![\"Gospel](\"http:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/kastilometes4.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u2022 Jesus\u2019 adult life begins with His baptism by John;
\n\u2022 Jesus\u2019 public activity begins in Galilee;
\n\u2022 Jesus walks on water and comes to His disciples on a stormy sea;
\n\u2022 Jesus feeds a multitude with a few loaves and fish;
\n\u2022 Jesus gives sight to a blind man;
\n\u2022 Jesus raises a dead person;
\n\u2022 Jesus heals a paralytic.<\/p>\n
Finally and importantly, John and the synoptics emphasize Jesus\u2019 final week in Jerusalem and his crucifixion and resurrection. Indeed, John devotes more of his gospel to this than the other gospels do.<\/p>\n
But even when John and the other three gospels share similar stories, John most often tells them differently. So also the story of Jesus\u2019 final week is told very differently. In John, much of it consists of Jesus\u2019 farewell discourses, spoken on the evening of His arrest. The story of Jesus before Pilate is significantly different. In the synoptics, Jesus is basically silent. In John, the two engage in conversation in which Jesus bests Pilate. Indeed, Jesus seems to be in control of the process.<\/p>\n
The accounts even differ on the day of Jesus\u2019 crucifixion. In the three other gospels, it happens on the day of Passover (Passover is both a weeklong and a particular day festival). The day of Passover began at dusk, so the whole sequence of the synoptics from Jesus\u2019 last supper with his followers through His arrest, torture and death all happened on Passover. In John, it all happens the day before Passover. Jesus dies at the same hour that he Passover lambs are being slaughtered for that evening\u2019s Passover meal. Jesus is dead before the Passover begins.
\nThese differences and similarities have led mainline scholars to wonder whether John knew any of the synoptic Gospels. Had he read or heard one or more of them? There is no consensus. Some think he knew Mark and perhaps Luke. The majority are undecided, because the case is inconclusive. Verbal parallels – the kind that are precise enough to imply that an author knew another document – are few.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the last installment of this article I began sharing ideas about the Gospel of John. I highlighted some differences in John\u2019s Gospel when compared to the three Synoptic Gospels. There are some things, however, that John\u2019s Gospel has in … Continue reading