John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’ ” From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
Show the surrounding paragraph
John 1:15-18 sits inside this longer paragraph.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’ ” From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
Parallel Translations
-
John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’ ”
From his fullness we all received grace upon grace.
For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
-
Iohn bare witnes of him and cryed sayinge: This was he of whome I spake he that cometh after me was before me because he was yer then I.
And of his fulnes have all we receaved even (grace) for grace.
For the lawe was geven by Moses but grace and truthe came by Iesus Christ.
No man hath sene God at eny tyme. The only begotte sonne which is in the bosome of the father he hath declared him.
Show all 3 translations
-
Iohn bare witnesse of him, and cryed, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that commeth after me, was before me: for he was better then I.
And of his fulnesse haue all we receiued, and grace for grace.
For the Lawe was giuen by Moses, but grace, and trueth came by Iesus Christ.
No man hath seene God at any time: that onely begotten Sonne, which is in the bosome of the Father, he hath declared him.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (116)
- Colossians 1:15 (v18) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
- John 6:46 (v18) Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father.
- Matthew 11:27 (v18) All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the…
- Luke 10:22 (v18) Turning to the disciples, he said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and…
- 1 John 4:12 (v18) No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
Show all 100 cross-references
- Colossians 1:19 (v16) For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him,
- 1 Timothy 6:16 (v18) He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.
- Romans 5:2 (v16) through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
- 1 John 4:9 (v18) By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
- Romans 6:14 (v17) For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.
- John 14:6 (v17) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
- Ephesians 2:5-10 (v16) even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him,…
- Exodus 33:18-23 (v18) Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim Yahweh’s name before you.…
- 1 John 4:20 (v18) If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God…
- Ephesians 4:7-13 (v16) But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he…
- Colossians 2:9-10 (v16) For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily, and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power.
- 1 John 5:20 (v18) We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in…
- Romans 3:19-26 (v17) Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world…
- Romans 5:20-21 (v17) The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; that as sin reigned in death, even…
- John 1:14 (vv17–18) The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
- John 17:26 (v18) I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
- Ephesians 3:19 (v16) and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
- Hebrews 9:22 (v17) According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.
- John 14:9 (v18) Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do…
- John 17:6 (v18) I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept…
- Ephesians 1:23 (v16) which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
- Deuteronomy 4:12 (v18) Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.
- John 8:32 (v17) You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
- John 7:19 (v17) Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”
- Romans 5:17 (v16) For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the…
- 2 Corinthians 3:7-10 (v17) But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the…
- Numbers 12:8 (v18) With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Yahweh’s form. Why then were you not afraid to…
- Matthew 3:11 (vv15–16) I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will…
- Exodus 23:21 (v18) Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him.
- Exodus 34:5-7 (v18) Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name. Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed,…
- Isaiah 6:1-3 (v18) In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Above him stood…
- John 12:41 (v18) Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory, and spoke of him.
- 1 Corinthians 1:4-5 (v16) I always thank my God concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; that in everything you were enriched in…
- Hebrews 3:5-6 (v17) Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken, but Christ is…
- 1 Timothy 1:17 (v18) Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Genesis 16:13 (v18) She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?”
- Genesis 22:18 (v17) All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice.’ ”
- Genesis 32:28-30 (v18) He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Jacob asked…
- Joshua 5:13–6:2 (v18) When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand.…
- Ezekiel 1:26-28 (v18) Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. On the likeness of the…
- Acts 28:23 (v17) When they had appointed him a day, many people came to him at his lodging. He explained to them, testifying about God’s Kingdom, and…
- Galatians 3:10-13 (v17) For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things…
- Ephesians 1:6-8 (v16) to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved, in whom we have our redemption through his blood,…
- Hebrews 8:8-12 (v17) For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come”, says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and…
- Exodus 3:4-6 (v18) When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.”…
- Judges 6:12-26 (v18) Yahweh’s angel appeared to him, and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if Yahweh…
- John 3:34 (v16) For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
- Hebrews 10:4-10 (v17) For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, “You didn’t…
- Genesis 48:15-16 (v18) He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,…
- Deuteronomy 5:1 (v17) Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may…
- Judges 13:20-23 (v18) For when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, Yahweh’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife…
- Proverbs 8:30 (v18) then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him,
- Isaiah 40:11 (v18) He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who…
- Lamentations 2:12 (v18) They ask their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” when they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul is poured out…
- Luke 16:22-23 (v18) The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up…
- Revelation 7:9-17 (v17) After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and…
- Genesis 18:33 (v18) Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
- Luke 1:54-55 (v17) He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.”
