"Come and See": A Web Commentary on the Gospel of John: Section 9 Deepening Conflict (Jn 9.1- 10.42)

Section 9.4 A Geographical Transition (Jn 10.40-42)

⁴⁰And he went away again across the Jordan to the place where John first baptised and he stayed there. ⁴¹And many came to him and said, John didn't perform a sign, but all the things John said about him were true! ⁴²And many put their trust in him there.

GENERAL COMMENTS

The place where John the Baptist had first baptised was identified in Jn 1.28 as Bethany across the Jordan, where John was conducting his baptismal ministry when Jesus was baptised. The gospel narrative has come full circle here: Jesus has returned to the place where his ministry began and the story has returned to the place where it began, at least where it began as an earthly story, with the witness of John the Baptist to Jesus and his mission. While emphasising the difference between John the Baptist and Jesus here, the story reaffirms the reliability and power of the Baptist's witness, just as it did in the first chapter. At this point it seems that John the Baptist's witness has accomplished all that it could, and now a new and more powerful witness to Jesus will appear in the "fine work" that Jesus is about to do.

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