They sought therefore again to take him; and he went away from out of their hand
Jesus has just pointed to His works as proof that the Father is in Him and He in the Father. They answer with one more try at seizing Him — so why can they never hold Him?
Their hostility changes shape here. Moments earlier they had picked up stones; now they try arrest instead. One writer explains what stopped the stoning.
To this appeal to their Scriptures what could they say? "You, being a man, make yourself God," was their accusation. The psalm He had quoted silenced them. They dropped the stones that they had just taken up, with which to stone Him for blasphemy. They would settle for arresting Him, if they could. Still they failed.
The ESV says He "escaped" from their hands. One writer finds that word too dramatic for what happened.
Unable to answer His words, "they sought again to take Him"; but He "went away from out" (not "escaped out of") their hand. Man had now fully shown himself: the light had shone in darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it. His guilt was shown by his refusal of the One the Father sent. His spiritual death was shown too: there was not the slightest response to the presence of God before their eyes in the person of His beloved Son.
Their rejection was now complete. So why did their plan fail?
So it was not that their unbelief was incomplete. It was that His time had not yet come. The Lord therefore retires until the moment appointed by God.
Earlier in this same chapter Jesus had said that no one takes His life from Him. Verse 39 is that statement in action.
No man takes my life from me! That means it was impossible for men to kill Him. In intent they did it; they spared no effort to bring Him down to death. But when they had done all, He laid down His life of His own will, as a sacrifice for sin. He did not die by the violence of men, nor by any natural cause.
Where He goes next matters as much as His leaving. They had already thrown out a man for confessing Him, and now the Shepherd goes out too.
So He went away beyond Jordan. Already they had cast out the man who had confessed Christ; now the Shepherd, utterly rejected by the nation, takes the outside place of reproach. In that outside place "many resorted to Him" and "many believed on Him there". So the Shepherd becomes the Leader of His flock outside the Jewish fold.
- Rejected. Their own Scriptures silenced them, so they dropped the stones. They still reached for Him.
- Restrained. They wanted Him and could not have Him. What held them off was not some faith left in them, but God's appointed time.
- Reserved. His death waited on His will, not theirs. No one took His life; He laid it down.
- Removed. He did not scramble out of danger. He walked out from their hand, and left them exposed: God stood in front of them and they did not respond.
- Received. Cast out by the nation, the Shepherd took the outside place, and there many believed. Rejection by the nation became gathering outside it.
and departed again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptising at the first and he abode there.
In Jerusalem the Jews have just tried to seize Jesus, and He escapes them and crosses the Jordan. Two questions follow: why does the Son of God withdraw at all, and why to the spot where John the Baptist had started?
His escape was not weakness. It was a matter of timing:
It was not that their unbelief was incomplete, but that His time was not yet come. So the Lord retires until the moment appointed by God. Meanwhile He goes to the scene of John's first work, and stays there. There grace wins many a soul who recognised in Him the truth of John's testimony.
The move across the river ended His public work in the capital:
Here we see the blessed Lord now finally rejected by the nation of Israel. At the close of this 10th chapter of John, we find Him driven out. He retires to the place where John at first baptised, and there He stayed. He had said farewell to Jerusalem and its temple, at least as far as any testimony of grace went. He had made His home at John's first point of service.
Rejection did not leave Him alone. It changed where His flock would gather:
John 10:39-42. The closing verses sum up the effect of the Lord's second discourse. The unbelieving Jews, rejecting the words and works of the Lord, sought to take Him. Their unbelief was complete, but His time had not yet come. So He went away beyond Jordan. Already they had cast out the man who had confessed Christ. Now the Shepherd, rejected by the whole nation, takes the outside place of reproach. In that outside place "many came to Him" and "many believed in Him there". So the Shepherd becomes the Leader of His flock outside the Jewish fold.
The spot was not chosen at random. It had a history:
There was another Bethany, east of the Jordan, according to most of the oldest manuscripts (John 1:28). It was there that the Lamb of God was first pointed out. It was there, too, that John's testimony caused Andrew and his companion to go after Christ. And it was there that the Lord retired, as chapter 10:40 of this Gospel tells us, and stayed for a short time. Then, as the Lamb of God, He offered up Himself, the sacrifice for sins. There seems a fitness in His returning to the very place where He was first proclaimed as the Lamb. From there He went up to Jerusalem to make that title good.
