John does not narrate, is presupposed in the sixth and seventh chapters. The anointing at Bethany is assumed to be known, as is the hearing of Jesus before Caiaphas.
With these coincidences marked differences appear. Setting aside the omission by Mark of the Gospel of the infancy, the Synoptic narrative falls into three parts: 1, The ministry of the Baptist, the baptism and temptation of Jesus. 2, The re- turn of Jesus to Galilee, followed by a series of connected nar- ratives concerning His teaching and miracles in this and sur- rounding districts, without any intimation that, during this time, He also visited Judea and Jerusalem. 3, Hereupon all the three pass at once from the last journey of Jesus to J erusalem to the Passover, at which He was crucified. Hence, as Dean Alford remarks, “had we only their accounts, we could never, with any certainty, have asserted that He went to Jerusalem during His public life, until His time was come to be delivered up. They do not, it is true, exclude such a supposition, but rather, perhaps, imply it. It would not, however, have been gathered from their narrative with any historical precision.”
Turning now to John’s Gospel, we find Christ’s ministry in Galilee between the Baptism and the Passion interrupted by journeys to Jerusalem. He goes up to the Passover, on which occasion occur the cleansing of the temple and the visit of Nic- odemus (ii. 13; iii. 1-21). A second visit is made to an un- named feast of the Jews (v. 1), during which He heals the im- potent man at Bethesda, excites thereby the hostility of the Jews, and delivers the discourse in v. 17-47. He goes up again at the Feast of Tabernacles (vii. 10), and, ten months later, appears at the Feast of Dedication (x. 22). An interval is spent on the other side of the Jordan (x. 40), at Ephraim in the wilderness of Judea (xi. 53-4), and at Bethany (xi., xii. 1), after which He makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (xii. 12 sqq.). According to John, therefore, between Christ’s last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem and His triumphal entry, there is an interval of several months, spent partly in Jerusa- lem and partly in the neighboring districts ; while according to the Synoptists it seems that He went from Galilee to Jerusa- lem to the last Passover only a short time before it began ; and