John again bridged the gap between important events in his narrative with a transitional explanation of how Jesus moved from one site to another (cf. 2:12; 4:1-3). John typically focused on clusters of events in Jesus' ministry (cf. 1:19, 29, 35, 43; 2:1). However this move completed a cycle in Jesus' movements and almost completed one in John's narrative.
4:43 The two days in view are those that Jesus spent ministering to the Samaritans (v. 40). He now resumed the trip that John referred to in verse 3.
4:44-45 These verses seem incongruous. If a prophet has no honor in his own country, why did the Galileans welcome Jesus, since Galilee was His homeland? The Greek word patristranslated "country"can mean either homeland or hometown. The Synoptics always used it to describe Nazareth (Matt. 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24).
One explanation is that John viewed Judea as Jesus' homeland or possibly Jerusalem as His hometown.199Perhaps John regarded Judea and Jerusalem as Jesus' spiritual homeland and hometown as David's spiritual heir. The "Jews"is a term that John used particularly of the Jews in Judea (cf. 1:19; 7:1). However, John referred to Nazareth as Jesus' physical home frequently (1:45-46; 7:41, 52; 19:19). Moreover Jesus did not choose where He ministered because of the popular acceptance He received. He did seek to avoid premature conflict with the religious leaders in Jerusalem, but the implication of verses 44 and 45 is that Jesus' honor was the determining factor. Furthermore the reception that Jesus received in Galilee was not entirely positive.
A second explanation is that patrisrefers to heaven.200However this view does not explain why John included the proverb as an explanation for Jesus' going into Galilee from Judea.
Probably patrisrefers to Galilee in contrast to Samaria rather than in contrast to Judea.201Jesus' own country was Jewish turf rather than Samaritan territory. On Jewish turf Jesus had not experienced the honor that He had among the Samaritans (cf. 2:18, 20, 22, 23-25; 3:10; 4:1-3). The "so"or "therefore"that begins verse 45 does not explain why Jesus went back into Jewish territory. He did not go there because the Jews typically rejected Him. The "so"or "therefore"introduces the reason for the Galileans' reception of Him that follows. The people from the Prophet's own country received Him because they had seen the miracles that He had done at Passover in Jerusalem, not because they honored Him as a prophet (cf. v. 48). Thus John was contrasting the unbelief of the Jews with the belief of the Samaritans.
