John 10:42 Meaning: John the Baptist Did No Miracle

Welcome to our fourth 10-week Bible Memory Challenge! We’re starting strong with this week’s verse:

"And many believed on him there." — John 10:42 (KJV)

It’s a short verse, only six words, but to understand why so many believed, we have to back up one verse first.

"And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true." — John 10:41 (KJV)

Where Is “There”?

The verse just before gives us the setting:

"And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode." — John 10:40 (KJV)

This is the same place described in John 1:28, “Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.” Jesus went back to the very ground where John had preached, and the people who remembered John’s words came out to Him.

And here’s something worth noticing. By the time of John 10, John the Baptist was already dead. Matthew 14 records his beheading just before the feeding of the five thousand, and John 6 records that same feeding, four chapters before our verse. John wasn’t there to point to Jesus anymore. His words were doing it for him.

John’s Job: Prepare the Way

John’s whole calling was to prepare the way for Jesus. He described himself this way:

"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias." — John 1:23 (KJV)

That quotes Isaiah:

"Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." — Isaiah 40:3 (KJV)

Before John was even born, the angel told his father what his life would accomplish. Luke 1:17 says he would go “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

And you can see he did exactly that just by how the people reacted. They looked at Jesus, remembered what John had said, and concluded that every word of it was true.

No Miracle, Just Truth

Notice what the people said about John: he “did no miracle.” He never did anything miraculous or outstanding. He didn’t heal the sick or calm a storm. He lived plainly in the wilderness.

"And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey." — Matthew 3:4 (KJV)

He simply spoke the truth and lived soberly. That was enough.

So by the time Jesus arrived, the people were ready for His message. Ready to hear His parables. Ready to pick up the yoke of Christ, the yoke Jesus offered:

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." — Matthew 11:29 (KJV)

They were ready to love His ways, because everything John said about Him was true. The prophecies of the Messiah were being fulfilled right in front of them.

We Are Called to Be Like John

Here’s what we can take from this passage. We’re called to be like John the Baptist to the people around us.

Speak the TruthWhen we speak, we should be speaking the truth of who Christ is.
Live SoberlyWe should be living out our faith with sober living.

"Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." — Titus 2:12 (KJV)

We have to lay out an example of the Holy Spirit’s work in us, something that pricks the conscience of the people around us. When Peter preached at Pentecost:

"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" — Acts 2:37 (KJV)

That kind of conviction clears the way for people to readily accept the gospel.

And John never made himself the point:

"He must increase, but I must decrease." — John 3:30 (KJV)

Our example isn’t meant to draw people to us. It’s meant to point them past us to Christ.

Breaking Up the Ground

Sometimes when you need to plant a seed, you have to break the ground first. Scripture uses this same picture:

"Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns." — Jeremiah 4:3 (KJV)

"Break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD." — Hosea 10:12 (KJV)

Speaking the truth of God’s Word does exactly that. It breaks up the soil of the hearts of the people around us. So when they hear our words and then look toward Christ, they should see that we spake all things truthfully, just like the people saw in John.

We Don’t Need a Miracle

We don’t have to do a miracle. We just have to speak as the oracles of God.

"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." — 1 Peter 4:11 (KJV)

And when we do, we can trust the results to Him. God’s Word never comes back void:

"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." — Isaiah 55:11 (KJV)

So if we want many to believe, it starts with the sober groundwork: making sure our lives reflect Christ’s teachings. Then, when people go looking into this Jesus we live by, they’ll fall in love with Him according to the truth.