When Jesus told the truth about His Divinity, religious power-holders became angry. They were unable to kill Him or even arrest Him, but they had heard the message and understood. There was nothing more Jesus needed to do; so He went back to where His ministry began by the River Jordan, where He was baptised. His opponents were content that He was no longer challenging their authority: and we might assume that they hoped He would go away into obscurity, as Messianic pretenders had in the past.
 
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 live in the truth.