Passage
These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John 1:28 (LSB)
Nearby Context
John 1:26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.
John 1:27 This One is He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.”
John 1:28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John 1:29 On the next day, he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "things", "took", "place", "bethany", "beyond", "jordan", "where", and "john". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "things" and "took", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 27's "This One is He who comes after..." into verse 29's "On the next day he saw Jesus...", so "things" and "took" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "things" and "took" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.