John 4 John 4 John 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The Pharisees learn that Jesus is baptizing more people than John the Baptist. notes that "... in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples", although clearly suggests that Jesus himself was baptizing - "that man who was with you (John the Baptist) on the other side of the Jordan". Jesus learns this, leaves Judea, and sets off to return to Galilee. records that in order to reach Galilee it was necessary to pass through Samaria, although
Historical Jesus might lead to Roman intervention is an alternate explanation for his arrest regardless of his preaching. "He was, perhaps, considered a destabilizing factor and removed as a precautionary measure." Jesus began preaching, teaching, and healing after he was baptized by John the Baptist, an apocalyptic ascetic preacher who called on Jews to repent. Jesus was apparently a follower of John, a populist and activist prophet who looked forward to divine deliverance of the Jewish homeland from the Romans. John was a major religious figure, whose movement was probably larger than Jesus' own. Herod Antipas had John executed as a threat