John 11:54

Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but departed thence into the country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there he tarried with his disciples.

The Lord's purpose required him to suffer at the Passover; and thus his hour had not come. Therefore he withdrew, compelling the hatred of men to await the Lord's own choice of the occasion when he would lay down his life of his own accord for the salvation of men.

Ephraim ... near to the wilderness ... This is another telling word of an eyewitness. Hendriksen located this place "about fourteen miles N.N.E. of Jerusalem, about the same distance west of the Jordan River, and about eighteen miles south of Jacob's well."[21] How strange that the Lord of life should have spent the last months of his ministry in this out-of-the-way place.