- Galatians 3:17 (v17) Now I say this: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so…
- Colossians 1:17 (v15) He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.
- Revelation 5:8-10 (v17) Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and…
- Hosea 12:3-5 (v18) In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with God. Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed;…
- Luke 3:16 (v15) John answered them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy…
- John 1:1-2 (v15) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
- John 1:29-34 (v15) The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I…
- John 3:16-18 (v18) For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For…
- Acts 7:38 (v17) This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received…
- Romans 15:8-12 (v17) Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the…
- Colossians 2:3 (v16) in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
- Genesis 3:15 (v17) I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise…
- Exodus 20:1-17 (v17) God spoke all these words, saying, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall…
- Psalms 85:10 (v17) Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
- Matthew 3:13-17 (v15) Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. But John would have hindered him, saying, “I need to be baptized…
- Matthew 13:12 (v16) For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he…
- Luke 1:68-79 (v17) “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people; and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the…
- Luke 21:15 (v16) for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict.
- John 1:7-8 (v15) The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but was sent…
- John 3:26-36 (v15) They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he baptizes, and…
- John 5:33-36 (v15) You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things…
- John 5:45 (v17) “Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
- John 15:1-5 (v16) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit,…
- Acts 13:34-39 (v17) “Concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the holy and…
- Romans 8:9 (v16) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of…
- Hebrews 11:39-40 (v17) These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn’t receive the promise, God having provided some better thing…
- Deuteronomy 4:44 (v17) This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.
- Deuteronomy 33:4 (v17) Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.
- Psalms 98:3 (v17) He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of…
- Micah 5:2 (v15) But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose…
- Micah 7:20 (v17) You will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
- Zechariah 4:7 (v16) Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace, to it!’ ”
- Mark 1:7 (v15) He preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen.
- John 1:27 (v15) He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.”
- John 9:29 (v17) We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”
- John 17:5 (v15) Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
- Acts 3:12-16 (v16) When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, “You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (116 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (24 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15. John testifieth. He now relates what was the…
15. John testifieth. He now relates what was the preaching of John. By using the verb testifieth (μαρτυρεῖ) in the present tense, he denotes a continued act, and certainly this doctrine must be continually in force, as if the voice of John were continually resounding in the ears of men. In the same manner he afterwards uses the word cry, to intimate that the doctrine of John was in no degree obscure or ambiguous, and that he did not mutter among a few men, but openly, and with a loud voice, preached Christ. The first sentence is intended to convey the statement, that he was sent for the sake of Christ, and therefore that it would have been unreasonable that he should be exalted, while Christ was lying low.
This is he of whom I spoke. By these words he means that his intention was, from the beginning, to make Christ known, and that this was the design of his public discourses; as, indeed, there was no other way in which he could discharge his office as ambassador than by calling his disciples to Christ.
Read full note →
Who, coming after me. Though John the Baptist was older than Christ by a few months, yet he does not now speak of age; but as he had discharged the office of prophet for a short period before Christ appeared in public, so he makes himself the predecessor with respect to time. With respect, therefore, to public manifestation, Christ came after John the Baptist. The words which follow might be literally rendered, he was made before me, for he was before me; but the meaning is, that Christ was justly preferred to John, because he was more excellent. He therefore surrenders his office to Christ and — as the proverb runs — “delivers to him the torch,” or gives way to him as his successor. But as he arose later in the order of time, John reminds his hearers that this is no reason why he should not be preferred to himself, as his rank deserved. Thus, all who are superior to others, either in the gifts of God or in any degree of honor, must remain in their own rank, so as to be placed below Christ.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 18 That is, He before whom I am sent to…
That is, He before whom I am sent to prepare him the way: so that these words are referred to the time of his calling, and not of his age, for John was six months older than he.
