Since the introduction is brief, the patterned arrangement of episodes is fairly simple. After the opening in v. 1, the introduction divides in half, with the first half focusing on John the Baptist (1:2–8) and the second half drawing attention to Jesus (1:9–13). There is some sense of symmetry between these two halves. The pattern of episodes progresses from John arriving in the wilderness (1:2–4) to John baptizing in the Jordan River (1:5–8) to Jesus being baptized in the Jordan (1:9–11) to Jesus