John 10:40-42 : He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed. Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.” Many believed in him there.

The subject of John the Baptist comes up again here. Jesus left to stay at the place where John started his ministry. I believe, at this time, John had been killed because of the past tense the people used when they referred to Him. We also learn another remarkable thing about John the Baptist.

John didn’t do any miracles. In fact, John seemed kind of strange. How in the world did a strange man who did no miracles and told everyone to turn from their evil ways get to be so popular?

I have found that, throughout my life, many men of God have fit this profile. There was nothing they had that would naturally draw people to them except the wonderful message that they were given the ability to preach. That’s all John did. He knew one thing, and that was that the people needed to get ready for the coming of their Messiah, and that he was honored with the ministry of preparing them for Him. This also reminds me of Billy Graham. He believed that God wanted him to preach, so He did. His method was never spectacular, yet, I would guess, that many who read this were influenced by him.

Pastor Chuck Smith, pastor of Calvary Chapel in California, says that “Where God guides, God provides”. He often doesn’t require a major promotion or conforming to this world’s system in order to draw a crowd or money for ministry. He will provide you with what you need to do what He is telling you to do. This is God we are talking about. If you minister for Him, He is responsible for what He is asking you to do. This is not to say that God doesn’t ever want people to ask for money, but that when they do what He does want them to do, whatever those things are, they will be able to accomplish what He asks of them.

John’s ministry was successful enough that it says here that, speaking of Jesus, “Many believed in him there.” What a success John was! Jesus was being physically threatened in other places, but here, people believed in Jesus. They recognized that John was absolutely right about this man. They were adequately prepared for Jesus.