It is easy to recognize that St. John does not construct his gospel in the same way as the other evangelists. One way of looking at the structure is to see it as instruction on living the life of an Easter people. In chapter one Jesus calls the first disciples. In chapter two he shows his divine power in changing water into wine as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. Chapters 3, 4, 5 all use the theme of water to highlight the importance of baptism. We have been reading this week about the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus where Jesus insists that one must be “born from above” to share in divine life. God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. (John 3:16 as any sport’s fan knows!) In John 4 Jesus promises the Samaritan woman “living water.” In John 5, healing comes to the man at the pool of Bethesda. In John 6 we hear about the Bread of Life and the promise of the Eucharist. In a few short chapters St. John lays out how the sacramental life of the Church enables us to live Risen life with Jesus.
