Commentary - John 10:40-42

Bird's-eye view

In these concluding verses of the tenth chapter, Jesus retreats from the murderous hostility of Jerusalem to a place of humble beginnings, a place pregnant with redemptive-historical significance. This is not a flight of panic but a strategic withdrawal. He goes back "beyond the Jordan," to the very spot where John the Baptist's ministry first erupted onto the scene. The geography is theology. Jesus is deliberately connecting His ministry to the foundational testimony of His forerunner. The passage serves as a quiet but powerful contrast to the preceding conflict. In Jerusalem, the religious elites, who had seen countless signs, responded with stones and unbelief. Here, in the wilderness, common people who had only the memory of a faithful witness flock to Jesus and believe. The central theme is the nature of true, saving faith. It is not ultimately generated by spectacular signs, but by the faithful testimony of God's Word, which points to Christ. John did no signs, but his words were true, and because they were true, they bore fruit in due season. This section validates John's ministry posthumously and demonstrates that the seed of the Word, faithfully sown, will always accomplish its purpose.

This is a moment of calm before the final storm that will begin with the raising of Lazarus in the next chapter. It shows us two kinds of responses to Jesus: the enraged, prideful rejection of the establishment, and the simple, receptive faith of those who have ears to hear. The testimony of a faithful man (John) is vindicated, and the glory belongs entirely to the man to whom he testified (Jesus).

Outline

Context In John

This short passage comes immediately after one of the most intense confrontations in Jesus' ministry. In John 10:22-39, during the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, Jesus declared His divine sonship in the clearest possible terms: "I and the Father are one." The Jewish authorities understood Him perfectly, which is why they accused Him of blasphemy and took up stones to kill Him. After masterfully refuting them from their own Scriptures (Psalm 82), Jesus narrowly escaped their grasp. His retreat across the Jordan is therefore a direct consequence of this escalating conflict. It marks the end of a major phase of His public ministry to the leadership in Judea. The contrast is stark: from the holy city and the temple, the center of Jewish religious life, where He is met with murderous unbelief, He goes to the wilderness, a place of baptism and repentance, where He is met with saving faith. This sets the stage for the final, climactic sign of raising Lazarus in chapter 11, which will take place back near Jerusalem and will be the event that solidifies the Pharisees' resolve to execute Him.

Key Issues

The Echo in the Wilderness

There is a profound poetry in where Jesus chooses to go. He doesn't just flee to a random safe house. He goes back to the beginning. He returns to the place where the overture of the Gospel symphony was first played by that camel-haired prophet of God, John the Baptist. Why? Because the testimony of John was the foundation upon which Jesus' public ministry was laid. John was the authorized herald, the one sent to prepare the way. By returning to this spot, Jesus is reminding everyone of that initial, authoritative announcement. The religious hot-shots in Jerusalem had rejected both John and Jesus. They had their traditions, their temple, their pomposity. But out here, in the sticks, the word of a true prophet still echoed. The people there had a spiritual reference point. They had heard John, and now they were seeing Jesus. The connection was not difficult to make. This is a lesson for us. God honors faithful beginnings. The seeds of truth planted by a faithful witness, even a witness who is long dead, can lie dormant for a time, only to spring to life when the Son of God Himself comes to water them.

Verse by Verse Commentary

40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there.

The geography is the point. "Beyond the Jordan" was outside the immediate jurisdiction of the Judean authorities who had just tried to stone Him. It was a place of relative safety. But more than that, it was "the place where John was first baptizing." This is a deliberate, theological move. Jesus is physically connecting the end of His public appeal to its beginning. John's ministry was the divinely ordained starting pistol for the gospel. He was the voice crying in the wilderness, and Jesus now returns to that wilderness. The hostility of the established religion has driven Him out, and He finds refuge in the place where the whole renewal movement began. He was "staying there," which indicates a period of settled ministry, not just a quick stop. He is setting up a base of operations among a people who were prepared by the forerunner.

41 And many came to Him and were saying, “While John did no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.”

Here we see the fruit of a faithful ministry. Notice the movement: "many came to Him." They are not passive; they are seeking Him out. And their reasoning is recorded for us, a beautiful piece of spiritual logic. They draw a sharp and accurate contrast. John performed no miracles, no "signs." His ministry was one of the preached word, a ministry of testimony. He pointed away from himself entirely. But now, these people are seeing Jesus, who does perform signs, and they are putting two and two together. They are comparing the data. John's words, which they remember, are being confirmed and fulfilled by Jesus' words and works. "Everything John said about this man was true." This is the vindication of John. A true prophet is known by whether his words come to pass. John pointed to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, to the one whose sandal he was unworthy to untie, to the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. And now, seeing Jesus, the people are confirming that testimony. This is how faith often works: the Word is preached, and then God brings circumstances, experiences, and encounters that confirm the truth of that Word.

42 And many believed in Him there.

This is the glorious conclusion and the intended result of it all. In Jerusalem, the city of signs and wonders, the religious leaders responded with unbelief and violence. But here, in the wilderness, on the strength of a dead man's testimony being confirmed, "many believed in Him." This is true, saving faith. It is not a faith built on a craving for spectacle. It is a faith built on the bedrock of fulfilled prophecy and truthful testimony. John's sign-less ministry was, in the end, more fruitful than all the religious machinations of the Pharisees. He simply told the truth about Jesus, and that truth, when it encountered the person of Jesus, produced faith. The contrast is devastating for the religious establishment. They had everything, all the religious privileges, and they produced nothing but murder in their hearts. John had nothing but a message, and he produced a harvest of souls. It shows that the power is not in the messenger's charisma or his ability to work wonders; the power is in the truth of the message and the glory of the one the message is about.

Application

This passage has several sharp edges for us today. First, it teaches us about the nature of a faithful ministry. John the Baptist's job was not to build his own brand. He wasn't trying to attract a personal following that was loyal to him. His entire purpose was to make himself decrease so that Christ could increase. He did no signs, which kept the focus exactly where it needed to be: on the one who was to come. Pastors and Christian leaders must take this to heart. Our job is not to be impressive. Our job is to be true. Our task is to say, as clearly and faithfully as we can, "everything John said about this man was true." We are simply pointers, heralds, voices. The power is in the Christ to whom we point.

Second, this passage ought to encourage every Christian who is engaged in the simple, and sometimes seemingly fruitless, work of bearing witness. John was dead and gone. His ministry was over. And yet, here it is, bearing fruit. You may share the gospel with a friend, teach a Sunday School class to children, or speak a word of truth to a coworker, and see no immediate result. But the Word of God does not return void. You are planting seeds. You are acting as a John the Baptist. You may never see the harvest yourself, but you must trust that when Christ in His providence walks by that place, He will cause that seed to spring to life. Our job is faithfulness in testimony; the results are in God's hands.

Finally, we must examine the foundation of our own faith. Is our faith built on a desire for the spectacular, for signs and wonders and emotional experiences? Or is it built on the solid rock of God's testimony in His Word? The people beyond the Jordan believed because they heard the Word of a prophet and saw how it was perfectly fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Our faith should be the same. We have the testimony of all the prophets and apostles in the Scriptures. We have everything they said about this man. And we look at Him, and we see that it is all true. That is a faith that will stand when the stones start flying.