John 4:43-45 43After the two days he departed from there for Galilee. 44For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown. 45Therefore, when he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they saw all the things he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they, too, had gone to the feast.
John compresses many activities into just a few short verses as he transitions to recount the second sign he recorded to demonstrate Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus spent two days in Sychar teaching the Samaritans and confirming their faith in him. It was time to continue his journey back to Galilee where he spent a majority of his ministry. Verses 44 and 45 are linked to verse 43 with the connective for (gar). Verse 44 prepares for verse 45 with the connective therefore (oun). these subtle grammatical indicators prepare for the opposition that Jesus would experience even in his home territory of Galilee. This opposition begins to grow in the following chapters, leaving the reader with the necessary decision already assumed in 3:16, 18: Will I accept Jesus in faith or be like those who rejected him?
Verse 44 echoes the same prover given in Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24 when Jesus went to his hometown of Nazareth. It is possible that Jesus passed through Nazareth on his way north to the area around the Sea of Galilee. John could simply be skipping all the details of the story there that the Synoptic Gospels describe in more detail. He does not mention the name of Jesus’ hometown, which the reader already knows is Nazareth based on 1:45-46. Why this verse is included here is not clear in John’s brief account. One problem is that verse 45 says the opposite and how the Galileans welcomed Jesus. The welcome assumes the opposite of the lack of honor in his hometown.
The reason the Galileans welcomed Jesus was because they had already seen what he had done in Jerusalem. His reputation preceded him. Much of the outline of John’s Gospel revolves around Jewish feasts, mentioned again in verse 45. John is presenting his readers in a subtle and repetitive way the necessary decision they must make about Jesus. Many Jews accepted Jesus as the Messiah, although some clearly did not, particularly the Jewish leaders and power holders in Jerusalem. When Jesus went to Jerusalem for the feasts, he often experienced rejection. This rejection intensifies throughout the Gospel until we reach the Passover time beginning in 11:55. The choice to believe stands behind this transition section.
For older posts, click here.