The people there still remembered what John had said about Him:
So the Lord left them. That scene was now closed. He returns, as it were, to the testimony He started with, at the beginning of His hard journey — a journey served by love and serving in love. "Everything that John said about this man was true." And true it was... See how long the faithful testimony of a faithful, rejected witness lasts and bears fruit! He himself perhaps little thought or dreamt of it. The Lord returns to that testimony after men had rejected and passed by all His works and words, wonderful as they were; "and many believed in him there."
John worked no miracle. That absence carries a lesson for us:
John was the last prophet of the old order, and among its ruins miracles were not for that time... Still John bore a true, faithful and unswerving witness to Christ, and that was better than miracles. We too live at the end of an age, so let us not crave miracles but copy John in faithful testimony. Imagine hearing at the judgment seat that everything we have said of Christ is TRUE — what praise that would be!
- Refused. Jerusalem's unbelief was complete. His crossing of the Jordan was His farewell to the city and its temple.
- Retired, not rescued. He left because His hour had not yet come, not because His enemies weakened — the timing was God's.
- Returned. He went back to Bethany beyond Jordan, where John first pointed to Him as the Lamb of God. From there He went up to make that title good.
- Reaped. Ground broken by a preacher already dead still bore fruit: many came, and many believed there.
- Remembered. John worked no miracle, yet everything he said of Christ proved true — a record worth having.
And many came to him, and said, John did no sign; but all things which John said of this [man] were true.
The religious leaders had just tried to seize Jesus, so He went away beyond the Jordan. There the crowds sum up John the Baptist's whole ministry in one line, and their verdict raises a question: what makes a servant of God great?
The place matters. Jesus is now outside the nation's religious centre, and that is where the crowds find Him.
The closing verses sum up the effect of this second discourse. The unbelieving Jews, rejecting the words and works of the Lord, sought to take Him. Their unbelief was complete, but His time had not yet come. So He went away beyond Jordan. They had already cast out the man who had confessed Christ; now the Shepherd, utterly rejected by the nation, takes the outside place of reproach. In that outside place "many came to Him" and "many believed on Him there". So the Shepherd becomes the Leader of His flock outside the Jewish fold.
The first half of their verdict is a surprise. Israel's great prophets were known for wonders.
"John did no sign." He was the last of a long line of prophets (Matt. 11:13), and though last, by no means least. If not greatest, he was at least among the greatest, for none were greater than he (Luke 7:28). So he stood in the very front rank of prophets. For spiritual life and force he can only be compared with men whose miracles rang through the centuries of Israel's history. And his work fell in the hour of the greatest crisis of all. You might well expect that of all the prophets he would be marked by the most striking wonders. But it was not so. John did no sign.
If no sign backed up John's preaching, something else did.
Remember that John's prophecy was unusual: no miracle came with it to back it up. Think of Moses' rod becoming a serpent, the long drought at Elijah's word, or Nebuchadnezzar's forgotten dream recalled and interpreted by Daniel. All these were signs given to show that the men acting were servants of the most high God. But John's testimony had no support of that kind. What proved it was that his words came true straight away. So it was said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." Those who heard his prophecy also saw it happen.
The second half of the verdict points to his real greatness. Keeping self out of the message is harder than it sounds.
Let us not suppose that to give true testimony to Christ is an easy or simple thing. It is not. Even in the best and greatest of God's servants there has been the flesh, with all its deep-rooted tastes and habits. So there is a dangerous pull to put self in the foreground and Christ in the background, even while we seem to be witnessing of Him. John the Baptist was remarkably proof against this, as the first three chapters of John's Gospel prove. As the forerunner he pointed steadily to his Master. As "the voice" he spoke only of Christ. To Him he witnessed as the Messiah, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Bridegroom.
John's work was over. Yet his words went on working, and in this outside place people came to faith.
So the Lord left them. That scene was now closed, and He goes back to the first testimony given about Him — the testimony He set out with on His hard journey of love received and love given. "Everything that John said about this man was true." True it surely was, and John gave the best proof of his own truthfulness by his loving, faith-filled witness to Christ's glory, Person and work — in a word, his whole message as forerunner. How long the faithful testimony of a faithful, rejected witness lasts and bears fruit, when he perhaps little thought or dreamed of it! The Lord goes back to that testimony after men had rejected and passed by all His own works and words, wonderful as they were; "and many believed on him there."
