The gospel of John is a surprise after the others. Matthew, Mark and
Luke describe the same events in the same order (the variations in Luke
are negligible), and their gospels are therefore called the synoptic
gospels. They tell substantially the same story of a wandering preacher
who at the end of his life came to Jerusalem. John describes a preacher
who spent practically his whole adult life in the capital, with
occasional visits to the provinces. His circumstantial account of the
calling of Peter and the sons of Zebedee is quite different from
the others; and he says nothing about their being fishermen. He says
expressly that Jesus, though baptized by John, did not himself practise
baptism, and that his disciples did. Christ's agonized appeal against
his doom in the garden of Gethsemane becomes a coldblooded suggestion
made in the temple at a much earlier period. Jesus argues much more;
complains a good deal of the unreasonableness and dislike with which
he is met; is by no means silent before Caiaphas and Pilate; lays much
greater stress on his resurrection and on the eating of his body
(losing all his disciples except the twelve in consequence); says many
apparently contradictory and nonsensical things to which no ordinary
reader can now find any clue; and gives the impression of an educated,
not to say sophisticated mystic, different both in character and
schooling from the simple and downright preacher of Matthew and Mark,
and the urbane easy-minded charmer of Luke. Indeed, the Jews say of him
"How knoweth this man letters, having never learnt?"