As I read the Gospels, I often find the disciples moving along briskly, going from this place to that place, when suddenly, one of them looks around and says, “Where is Jesus?” Then they must backtrack and they usually find Him off on a side street talking to an old woman, or stopping by the wayside to talk to a beggar, or to heal a man born blind, or to speak to an outcast woman at a well.  Thus Jesus was constantly surprising His disciples, and nowhere more so than in the event recorded in our Scripture above. 

To understand what is going on in our Scripture lesson, we must think for a few moments about the history and geography of the Holy Land.  Let’s begin with geography.  People who live and teach in the land of the Bible often speak of something called the “Fifth Gospel.” It is not…