John 10:41Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Indeed, when they came there, they immediately remembered John. Therefore they said that “John did no sign.” Otherwise, what occasion would there have been to say this?

But since the place brought the Baptist to their remembrance, his testimony also came to mind. And see what irrefutable conclusions they form. John, they say, did no sign, but This Man does. Therefore His superiority is evident from this.

If we believed John, though he did no sign, then much more ought we to believe Christ. Then, since John had borne witness to Christ, they added something further.

They did this lest John, because he had done no sign, should seem unworthy to give testimony. Though he did not perform even one sign, yet in everything he said about Christ, he was true.

By this they showed that Christ did not become worthy of belief through John. Rather, John became worthy of belief through the works of Christ.

That His stay there brought benefit to many is clear from the Evangelist’s addition: “And many came to Him.” Remembering this place, they said: “John did no miracle.” Their words have this meaning: if we believed that man, John, although he did no miracle, then much more must we believe this Man, Jesus, since He has performed so many miracles. Since John had already borne witness to Christ, yet had done no miracle and therefore could have been considered untrustworthy, the Evangelist adds: “Everything that John said about Him was true.”

The Savior leaves Jerusalem and goes to a place abounding in springs. By this, as in a type and riddle, He indicates that He will leave Judea and pass over to the Church from the Gentiles, which has the springs of baptism.

There “many” will come to Him, having crossed to the other side of the Jordan. This is what Christ’s dwelling beyond the Jordan signifies. Thus those who have crossed the Jordan through holy baptism hasten toward God, for He also passed from the Jewish synagogue to the Gentiles.

Then “many came to Him and believed” the words spoken about Him by the saints.

“And He went away again beyond the Jordan, to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He remained. And many came to Him and said, John did no sign” (Jn 10:40-41).

You remember what was said about John, that he was a lamp and bore witness to the day, cf. Jn 5:31, 35. Why then did they say among themselves that John had done no sign?

John, they said, showed no miracle. He did not cast out demons, remove fever, restore sight to the blind, raise the dead, feed many thousands with five or seven loaves, walk upon the sea, or command winds and waves.

John did none of these things, but he gave testimony to all. He gave testimony to everything of which he spoke. Through the lamp we may reach the day.

See how those present reasoned among themselves. John did no sign at all, but Jesus Christ did many. Therefore He is greater than John.

Then they consider another mark of superiority: everything John said about Jesus Christ was true and was confirmed by the deeds themselves. John had said: "He who comes after me is mightier than I" (Mt 3:11). And: "I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God" (Jn 1:34), and much else.

The words of this verse are also explained more simply. John did no sign at all, yet everything he said about Jesus Christ was true. Therefore John's testimony is trustworthy.

Their zeal cooled. Nevertheless, they still sought to seize Him, in order to bring Him before the Sanhedrin. But the Lord escaped from them. He went to the other side of the Jordan and wished to spend the last few days in the place where His Forerunner had first acted, and where perhaps He Himself had been pointed out by him (Jn 1:28). The effect of John’s preaching in that place had not yet been effaced. Though late, it bore its fruits. There many believed in Jesus.

After the Feast of Dedication, at which the Jews were so enraged against Jesus Christ that they wished to seize Him and hand Him over to judgment, He remained neither in Jerusalem nor near it.

He went beyond the Jordan, to the place where John had formerly baptized, 1:28, that is, within the bounds of Bethabara or the Bethany of Perea, and He remained there for some time.

Nothing definite can be said about exactly how long Jesus Christ labored this time in the country beyond the Jordan.

In any case, it is clear that this stay of Jesus Christ within the bounds of Bethabara was not limited to a few days. The Evangelist says that “many came to Him there, and many believed in Him.”

Here John the Baptist had preached, calling all to repentance. Here, undoubtedly, there were many of his disciples. They now came to Jesus, saw the miracles He performed, heard His teaching, and testified that everything John had said about Him was true. Hearing such testimony, many believed in Him there.

“Many came to Him”: probably from the inhabitants of that country. Judging by their further words about John the Baptist, they had been prepared by his preaching for faith in the Lord as Messiah, seeing that the Lord’s works justified the Baptist’s preaching about Him. “John did no miracle,” and so forth: the meaning of the statement is this. Although the Baptist did not testify about himself as God’s messenger by miracles, he was undoubtedly God’s messenger and a prophet. For everything he said about Jesus as the Messiah was true, and was justified by both the teaching and the works of the Lord.

Again the Pharisees fell into rage and wanted to seize Jesus, but He withdrew from their hands, because the time had not yet come for Him to suffer.

About four months still remained before the Feast of Pascha, when Jesus Christ was to complete His earthly ministry in Jerusalem through suffering on the Cross and death.

Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ left Jerusalem and went beyond the Jordan, to Perea, or the region beyond the Jordan, where John the Baptist had earlier preached. Here many, already prepared by the preaching of John the Baptist, believed in Jesus Christ.

The first three Evangelists describe in detail the miracles and teaching of Jesus Christ during His stay in Perea. The Evangelist John describes only the events already near Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ was returning for the Feast of Pascha.

“He went out of their hands.” The Evangelist does not say how Christ Jesus escaped from the hands of His enemies. But if they were so enraged that they took up stones, He could scarcely have escaped their hands without a special miracle.

The Savior withdraws from the Jews of Jerusalem in order to give the agitated time to come to themselves. He chooses for His dwelling the Bethany of Perea, where the Baptist had preached, Jn 1:28.

Besides the fact that this secluded place was suitable for rest and quiet conversations, the mere sight of the place of John’s preaching revived in the disciples the Forerunner’s testimonies concerning Jesus.

The holy Evangelists also mention, in Mt 19 and Mk 10, the Lord Jesus’ stay in the region beyond the Jordan, the Roman Perea.

At the close of His great ministry, the Lord chooses to dwell where He first deigned to appear to the people, Jn 1:28-29.

We should note that this was not Salim, where John later baptized, Jn 3:23. Rather, the Lord goes to Bethabara on the Jordan, where He called His first-called Apostles to their ministry.

Perhaps in this event also we may read an act of special meaning. The Jordan was, as it were, the boundary of two worlds, the Jewish and the Gentile. The border of Samaria also approached this place.

The house of the Jews was being “left to them desolate,” Mt 23:38. The Lord stood at the boundary of all nations, and “many came to Him.”