Healing of the Blind Man
The Healing of the Blind Man by our Messiah is often cited as a Pinpointed Lunar Sabbath.
This page presents the rationale for considering it as a Pinpointed Lunar Sabbath, and discusses several objections.
Rationale
It can be proven using the events described in John 7 that the healing of a blind man in John 8 occurred on a Lunar Sabbath.
John 7:2 states that the Feast of Tabernacles was at hand, and that our Messiah went up to the Feast after His brother did (v10). Verse 37 tells us that the events described in verses 37-53 happened on the last day of the Feast. The next day He returned to the temple (John 8:2), exited the Temple (v59), and then passed by the blind man (John 9:1). Verse 14 tells us that this was the Sabbath day that He healed the blind man.
We know from Scripture that the "last day" of the Feast of Tabernacles is the seventh day of the feast(the 21st of the month). For example:
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto YHVH. (Lev 23:34)
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto YHVH seven days...(Lev 23:39)
In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil. (Eze 45:25)
Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner. (Neh 8:18)
The Feast of Tabernacles is always described as a seven day feast, and so the "last day" of the feast is the seventh day. It is this day (the 21st) that is described in John 7:37, which makes the following day, the Sabbath, the 22nd of the month upon which our Messiah healed the blind man. This proves that the Sabbaths that month fell on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of the month.
Objections
The Last Day
Although Scripture always refers to the Feast of Tabernacles as a seven-day feast, there is always an "eighth day" included at the end, often referred to as the Last Great Day or Shemini Atzeret. Although it is a day of rest, it is never referred to as a Sabbath[1].
Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. (Lev 23:36)
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto YHVH seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath (shabbathon), and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath (shabbathon). (Lev 23:39)
This "eighth day" is likely the day referred to in John 7:37, as it was the last day of the feast before everyone departed Jerusalem and returned home. If the Sabbath was the day after the last day of the feast, this would mean that the Sabbath fell on the 23rd of the month, the day after the Last Great Day.
The fact that the "last day" of the feast was the eighth day is reinforced by the statement in John 7:53 that "every man went unto his own house". The Feast of Tabernacles is one of the three "Pilgrimage Festivals" that required the Israelites to travel to Jerusalem. The eighth day of the feast was to be observed as a day of rest and a "holy convocation", and so no one would be traveling home on that day. Therefore if everyone returned to their houses after the last day of the feast, this would be after the eighth day of the feast and before the events in John 8 and 9.
Timing of John Chapter 8
There are many opinions regarding the timing of the events in John 8, and subsequently the healing of the blind man in John 9. Though many commentators feel that the events in John 8 occurred immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles, others speculate that the timing may have been around the Feast of Dedication. For example:
And as Jesus passed by Or, And as He was passing by. This was possibly on His way from the Temple (Joh_8:59), or it may refer to a later occasion near the Feast of the Dedication (Joh_10:22). [2]
...though some think this is to be understood of his passing by at another time and place, since the preceding fact of the woman's being taken in adultery, and the discourse of our Lord with the Jews, were quickly after the feast of tabernacles; whereas the following ones, both in this, and the next chapter, seem to be at the feast of dedication, Joh_10:22, which was some months after...[3]
There are also Bible scholars who believe that the healing of the blind man occurred somewhere between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication.[4] Prof. Aileen Guilding, for example, concludes that:
"...the sequence of lectionary readings seems to indicate a date at the end of Tishri or, more likely, at the beginning of the eighth month, Cheshevan"[5]
With the timing of the events in John 8 still being debated amongst Bible scholars, it is not possible to "pinpoint" this event at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, much less on the 22nd of the month.
References
