Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

    At no other time during the calendar year (that I know of) do the Jews count the Sabbaths. So there is no 

other time of the year to which the expression  second first Sabbath  could refer. Also, the passage from Luke 

6:1 5 is clearly describing the time of year when the grain is harvested. The disciples are picking ears of grain 

and eating them from the fields because the grain is ripe and ready for harvest, but has not yet been harvested. 

The grain harvest in Israel occurs in the spring.

443

 That is why Jewish Law requires offering the first fruits of 

the grain harvest during Passover and again at the Feast of Weeks. Therefore, the time of year which is 

referred to by the expression  second first Sabbath  must also be in the spring. 

    Why does Sacred Scripture make a point of telling us that the disciples were eating grain from the fields on 

the  second first Sabbath,  and not on some other Sabbath of the year? The previous Sabbath, that is, the first 

Sabbath of Passover, was the last day on which they were prohibited from eating fresh grain, because the first 

fruits had not yet been offered to God. The second first Sabbath, that is, the Sabbath immediately after 

Passover, occurred after the first fruits had been offered to God, so the disciples were permitted to eat fresh 

grain from the fields on that day. Sacred Scripture tells us that is was the second first Sabbath to indicate that 

the disciples were not breaking Jewish Law when they ate fresh grain from the fields. But the disciples would 

have been breaking the Jewish Law if they had eaten grain from the fields on the previous Sabbath. 

John the Baptist's Arrest 

    In the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist's ministry begins in chapter 3. The Baptism of Jesus by John 

occurs at the end of chapter 3. Then the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness follows at the beginning of 

chapter 4. The next passage states that John had been arrested (Mt 4:12). Jesus then continues John's message 

of repentance (Mt 3:2; 4:17). The Gospel of Matthew places John's arrest during the early part of Jesus' 

Ministry and not long after the baptism of Jesus by John. The other synoptic Gospels likewise place John's 

arrest soon after Jesus' baptism. 

    In the Gospel of Mark, John's ministry is described beginning with Mk 1:2. Next Jesus is baptized and 

spends 40 days in the wilderness. Then, by Mk 1:14, John has been arrested. Only a few verses cover the 

period of time from the baptism of Jesus to John's arrest. Here again, the arrest of John is placed early in the 

Gospel and early in the Ministry of Christ. 

    In the Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist's ministry begins in chapter 3 (Lk 3:1 2), and his arrest is mentioned 

in that same chapter (Lk 3:19 20). Luke places his description of the Baptism of Jesus after his description of 

John's arrest. This does not mean that Luke thought someone else baptized Jesus. A writer does not always 

place events in chronological order, but rather in whatever order is best for the telling of a story. Sacred 

Scripture does not always place events in chronological order, but rather in whatever order is best for teaching 

and explaining God's message to us. Even so, Luke's Gospel agrees with the other Gospels in placing John's 

arrest earlier rather than later. 

    In the Gospel of John, the Baptism of Jesus by John is described in the past tense (Jn 1:32 24). The 40 days 

in the wilderness is not described. But, after describing the wedding at Cana, the Passover at Jerusalem, and 

the call of Nicodemus, the Gospel of John plainly states that John was still baptizing and had not yet been put 

in prison (Jn 3:23 24). This passage is placed early in John's Gospel and still fairly early during Christ's 

Ministry, yet it is now clear that John's arrest did not occur immediately after Jesus returned from His 40 days 

in the wilderness. 

    When two events are described one after the other in Sacred Scripture, even without so much as one 

sentence between them, there still may have been any number of days, months, or years between the two 

events. If not for John's Gospel, we might incorrectly have concluded that John was arrested soon after Jesus' 

Baptism. Rather, we must place the arrest of John sometime after the first Passover of Jesus' Ministry. And 

since John baptized Jesus Christ in the autumn, the arrest of John may have occurred six months to a year 

after the beginning of Christ's Ministry. 

    Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich provides us with more information about the timing of John the 

Baptist's arrest. As in the Gospel of John, she places the arrest of John the Baptist not long after the first 

Passover of Christ's Ministry. In her book,  The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, she describes the 

110