John was just trying to cram as many Jewish festivals into one time frame to hint at how Jesus is the fulfillment of them all, or at least the ones dealing with themes of salvation. In any event, the festival of Passover is likely misplaced. And scholars of this gospel since modern times have faulted John for his problematic timelines as well as the number of times Jesus’ visits Jerusalem. If this is all true, John most likely wasn’t the best timekeeping historian, and the theological, not historical, information was more important. As you think on Sukkoth this year, it might not be a stretch for Christians to do their Easter celebrating a little earlier this year.