When Jesus told the truth about His Divinity, religious powerholders became angry.  They had heard the message and fully understood.  But they were unable to kill Him or even arrest Him because His time had not yet come (John 7:8).  There was nothing more Jesus needed to do in Jerusalem and so He went back to where His ministry began by the River Jordan, where He had been baptised by John.  It was the place where Father God spoke over the water, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)  It had been a place of preparation for ministry; now Jesus prepared to be the Passover Sacrifice – but still with the loving approval of the Father.

Jesus’ opponents were content that He was no longer ‘in town’ to challenge their authority: perhaps He would go away into obscurity, as Messianic pretenders had in the past.  But those power-manipulators believed they had the upper hand.  John the Baptist had died at the hands of Herod, who told him the truth about his immoral lifestyle (Matthew 14:6-11).  Jesus would die too (John 11:45-53).
 
Although the officials did not want to know the truth, many of the people did.  They had no power or dignity to preserve; they just wanted to know what was true, and experience the hand of God on their lives.  They were convinced that John the Baptist was right when he declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and was somebody who was far greater than John (John 1:30).  On the evidence of John's prophetic words, the authoritative teaching of Jesus and His miracles, they believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31).
 
Although some think of Jesus as an historical figure, or a religious pioneer or as an obstacle to their own religious ambitions - it is still true that those who want to find the truth will find it in Jesus.  However, those who are determined to preserve their own sovereignty, refusing to submit to Jesus, will either want to push Him out of the way or be glad when He no longer troubles them.  Faith is not an academic encounter, but a conviction that Jesus is authentically God - and therefore everything He says matches with everything He does - and it is wonderfully affirming to those who want to submit to Him and live in the Truth.  Our challenge is to keep on obeying as a sign that we believe, and keep on advertising the truth about Jesus as a sign that we are not ashamed of Him.