John 11:54Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews." Again He saves Himself in a human manner, as He often does. I have already spoken of the reason why He often departed and withdrew.

Now He lives near the wilderness, in Ephraim, and there He remains with His disciples. How troubled do you think the disciples were when they saw Him saving Himself in a human manner?

No one followed Him any longer, since, because the feast was approaching, all were hurrying to Jerusalem. But they, precisely when all were rejoicing and keeping the feast, were hiding. Precisely then they were in danger.

The Lord withdraws from the sentence of the Jews, not out of fear, but to teach us not to cast ourselves into dangers, even for piety. If we are seized, we must stand courageously. If we are not taken, we must not voluntarily rush into danger, since the outcome is unknown.

Thus the Lord fittingly withdraws from them. For the word of God, proclaimed by the prophets, formerly walked openly among the Jews. Now it no longer does so, but has withdrawn into the wilderness, the Church of the Gentiles.

Of this wilderness it is said: "The children of the desolate one are more numerous than those of her who has a husband" (Isa 54:1).

Here also, as God, He knows their secret thought and withdraws without any condemnation of the Jews. He does so not because He was afraid, but so as not to seem to provoke them, though they were already plotting His murder.

He teaches us also to yield to those who are in a state of extreme anger. We must not throw ourselves into dangers, even for the truth. If we are seized, we must stand. If this is still only impending, we should withdraw because the outcome is unknown.

In the spiritual sense, one must say that Jesus once walked openly among the Jews through the prophets. But now He no longer walks among them, for they do not have the word of God.

This was not because His power was insufficient, so that if He had wished, He could have walked openly among the Jews and they would have done nothing to Him. Rather, He gave His disciples an example of how to live in human weakness. He showed that there is no sin if those who believe in Him, being His members, hide from the sight of their persecutors and prefer to avoid the fury of evildoers rather than openly inflame it against themselves.

Jesus Christ no longer walked so openly, but went to the region near the wilderness, to the city of Ephraim, named after the ancestor of the tribe of Ephraim. Since the time had not yet come, He now saves Himself as a man saves himself. But could the disciples not have been troubled, seeing that Jesus Christ saves Himself as a man?

It is not clear whether the decree of the Sanhedrin was known to the disciples. But the Lord, until His hour had come, no longer walked openly in Judea, just as recently He had no longer done so in Galilee. Secretly He departed from Bethany, which was too close to Jerusalem, to the city of Ephraim or Ephrem. It lay in the wilderness north of the capital, at a distance of eight miles according to the Gospel measure, and twenty according to Jerome. Neither the length of His stay there nor His actions are known.

As a result, it was unsafe for the Lord to remain in Judea, and He withdrew to Ephraim. It lay on the border between Judea and Samaria, in the region near the wilderness, the very wilderness where He had stayed for forty days before the beginning of His public ministry.

In view of the Sanhedrin’s sentence, Jesus did not go from Bethany to Jerusalem. Instead, He departed with the Apostles to the city of Ephraim, located near the wilderness, probably the wilderness of Jericho. There He remained for some time with His disciples.

"From that day on they took counsel to put Him to death." The guards were ordered to watch Him carefully, so that at the first convenient opportunity they might arrest Him and subject Him to a merciless judgment of death.

Because of this, it was no longer possible for the Savior to remain in Judea. Since His hour had not yet come, He withdrew for a time "to the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there He remained with His disciples."

There, in complete safety from all the designs and intrigues of His mortal enemies, He spent the last weeks of His life calmly and happily. He was surrounded only by His disciples, whom in this peaceful solitude He prepared for the great labor in the ripening harvest of the world.

"He no longer walked openly." The Lord undoubtedly knew the bloody decree of the Sanhedrin. Yet the predestined time of His death had not yet come.

As the true Paschal Lamb, He had to die at Pascha, and some time still remained before it. Moreover, He had to die solemnly, not secretly, as the Sanhedrin may have desired (Mt 26:4).

Therefore the Lord did not walk openly among the Jews, that is, among the hostile party of Jews in and around Jerusalem. He withdrew for a time into solitude.

He went to the country or region, in contrast to the city of Jerusalem, near the wilderness of Jericho. There was a small and unimportant city called Ephraim, not far from Bethel (2 Chr 13:19; Flavius, Jewish War IV, 9, 9), northeast of Jerusalem and not very far from it.

Caiaphas’ counsel was accepted by the Sanhedrin, and Jesus Christ was condemned to death. After citing Caiaphas’ malicious counsel to the Sanhedrin, the Evangelist John observes: "He did not say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the people, and not for the people only, but also to gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad" (vv. 51-52).

Verses 53-54. "From that day on they took counsel to put Him to death. Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly."

"They had sought to kill Him before," says Euthymius, "but now they confirmed the decision in council." Nicodemus and Joseph, members of the Sanhedrin, could have told Jesus' disciples that the Sanhedrin had resolved to put Jesus to death.

Because of this, Jesus withdrew into the wilderness of Judea, to the city of Ephraim. "Ephraea, a considerable town, lay to the north, eight miles from Jerusalem" (Eusebius, Onomasticon). It was south of Bethel, which was twelve miles from Jerusalem.

Thus Christ did not leave Judea even now. He withdrew only from the malice of the members of the Sanhedrin. By His example He teaches us not to expose our life to dangers without need.

The great sacrifice had to be accomplished by God's command at the time of Pascha. Therefore the Lord temporarily withdrew into the wilderness, northeast of Jerusalem.

"It must be noted that on this road, from Jerusalem to the Jordan past the spring of Wadi Fara, we did not meet a single living being during four hours of riding. Probably this very mountainous wilderness is designated in the Gospel by the words 'near the wilderness,' where the Savior withdrew to the city of Ephraim" (Norov's second journey, p. 43; cf. pp. 41-43 above).

In the same direction, at some distance from Bethel or Luz, lay the city of Ephraim, "near the wilderness," on one of the streams flowing into the Jordan.