Unveiling the Travels of Jesus: Insights from the Gospel of John

This page is to help visualize the travels of Jesus as He went around performing miracles and teaching. What I find interesting is that the Gospel of John only records south of the Sea of Galilee, and the second year only in Jerusalem. Eleven times He’s the only one recording an event, and 6 times he corroborates what another Gospel has recorded. This means that maybe John read the synoptics, and then only wrote about things they missed, or that he thought was important.

Another possibility is that the author of the Gospel of John wasn’t the apostle John who was one of the sons of Zebedee. Just as tradition says that John Mark wrote the book of Mark, we don’t know which John wrote the Gospel of John. My belief is that Lazarus actually wrote the book of John, as well as Revelation and most likely the three epistles with his name.

Why the name change? It happened many times in scripture. Simon became Peter, Saul became Paul, Joseph became Israel, Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah – these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Possibly Jesus changed Lazarus’ name to protect him – the Pharisees were planning on killing Lazarus. If the beloved disciple was Lazarus and not the apostle John, then John could go out and spread the Gospel as one of the sent ones. Then Lazarus could focus on caring for Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Lazarus could also help Peter get in to the compound where Jesus was being tried. In the book of Acts chapter 4, Peter and John are tried by the Sanhedrin who don’t recognize John and realize he is an uneducated man. If they didn’t recognize him, how could John have given permission for Peter to be in the courtyard during Jesus’ trial? If Lazarus was known by the Sanhedrin (Lazarus was wealthy – see John 11:2 where his sister poured costly perfume on Jesus), then he most likely had enough influence to get someone like Peter into that courtyard. Here’s another post about Mary and Martha being wealthy from a blog I discovered as I was writing this.

With that said, it’s more likely that Lazarus, writing as a different John, would record different events that the 12 Apostles didn’t see. This is a good reason why John is different than the synoptics. That’s why I came up with these color coded maps of Jesus’ travels in His three years of ministry. I found the maps at https://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CN160-TRAVELS.htm, with a note at the bottom that the maps could be used without further permission.

