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John 1:7,8,29-34
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that allmen through him might believe…

John 3:26-36
And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and allmen come to him…

John 5:33-36
Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth…

he was.

John 1:1,2,30
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…

John 8:58
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

John 17:5
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

He cried out, saying,
The phrase "cried out" indicates the urgency and importance of John's message. In the cultural context of the time, public proclamation was a primary means of communication, and John's bold declaration would have drawn significant attention. This public announcement underscores the prophetic nature of John's ministry and his role as a herald of the Messiah.

“This is He of whom I said,
John's statement points back to his previous declarations about the coming Messiah. This consistency in his message reinforces his credibility as a prophet. It also connects to the broader biblical narrative, where prophets often pointed to the coming of a savior, as seen in passages likeDeuteronomy 18:15, where Moses speaks of a prophet like himself whom God will raise up.

‘He who comes after me
John acknowledges that Jesus' ministry follows his own, aligning with the cultural expectation of a forerunner preparing the way for someone greater. This sequence is significant in the context of Jewish tradition, where the arrival of a new leader or teacher often followed a period of preparation and anticipation.

has surpassed me
John's recognition of Jesus' superiority is a testament to his humility and understanding of his role. This acknowledgment is crucial, as it highlights the transition from the old covenant, represented by John, to the new covenant, inaugurated by Jesus. It also reflects the theme of Jesus' preeminence found throughout the New Testament, such as inColossians 1:18.

because He was before me.’”
This statement emphasizes the preexistence of Christ, a foundational doctrine in Christian theology. It aligns with the prologue of John's Gospel, which declares that the Word was with God in the beginning (John 1:1). This assertion of Jesus' eternal nature connects to Old Testament references to the divine nature of the Messiah, such as inMicah 5:2, which speaks of a ruler from Bethlehem whose origins are from ancient times.

John the Baptist’s whole identity was wrapped up in pointing others to Jesus. Long before Christ began His public ministry, God had sent John “as a witness to testify about the Light” (John 1:7).

• John was the last Old Testament–style prophet, fulfillingMalachi 3:1.

• His mission underscores God’s pattern of providing reliable witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15;Acts 13:24).

• By recording John’s testimony at the very outset, the apostle John ensures we see Jesus through a trustworthy lens, much like “two or three witnesses” confirm truth (John 5:33).

This was no casual remark; John’s voice rang across the Judean wilderness with urgency. “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’” (Isaiah 40:3;Luke 3:4).

• The verb “cried out” conveys passion. John’s boldness is mirrored later when Jesus Himself “cried out” in the temple (John 7:28).

• True testimony about Christ is never timid. Like Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3:17), John warns and invites.

John’s message was consistent; he had already told the crowds about Someone greater (Matthew 3:11).

• Repetition shows resolve. Genuine faith doesn’t shift with opinion polls (1 Corinthians 15:58).

• John models how we should keep Christ at the center of every conversation—then and now (2 Timothy 4:2).

Chronologically Jesus began preaching after John, yet He outranks John in every way.

• John gladly takes the lower place: “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30).

• Jesus surpasses every prophet and priest (Hebrews 3:3–6).

• John illustrates humble service, echoing Jesus’ own teaching that “the last will be first” (Matthew 20:16).

Though Jesus was born six months after John (Luke 1:36), He existed from eternity.

• “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1).

• “Before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58).

• “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).

• Christ’s pre-existence proves His deity and validates every claim He makes.

John 1:15 weaves together witness, urgency, humility, and Christ’s eternal supremacy. John the Baptist loudly affirms that although Jesus’ public arrival came after his own, the Son has always been—and therefore outranks every human messenger. The verse invites us to echo John’s joyful declaration: honor Christ above all, point others to Him, and rest in the certainty that the One we follow is eternal God, come in the flesh.

