John 10:40

And he went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John was at first baptizing: and there he abode.

These verses describe a ministry of Jesus east of Jordan, in Perea, a ministry also recorded in Mark 10:1. Jesus, perhaps because of mounting hostility, goes back to the place where the Baptist had baptized and borne witness to Jesus (John 1:28). If the Jerusalem Jews have rejected their Messiah, here in Transjordan, humble folk acknowledge the truth of what John had said and confess their faith in Jesus.[30]

He went away again ... This does not mean that Jesus had made another journey to the district in Transjordan. As Hendriksen noted:

It must be interpreted in the light of what immediately follows, namely, "to the place where John was at first baptizing ... and having previously reported two places where John baptized ... (he) is now thinking of the first place, namely, Bethany across Jordan ... fifty miles from the Bethany near Jerusalem.[31]

[30] William Hendriksen, op. cit., II, p. 130.

[31] Ibid.