  • Approximate sequence of events for the first year
    • Opening Events
  1. Jesus, now about 30 years old (Lk 3:23) travels from his home-town of Nazareth in Galilee
  2. At the River Jordan, possibly near Bethany-across-the-Jordan, he is baptised by John the Baptist (Mt 3:13; Mk 1:9)
  3. He goes in to the Judean Desert or wilderness to face the devil’s temptation (Mt 4:1; Mk 1:12; Lk 4:1)
  4. At the River Jordan near Bethany-across-the-Jordan, or Bethabara (Jn 1:28), and according to John’s Gospel, Jesus calls his first five disciples (Jn 1:35). These include Philip, Andrew, and Simon Peter all from Bethsaida in Galilee (Jn 1:44)
  5. Jesus returns north to Galilee with his disciples (Jn 1:43), and at a wedding in Cana, changes the water into wine – his first recorded miracle (Jn 2:1)
  6. He continues on to Capernaum, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee with his mother, brothers and disciples, and stays there a short time (Jn 2:12)
    • Early Ministry in Judea, Samaria and Galilee
  7. He travels south to Jerusalem for the Passover – the first one mentioned in the Gospels (Jn 2:13). There he drives the money-changers from the Temple for the first time (Jn 2:14). He also meets the Pharisee, Nicodemus (Jn 3:1)
  8. Jesus leaves for the countryside of Judea where his disciples baptize believers (Jn 3:22)
  9. Jesus and his disciples continue northwards from Judea (Jn 4:3), passing through the territory of Samaria (Jn 4:4). Near Sychar, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn 4:5). Many Samaritans believe in him (Jn 4:39), after which he continues on to Galilee (Jn 4:43)
  10. He reaches Galilee (Mt 4:12; Mk 1:14; Lk 4:14; Jn 4:45), and back in Cana heals the official’s son who lays sick in Capernaum (Jn 4:46)
  11. Jesus returns to his home-town of Nazareth, and preaches in the synagogue (Lk 4:16). He is rejected for the first time (Lk 4:28)
  • Approximate sequence of events for the second year
  1. Jesus moves to Capernaum (Mt 4:13; Mk 1:21; Lk 4:31). According to the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus call his first disciples – perhaps only now to full-time service (Mt 4:18; Mk 1:16; Lk 5:1). In Capernaum he heals the madman in the synagogue (Mk 1:23; Lk 4:33) and Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever (Mt 8:14; Mk 1:29; Lk 4:38)
    • First Preaching Tour of Galilee
  2. Jesus travels throughout Galilee, preaching and healing (Mt 4:23; Mk 1:39), including the leper (Mt 8:2; Mk 1:40; Lk 5:12).
  3. Returning to Capernaum (Mk 2:1) a paralysed man is healed (Mt 9:2; Mk 2:3; Lk 5:18) and Jesus calls Matthew (or Levi) the tax-collector to be a disciple (Mt 9:9; Mk 2:14; Lk 5:27)
  4. Jesus travels from Galilee south to Jerusalem for a Jewish festival – possibly the Second Passover identified in the Gospels (Jn 5:1). At the Pool of Bethesda he heals the crippled man (Jn 5:2)
  5. Returning north to Galilee, Jesus heals the man with the shrivelled hand (Mt 12:9; Mk 3:1; Lk 6:6) and many others (Mt 12:15; Mk 3:7)
  6. On a hillside in Galilee, probably near Capernaum, he selects his twelve apostles (Mt 10:1; Mk 3:13; Lk 6:12) and delivers the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:1). In Luke’s report Jesus comes down from a hillside to give the Sermon (Lk 6:20)
  7. Back in Capernaum, (Mt 8:5; Lk 7:1) Jesus heals the Roman centurion’s servant (Mt 8:5; Lk 7:2)
    • Second Preaching Tour of Galilee
  8. Jesus continues preaching and healing in Galilee, and in Nain brings the widow’s son back to life (Lk 7:11)
  9. Accompanied by the twelve apostles and some of his women helpers, Jesus continues his second Galilee tour (Lk 8:1)
  10. He sails across the Sea of Galilee (Mt 8:18; Mk 4:35; Lk 8:22) and calms a storm (Mt 8:24; Mk 4:37; Lk 8:23). Landing in the region of the Gerasenes (Mk 5:1; Lk 8:26) or Gadarenes (Mt 8:28) in Gentile Decapolis – the Ten Towns or Cities, Jesus heals the madman in the story of the Gadarene Swine (Mt 8:28; Mk 5:2; Lk 8:27)
  11. Sailing back across the Sea of Galilee (Mk 5:21) Jesus lands at “his own town” of Capernaum (Mt 9:1). Here he raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mt 9:18, Mk 5:21, Lk 8:40)
  • Approximate sequence of events for the third year
    • Third Preaching Tour of Galilee
  1. Jesus travels from Capernaum to “his own native town” of Nazareth (Mk 6:1)
