IV.

John and the Synoptics

It has long been recognized that the Gospel of John differs from the earlier Synoptic Gospels. Among the more conspicuous and significant differences are the absence in John of any such biographical and historical matters as Jesus' birth, his childhood, his temptation, the transfiguration, the institution of the Eucharist, and the agony in the garden of Gethsemane; and the mention only in John of Christ's miraculous changing of water into wine at Cana, his miraculous raising of Lazarus, his washing of the disciples' feet at the Last Supper (13:1-20), the baptizing by Jesus and his disciples (3:22-36; 4:1-2), the conversation with Nicodemus (3:1-21), the Samaritan woman (4:7-26), and an incident originally not part of the Gospel, that of the woman caught in adultery (7:53-8:11). Important chronological differences also emerge when John is compared with the Synoptics. In John, Christ's public ministry extends over several years, the Last Supper is eaten before the Passover, and Jesus is crucified before the first day of that holiday.