John 10:42Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Thus “many believed in Him.” Indeed, many things drew them. They remembered the words John had spoken, calling Him mightier than himself, and light, and life, and truth, and all the other names.

They also remembered the voice that came down from above, and the Spirit who then appeared in the form of a dove and pointed Him out to all.

Besides this, they saw proof in the miracles, and by these at last they were confirmed. If John, they said, ought to be believed, then much more Christ.

If John was to be believed without signs, then much more Christ, who, together with John’s testimony, also has proof from signs.

They give faith not to Jesus on John’s testimony, but to John on account of the works which Jesus performed. Therefore it says, “Many believed there.” The word “there” shows that this place brought them much benefit. For this reason Jesus often leads the people out into desert places and removes them from the company of evil people, so that there may be greater fruit. It seems He did the same in the Old Testament. He led them out of Egypt, and in the wilderness He formed and ordered the people, giving them the Law.

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.

Do you see what benefit the very place and the withdrawal from wicked people brought them? For this reason Jesus Christ often removes His listeners from bad company. God did this also in the Old Testament, correcting and instructing the Hebrews in the wilderness, far from the Egyptians.

Their zeal had cooled. Yet they were still seeking to seize Him and bring Him before the Sanhedrin. But the Lord withdrew from them. He went beyond the Jordan and wished to spend His last few days 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 this place had not yet been erased. Though late, it bore its fruit. Here 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, 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 there believed in Him.

They believed in Him as the Messiah. The truth they had learned in John's testimony concerning Christ became the foundation of their faith in Him (cf. Chrysostom and Theophylact).

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.”