(6)The testimony to this fact by the prophetic spirit. The evangelist, in support and vindication of the profound impression produced upon himself and others by the Christ, cites the startling and paradoxical testimony of the Baptist, which in John's own hearing the great forerunner had twice uttered, under very extraordinary circumstances (see vers. 26, 30). In the later verses this testimony is put in its proper place. Its repetition deepens the impression which the narrative gives of the vivid reality, and of the fact that the evangelist was trusting to a strongly impressed recollection, and is not romanticizing, as the Tubingen critics suppose. The sharp paradoxical form is thoroughly characteristic of the man who called on scribes and Pharisees to "repent," and spoke of God raising up seed to Abraham from the stones of the ground. From the synoptists we learn that John declared that the Coming One was "mightier" than himself, would deal with the Holy Ghost and with fire as he was able to do with water. He knew not the kind of manifestation which was coming on apace. But an enormous change passed over John the Baptist when he came into contact with our Lord, and at his baptism he sank abashed before the revelations which flashed on his soul. The enigmatical form of the Baptist's utterances was the beginning of the evangelist's faith in the personal pre-existence of the Logos who had become flesh in Christ. The testimony of the Baptist is here brought in, as the last great word of the prophetic ministry of the Old Testament, apart from the historic setting in which it afterwards occurs, as if, moreover, it was an abiding word which was yet sounding in the ears of men. The greatest of the sons of woman, and "more than a prophet," he who gathered up in his immense personality all the functions of prophet, priest, Nazarite, and master and teacher of men, the Elijah of the new revelation - John, the very ideal of Divine and supernatural voice in this world of ours, John, the veritable historic man, moreover, to whose disastrous martyrdom some of the Jews (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 18, 5, 2) referred the terrible judgments that befell their nation -Johnbeareth witness. That was his function, and his testimony still stands, his "voice" is still heard wherever his great career is known or properly appreciated - in Palestine, in Alexandria, in Ephesus or Corinth. Andhe crieth (κέκραγεν); or,hath cried; and the cry is still heard among men:This was he of whom I spake; implying that John uttered words of strange enigmatical significance before he saw Jesus coming to his baptism, and that, as the evangelist subsequently shows, on two memorable occasions, the prophet recalled them and reaffirmed their truthfulness. Before I saw him, I said it:He that is coming after me hath become - hath been in mighty activity -before me. He came forth in many ways from the Father, and was the central reality of the old covenant;γέγονεν, he hath come in the voice of the Lord, in the Shechinah glory, in the Angel of thepresence, chronologically "before me." The English Version has followed the traditionary interpretation from Chrysostom to Lucke, De Wette, Alford, McLellan, and has seen in thisἐμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν a reference to the higher rank or dignity of the Logosincarnate, and translated the second clause "is preferred before me," or "hath been made before me," etc. But such a statement would not have conveyed any thought of great importance. A herald is naturally exceeded and superseded by the dignity and rank of him for whom he prepares the way. Moreover, the two adverbs of place are used in metaphorical sense as adverbs of time (derived from the relative position of individuals in a line or procession), and it is scarcely probable that the second should be used in another sense altogether, which would have disturbed the antithesis between them. On the other hand, Hengstenberg, Meyer, Lange, Godet, etc., recognize the perception of the Baptist, and his utterance of belief in the pre-existence of the Christ, and that from such passages asIsaiah 6:1 andMalachi 3:1 he knew that he who was coming into the world, and about to baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire, to take the fan in his hand, etc., had been in realitybefore him. The difficulty of this interpretation is said to be that the proof which follows -because, orfor (πρῶτός μου ἤν),he was before me - would be tautologous in the extreme; the reason given for the Lord having become before him being simply the asseveration of the fact. But the two very remarkable expressions,ἐμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν andπρῶτόςνου ἤν, are not identical. The first may easily refer to the historic precedence of the activity of the Coming One in all the operations of the Logos; the second may refer to the absolute and eternal precedence of the Logos in itself. If so, the whole significance of the previous fourteen verses is gathered up, and shown to have been flashed upon the consciousness of John the Baptist, and uttered with such intensity that the evangelist caught the idea, and saw in it the key to the whole mystery. It would seem, however, that theὅτι πρῶτός did not form part of the original utterance of John. After the baptism, the whole truth had broken upon the Baptist, and he clenched or saw an explanation of the mystery.

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