Reading the Gospels Together The Storyline of John’s Gospel – Part 5 Following the encounter with Nicodemus in Jerusalem, John tells his readers that Jesus and his disciples enter into the countryside of Judea and spent some time baptizing there. John also tells his readers that John the baptist is still baptizing in the same wilderness. A degree of competition emerges between John and Jesus. We had noted that Mark and the others had spoken of the arrest of John before Jesus went to Galilee. Here John remarks about the arrest of John telling his readers that John was not yet arrested. John is aware that John the baptist will indeed be put in prison thus he agrees with the other gospel writers. It is only the matter of timing that differs, but that is a significant difference. As chapter four begins John returns to speak of the competing ministries of baptism between Jesus and John. In chapter three one is led to believe that Jesus is also baptizing. But in chapter four John tells his readers that Jesus did not baptize and that only his disciples did the baptizing. Why this difference? This is one of the “seams” we spoke of earlier. Two contrasting stories have been put near one another without resolving the contrast. In the second story not much is said about the baptism but the story serves as a bridge for John tell about the next movement of Jesus. John now tells his readers that Jesus leaves Judea once again and begins to travel north toward Galilee. On the way he passes through Samaria. Jesus could have avoided Samaria by travelling on the east bank of the Jordan River but he does not. He enters Samaria. Not once does Mark or Matthew mention Jesus being in Samaria. We have noticed that Luke places Jesus at the border between Galilee and Samaria in the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem at the end of his life. John tells his readers that Jesus travels early in his ministry to Samaria and there he has a successful ministry among the Samaritans. Only John tells the story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well in Samaria. And the story is skillfully crafted by John and typical of so many other stories John will tell. It is a story with much movement and drama within it. Slowly the woman discovers who Jesus is and by the end of the story Jesus will reveal to her that he is indeed the “I am” of the OT. John has told his readers that in Jesus the very presence of God dwells. Jesus is the God-man and by claiming for himself that he is “I am” which is the divine name, Jesus is revealing this to the woman. She hears and understands and she and many Samaritans become followers of Jesus. The disciples do not understand what is going on. They will understand later. We noticed that both Matthew and Luke knew a saying of Jesus that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. John knows this saying too and places it here in the midst of the Samaritans who were outcasts in Jewish society. The outcasts are the plentiful harvest for followers of Jesus who are willing to see. As John’ storyline continues Jesus reaches Galilee once again. We might expect that now Jesus will stay there in Galilee. We will need to wait and see. Readers of Mark’s gospel and the other will recall that it was at Nazareth in Galilee that Jesus made the remark that a prophet is not without honor except in his own country. John tells his readers that Jesus makes this remark as he leaves Samaria and Judea on his way to Galilee. In John’s storyline Jesus never goes to Nazareth. Once he is back in Galilee John tells a story that he likely shares with both Matthew and Luke. There are some differences but the base of the story is the same. An official has a son who is deathly ill. Jesus has returned to Cana where his first sign was accomplished. The official was from Capernaum and he comes to beg Jesus to come and heal his son. At first Jesus refuses and then heals the boy. The official in this story has the same type of faith as the Roman centurion in Luke’s and Matthew’s story. And John tells his readers that this was the second sign that Jesus did.