  2. In Nazareth, he is rejected for a second time (Mt 13:54; Mk 6:1)
  3. He continues through Galilee (Mt 13:58; Mk 6:6) and sends out the twelve apostles to preach the Gospel (Mt 10:5; Mk 6:7; Lk 9:1)
  4. The Twelve return to Capernaum from their mission (Mk 6:30, Lk 9:10)
  5. From Capernaum, they go off by boat with Jesus to a quiet place (Mk 6:32) near Bethsaida (Lk 9:10). Here he feeds the 5,000 (Mt 14:14; Mk 6:33; Lk 9:11; Jn 6:5)
  6. The disciples return across the Sea of Galilee (Mt 14:22; Mk 6:45), Jesus walking on the water to join them (Mt 14:25; Mk 6:48; Jn 6:19). They land near the Plain of Gennesaret and Jesus heals many people there (Mt 14:34; Mk 6:53).
  7. From Gennesaret they make their way back to Capernaum (Jn 6:24) and Jesus teaches about the Bread of Life (Jn 6:26)
    • Jesus Preaches and Heals in Syrian-Phoenicia, Iturea and Trachonitis, The Decapolis
  8. Jesus retires from Galilee to the region of Tyre and Sidon in Syrian-Phoenicia (Mt 15:21; Mk 7:24) where he heals the daughter of the Gentile Syrophoenician woman (Mt 15:22; Mk 7:25).
  9. He leaves Syrian-Phoenicia via Sidon for Galilee (Mt 15:29) but travels through the Decapolis (Mk 7:31).
  10. In the Decapolis he heals the deaf and mute man (Mk 7:32) and feeds the 4,000 (Mt 15:32; Mk 8:1)
  11. Reaching the Sea of Galilee, he crosses by boat to the Magadan/Dalmanutha region (Mt 15:39; Mk 8:10). There the Pharisees and Sadducees ask for a sign from heaven (Mt 16:1; Mk 8:11)
  12. Continuing on to Bethsaida, a blind man is healed (Mk 8:22)
  13. Jesus now travels from Galilee, north to Caesarea Philippi in Iturea and Trachonitis, where Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ (Mt 16:13; Mk 8:27)
  14. Continuing on from Caesarea Philippi possibly further north towards Mount Hermon, three of the disciples see Jesus Transfigured in the presence of Elijah and Moses (Mt 17:1; Mk 9:2; Lk 9:28). On his return, Jesus heals the boy with epilepsy (Mt 17:14; Mk 9:14; Lk 9:37).
    • Other traditions place the Transfiguration to the south, on Mount Tabor. The epileptic boy would then have been healed in the Galileearea
  15. In Galilee (Mt 17:22; Mk 9:30), in Capernaum (Mk 9:33), Jesus pays the Temple Tax with a fish! (Mt 17:24). Then to avoid the dangers in Judea, he remains in Galilee (Jn 7:1)
    • Later Ministry in Judea
  16.  Jesus leaves Capernaum and Galilee for the last earthly time (Mt 19:1; Mk 10:1) and heads for Jerusalem (Lk 9:51; Jn 7:10). Travelling by Samaria, he heals the ten lepers (Lk 17:11) but is rejected in a Samaritan village (Lk 9:52)
  17. Arriving in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Tabernacles in the Autumn of c AD29 (Jn 7:10), Jesus forgives the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:2) and heals the blind man who is taken before the Sanhedrin (Jn 9:1)
  18. During his travels in Judea, Jesus visits Martha and Mary in Bethany (Lk 10:38), returning to Jerusalem for “Hanukkah”, the Feast of Dedication in December c AD29 (Jn 10:22)
    • The Last Few Months – c AD30
  19. Jesus withdraws to Bethany-across-the-Jordan (or Bethabara), and into the province of Perea, and stays for a while (Jn 10:40)
  20. Following the death of Lazarus, Jesus returns to Bethany near Jerusalem, and raises him (Lazarus) from the dead (Jn 11:1).
  21. Because of threats to his life, Jesus withdraws to Ephraim to the north of Jerusalem (Jn 11:54)
    • His Ministry in Perea (Modern Jordan)
  22. He then crosses the River Jordan and works in Perea (Mt 19:1; Mk 10:1). There he blesses the little children (Mt 19:13, Mk 10:13; Lk 18:15) and speaks to the rich young man (Mt 19:16; Mk 10:17; Lk 18:18)
    • The Final Journey to Jerusalem
  23. Jesus now travels towards Jerusalem for the last time (Mt 20:17; Mk 10:32; Lk 18:31). Passing through Jericho he heals one (or two) blind men (Mt 20:29; Mk 10:46; Lk 18:35) and converts Zacchaeus the tax collector (Lk 19:1).
  24. Reaching Bethany (Jn 12:1) the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, Jesus is anointed by Mary either now (Jn 12:2), or later (Mt 26:6; Mk 14:3) after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21:1; Mk 11:1; Lk 19:29; Jn 12:12)
  25. During the Easter week, Jesus returns to Jerusalem each day after staying overnight in Bethany on the Mount of Olives (Mt 21:17-18; Mk 11:11-12;19; Lk 21:37).