The Passover, the most solemn religious feast of the Hebrew calendar, was drawing near, and people from all directions were arriving in Jerusalem for the occasion.
During the many generations since the night of the Israelites' exodus from slavery in Egypt, which the Passover commemorated, a number of innovations had come to be associated with the ancient ceremony. Various purification rites had been added. The original observance, which was primarily domestic, had evolved into a sanctuary feast with the addition of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. And crowds without number found good reason for this annual springtime pilgrimage to the revered shrine, the temple.
Would Jesus come to the feast? There must have been many asking this question. The mounting hostility of his opponents was reaching a dangerous point. Religious and political leaders were resolved to halt his activities by arrest, and the Nazarene was well aware of the risks in returning to Jerusalem. John writes, "Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast? Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him" (11:56, 57).