The verdict becomes a standard for ordinary service:
This is blessed indeed — to do nothing spectacular, but to keep on quietly serving and testifying, and so to speak of Him, our Lord, the precious Christ of God! How good if this could be said of your service and mine: "Everything we said about this Man was true." How blessed, too, if our witness had the same result as John's: "And many believed on Him."
- No sign. John ranked among the greatest prophets, yet he did not one wonder. God does not measure greatness by the spectacular.
- But true. What he lacked in signs he made up in accuracy: his hearers watched his words about Christ come true in front of them.
- All of Christ. He kept himself in the background and spoke only of his Master — Messiah, Lamb of God, Son of God, Bridegroom.
- Long fruit. A faithful witness's words keep working after he is dead, often beyond anything he imagined.
- Many believed. The harvest came out beyond the Jordan, in the place of rejection. God's work goes on even while the nation refuses His Son.
And many believed on him there.
Jerusalem tried to seize Jesus, so He left and crossed the Jordan. He went to the spot where John the Baptist first baptized, and there the chapter ends in faith rather than hostility.
This was no narrow escape. He chose both the moment and the place.
This was not because their unbelief was incomplete, but because His time had not yet come. So the Lord withdrew until the moment God appointed. Meanwhile He went to the scene of John's earliest work and stayed there. There grace wins many a soul who recognised in Him the truth of John's testimony.
Three moments belong to that one place.
It was there that the Lamb of God was first pointed out. It was there, too, that John's testimony sent Andrew and his companion after Christ. And it was there that the Lord withdrew, as chapter 10:40 of this Gospel tells us, and stayed for a short time. Then, as the Lamb of God, He offered Himself up, the sacrifice for sins. It seems fitting that He returned to the very place where He was first proclaimed as the Lamb, before going up to Jerusalem to make that title good.
The nation had already cast out a man for confessing Christ. Now the Shepherd joins him outside.
The closing verses sum up the effect of this second discourse. The unbelieving Jews, rejecting the words and works of the Lord, sought to take Him. Their unbelief was complete, but His time had not yet come. So He went away beyond the Jordan. They had already cast out the man who had confessed Christ; now the Shepherd, utterly rejected by the nation, takes the outside place of reproach. In that outside place "many came to Him" and "many believed in Him there". So the Shepherd becomes the Leader of His flock outside the Jewish fold.
John had been rejected in his own day, and his work was long past. Yet his words about Jesus are what these people now remember.
So the Lord left them. That scene was now closed, and He returns, as it were, to the original testimony He started out with. His journey was hard, but love served Him in it and it served in love. "All things that John said of this man were true." True they surely were. And John proved his own truthfulness best by the witness he bore — a loving, faith-filled witness to His glory, His Person and His work, in short, his whole message as forerunner. How long the faithful testimony of a faithful, rejected witness lasts and bears fruit, though he himself hardly thought or dreamed of it!
John performed no miracle. He had a different power, and it is open to every ordinary Christian.
We are just simple and ordinary Christians with no claim to distinction or note. We have never wielded miraculous powers, and perhaps we never expect to. Miraculous power is one thing; SPIRITUAL POWER is another, and vastly more important. John the Baptist had none of the former; in the latter he excelled. And what is the secret of such power? Simply unswerving faithfulness in the testimony of life and lip to Christ. We are left in this world as His representatives. Let it be our chief concern to speak true things about Him.
Men had just tried to seize Jesus. At the same time, others were believing in Him.
Happy John! rejected as he was; and every word and work our Lord did was a testimony to his glory and the seal of it. What John spoke, Jesus did, making every word true that was John's office and glory to speak. His testimony proved effective when it was fulfilled. The fulfilment made the evidence stronger to men, "and many believed in Him there." This is remarkable. It shows the work of God going on during His rejection, and despite it.
- Rejected. Jesus escapes arrest, but not because unbelief was fading. His time had not yet come. The withdrawal is His choice, not their mercy.
- Returned. He goes back to the ground where John first announced Him as the Lamb of God. From that place of first testimony He goes up to make the title good.
- Relocated. Cast out by the nation, the Shepherd takes the outside place. There He becomes the Leader of a flock gathered outside the old fold.
- Remembered. John did no sign, yet his words held. A faithful witness keeps bearing fruit long after he is gone, beyond anything he dreamed of.
- Reaped. "Many believed" — God's work carries on even while His Son is rejected. Faithfulness of life and lip, not miracles, is what we are left here to give.