First, it doesn’t make sense that John, who was a Jew, would have referred to the Passover as “the feast of the Jews” to a Jewish audience.

Second, all four gospels record the feeding of the 5000 men, yet only the gospel of John does so within a context of a Passover drawing near.

Third, the Torah requires all males to attend the three pilgrimage Feasts in Jerusalem (Ex. 23:14-17), which includes Passover. So if a Passover actually had been “near” as described in John 6:4, Yeshua, who was a Torah-observant Jew, would have been traveling to Jerusalem to keep the Feast. Yet, the Gospel accounts have Him traveling through Capernaum and the Galilee (John 6:4-71; Matt. 14:13-17:23; Mark 6:30-9:32; Luke 9:10:45), speaking to large crowds of men who likewise should have been keeping the Passover in Jerusalem.

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Forth, the Torah requires all Jews to remove all the leaven from their homes during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Ex. 12:15; Lev. 23:6), a seven-day period that immediately follows Passover. So if a Passover was actually “near” as described in John 6:4, Yeshua would not have been traveling throughout Capernaum and the Galilee, feeding thousands of men unleavened bread, 5000 on one occasion and 4000 on another a few days later. Yet the Gospel accounts have Him doing just that.

Fifth, God has seven Feast Days: Passover, Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day (Lev. 23). Collectively, they picture God’s plan of redemption for mankind, which He fulfills chronologically. Yet, the inclusion of the Passover recorded in John 6:4 would present the Feasts out of sequence and meaningless.