Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, March 11, 2014 Read John 11:55-57 These few verses move the story forward and set the stage for the final events in John’s gospel. They are summary in nature recapping the past few months. It is good for us at this point to think back over what we have been reading and the timeframe that John has in mind. From at least chapter 7 Jesus has been in Jerusalem and in the territory nearby. John has told us that Jesus arrived for the Feast of Booths. That would have been in late October or early November. John has mentioned another festival of Dedication which would have taken place in late December or early January. Now he tells us that Passover had almost arrived. Passover would have been in late March or early April. That means that in John’s timeframe Jesus has been in or near Jerusalem for about five month. Once again we need to notice that this is very different from the picture Mark and the other synoptic gospels portray. Rather than worry about this difference and wonder who is “right” and who is “wrong”, we need to wonder why each gospel writer portrayed the scene as they did. It is likely that John is reflecting the reality that Jesus was engaged in a dispute with the religious leaders for much longer than a week. So John has told the story as he has simply because that’s likely how it happened. Mark, on the other hand, has likely compressed the story to suit his proclamation of Jesus, the crucified Messiah. If we care about who is more “historical” it is likely that we should side with John. All of this adds so much to the picture of Jesus. We can be thankful for John’s insights and the information that John provides us. And we can be thankful for Mark’s proclamation. Together they fill out the story for us. These few verses provide us with no new information. They remind us of the division that comes about because of Jesus – some believe, others don’t. They remind us of the determination of the religious leaders to put Jesus to death. They add a little suspense to the story by wondering if Jesus will appear or not. However, readers of John’s gospel know by now that he will appear. This little pause in the action prepares us for what is to come.