BY WATER AND BLOOD:
SIN AND PURIFICATION IN JOHN AND FIRST JOHNJ. Ramsey Michaels
- Purification in John's Gospel: 'You Are Clean'
'Purification' is not, on the face of it, a conspicuous theme in the Gospel
of John. In contrast to the three Synoptics, Jesus never 'cleanses' lepers in
John's Gospel,^1 nor does he encounter and drive out 'unclean' spirits, nor
does he explicitly reject, as he does in the Synoptics, any of the Jewish
rituals of purification. 'Purification' (KaSapiopos) is mentioned just twice
in John, both times in connection with 'the Jews' or Judaism. The six
water jars at the wedding feast in Cana are said to have been 'for the puri-
fication rituals of the Jews' (Kara xov KaBapiapov Tcov'louSaicov, 2.6),
and in the course of John's ministry of baptism a dispute arose between
John's disciples and an unidentified Jew 'over purification' (rrepi Ka0oc-
pia|JoG, 3.25).
The first of these references implies no polemic against Jewish purifi-
cation rituals, but simply explains for Gentile readers why six water jars
were so conveniently present. The context of the second, however (3.23
and 26), hints at similar 'purification rituals' among Christians, specifi-
cally water-baptism at the hands of John and Jesus, or Jesus' followers (cf.
4.1-2). It is the only clue in the entire Gospel as to the purpose of John's
baptism (other than that Jesus might be 'revealed to Israel', 1.31). No
explicit connection is ever made between baptism and 'the forgiveness of
sins' in John's Gospel, nor are we told that people 'confessed their sins'
when they came to John or Jesus for baptism (contrast Mk 1.4-5 and paral-
lels). It is true that John hailed Jesus as 'the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world' (Jn 1.29), but this removal of sin seems to take place
- The verb KOcSapi^E i v occurs five times in Matthew in relation to leprosy, three
times in Mark, six times in Luke, but never in John's Gospel in relation to leprosy or
anything else.