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{{See also|Mystery:Unsolved_Gospel_Mysteries}}

{{See also|Mystery:Unsolved_Gospel_Mysteries}}

[[John the Apostle]] was probably a [[Samaritan]]; there were about 1 million Samaritans and they were the majority along the roughly 100-mile distance between [[Jerusalem]] in the south and [[Capernaum]] in the north at the time of [[Christ]].<ref>It is also possible that John's background was different from the other disciples in another fundamental way.</ref> '''''Here are 36 facts supporting that John was a Samaritan''''':

[[John the Apostle]] was probably a [[Samaritan]]; there were about 1 million Samaritans and they were the majority along the roughly 100-mile distance between [[Jerusalem]] in the south and [[Capernaum]] in the north at the time of [[Christ]].<ref>It is also possible that John's background was different from the other disciples in another fundamental way.</ref> '''''Here are 37 facts supporting that John was a Samaritan''''':

#Samaritans were an important population initially to convert, as [[Jesus]] indicated prior to his [[Ascension]],<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|1|8}}</ref> and it would have been immensely helpful to have a Samaritan as an [[Apostle]] to be a missionary to evangelize this demographic amid deep ethnic tensions, as [[John]] then did;<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|8|14-15}}</ref>

#the [[Gospel of John]] never mentions [[David]] favorably, and only quotes Jews as referencing him, because Samaritans did not recognize David as a holy figure. The Gospel of John does repeatedly mention [[Moses]], whom Samaritans did recognize and honor, more than every other [[Gospel]].

#John is the only [[Gospel]] author who never used the term "[[Gentile]]s", as Samaritans would not because they were half-Gentile and thus it was not a distinguishing term for them, while the other Gospel authors (and [[Peter]] and [[Paul]]) repeatedly used that term;

#John's repeated references -- 10 times more than any other [[Gospel]] -- to "the Jews," meaning the Jewish people in and around [[Jerusalem]], was how Samaritans would have referred to their rivals;

#Only John refers to the Pharisees as being too simple-minded to understand some of Jesus's teachings, such as {{bibleref|John|1|6}} ("they did not understand what he was saying to them"), and only the Samaritans would challenge the Pharisees' intellectual abilities;

#Samaritans did not celebrate [[Passover]] with a meal but with a sacrifice (of a lamb),<ref>https://www.chosenpeople.com/modern-samaritans-and-the-ancient-passover-sacrifice/</ref> and the [[Last Supper]] is uniquely described in the [[Gospel of John]] as not being a Passover meal;

#Samaritans did not celebrate [[Passover]] with a meal but with a sacrifice (of a lamb),<ref>https://www.chosenpeople.com/modern-samaritans-and-the-ancient-passover-sacrifice/</ref> and the [[Last Supper]] is uniquely described in the [[Gospel of John]] as not being a Passover meal;

#Only the [[Gospel of John]] refers to the "Passover of the Jews,"<ref>{{bibleref|John|2|13}} ([[ESV]])</ref> which is how a Samaritan might have distinguished it from their different Passover; all the other [[Gospels]] refer to only the "Passover";

#Only the [[Gospel of John]] refers to the "Passover of the Jews,"<ref>{{bibleref|John|2|13}} ([[ESV]])</ref> which is how a Samaritan might have distinguished it from their different Passover; all the other [[Gospels]] refer to only the "Passover";#Samaritans were an important population initially to convert, as [[Jesus]] indicated prior to his [[Ascension]],<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|1|8}}</ref> and it would have been immensely helpful to have a Samaritan as an [[Apostle]] to be a missionary to evangelize this demographic amid deep ethnic tensions, as [[John]] then did;<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|8|14-15}}</ref>

#Only John describes [[Jesus]]'s [[Washing of feet]] at the [[Last Supper]], which would have been particularly disfavored by [[Jewish]] disciples as it was the opposite of hand-washing before eating;

#Only John describes [[Jesus]]'s [[Washing of feet]] at the [[Last Supper]], which would have been particularly disfavored by [[Jewish]] disciples as it was the opposite of hand-washing before eating;

#John's mother made a request of [[Jesus]] that would have been [[blasphemous]] among Jewish people then, and thus she was probably not Jewish. ''See'' {{bibleref|Matthew|20|20-21}};

#John's mother made a request of [[Jesus]] that would have been [[blasphemous]] among Jewish people then, and thus she was probably not Jewish. ''See'' {{bibleref|Matthew|20|20-21}};

#John's father's name, translated as "Zebedee", appears nowhere in the [[Old Testament]] and is most common today in [[Nigeria]], [[Africa]], which is half [[Muslim]] and half [[Christian]];

#John's father's name, translated as "Zebedee", appears nowhere in the [[Old Testament]] and is most common today in [[Nigeria]], [[Africa]], which is half [[Muslim]] and half [[Christian]];

#John's unique description of [[Jesus]] as possibly coming from the [[Samaritans]];

#John's unique description of [[Jesus]] as possibly coming from the [[Samaritans]];

#John's sympathy towards Samaritans, including describing how Jesus first disclosed his divinity to a Samaritan woman at a well (which everyone else omitted), at a time when the prevailing Jewish view was that Samaritan women in particular were unclean;

#John's sympathy towards Samaritans, including describing how Jesus first disclosed his divinity to a Samaritan woman at a well (which everyone else omitted), at a time when the prevailing Jewish view was that Samaritan women in particular were unclean;

#the [[Apostles]] sent the young [[John]] (along with [[Peter]]) to successfully [[evangelize]] Samaria after the [[Resurrection]], see {{bibleref|Acts|8|14}}, and Samaritans fully accepted John and his preaching despite the underlying hostility between [[Judea]]ns and [[Samaritans]];

#the [[Apostles]] sent the young [[John]] (along with [[Peter]]) to successfully [[evangelize]] Samaria after the [[Resurrection]], see {{bibleref|Acts|8|14}}, and Samaritans fully accepted John and his preaching despite the underlying hostility between [[Judea]]ns and [[Samaritans]];

#only the [[Gospel of John]] contains a derogatory reference, as Samaritans would have felt, about the Jewish region of [[Nazareth]]: “Nathanael said to him, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' [[Philip]] said to him, 'Come and see.'” {{bibleref|John|1|46}}

#only the [[Gospel of John]] contains a derogatory reference, as Samaritans would have felt, about the Jewish region of [[Nazareth]]: “Nathanael said to him, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' [[Philip]] said to him, 'Come and see.'” {{bibleref|John|1|46}}

#the [[Gospel of John]] emphasized the concept of the sacrificial lamb -- the "Paschal Lamb" -- which is a central part of [[Passover]] for [[Samaritan]]s but not for [[Masoretic Jews]].<ref>https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/the-samaritan-paschal-sacrifice/2020/04/01/</ref> John mentions "lamb" 30 times in his [[Book of Revelation]], which is 5 times more than all the other [[New Testament]] authors combined.

#the [[Gospel of John]] emphasized the concept of the sacrificial lamb -- the "Paschal Lamb" -- which is a central part of [[Passover]] for [[Samaritan]]s but not for [[Masoretic Jews]].<ref>https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/the-samaritan-paschal-sacrifice/2020/04/01/</ref> John mentions "lamb" 30 times in his [[Book of Revelation]], which is 5 times more than all the other [[New Testament]] authors combined.