John is a faithful witness of the excellency of Christ.
Read full note →
This sentence hath in it a turning of the reason as we call it, as who would say, a setting of that first which should be last, and that last which should be first: for in plain speech this it is: He that cometh after me, is better than I am, for he was before me. The like kind of turning the reason we find in Luke 7:47: many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much, which is thus much to say, she loved much, because many sins are forgiven her.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying,…
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Ver. 15. John cried, saying] He entered upon his calling in the year of Jubilee, which was wont to be published by the voice of a crier, with the sound of a trumpet. And hitherto allude the prophets and evangelists, that say he cried, and call him, "the voice of a crier."
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–18 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying: John…
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying: John was not he, but only a witness to him; and he continueth to bear witness (the verb is in the present tense); nor did he give an obscure or cold testimony, but an open, and plain, and fervent testimony, according to the prophecies, his testimony was the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
This was he of whom I spake; he first testified that Christ was he of whom he had before spoken; possibly when he was preaching in the wilderness, and Christ came to him to be baptized of him, Mat 3:11,14.
Read full note →
He that cometh after me is preferred before me; he that cometh after me, in order of time, or in the ministerial office and employment, or, as if he were my disciple, Joh 8:12, is become, or is made, before me.
For he was before me, both in the eternal destination, and in respect of his Divine nature; as also in dignity and eminency, considered as a prophet, i.e. one that revealeth my Father’s will. This John said before, though not in terms, yet in effect, when he said, Mat 3:11, He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, & c. So Mar 1:7; Luk 3:16. This is the first thing which is here mentioned, as John’s testimony concerning Christ, respecting the excellency of his person.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v15 Here we have John Baptist’s first testimony concerning Christ…
Here we have John Baptist’s first testimony concerning Christ the promised Messiah: and it consists of four parts.
1. John prefers Christ before himself, as being surpassingly above himself. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, that is, in the dignity of his person, and in the eminency of his office, as being the eternal God. Now amongst them that were born of women, there was not a greater than John the Baptist; if Christ then was greater than John, it was in regard of his being God. He is therefore preferred before him, because he was before him, as being God from all eternity.
Read full note →
Learn hence, That the dignity and eternity of Christ;s person as God, sets him up above all his ministers; yea, above all creatures, how excellent soever. He that cometh after me in time, is preferred before me in dignity; for he was before me, even from all eternity.
2. John prefers Christ before all believers, in point of fulness and sufficiency of divine grace: Of his fulness do they receive. They have their failings, Christ has his fulness; theirs is the fulness of a vessel, his is the fulness of a fountain: their fulness is derivative, his fulness is original, yet also ministerial, on purpose in him to give out to us, that we may receive grace for grace; that is, grace answerable for kind and quality, though not for measure and degree. As a child in generation receives from its parent member for member, or as the paper in the printing-press receives letter for letter, and the wax under the seal receives print for print; so in the work of regeneration, whatever grace is in Christ, there is the like for kind stamped upon the Christian;s soul. All the members of Christ being made plentiful partakers of his spiritual endowments.
Learn hence, That all fulness of grace, by way of supply for believers, is treasured up in Christ, and communicated by him, as their wants and necessities do require: his fulness is inexhaustible, it can never be drawn low, much less drawn dry: Of his fulness do we receive grace for grace: that is, grace freely, grace plentifully; God grant that none of us may receive the grace of Christ in vain.
John prefers Christ before Moses, whom the Jews doted so much upon. The law was given by Moses, not as the author, but as the dispenser of it. Moses was God’s minister, by whom the law which reveals wrath, was given to the Jews; but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Grace, in opposition to the condemnatory curse and sentence of the law; and truth, in opposition to the types, shadows, and ceremonies of the legal administration.
Learn hence, That all grace for the remission of sin, and for performace of duty, is given from Christ, the Fountain of grace: Grace came by Jesus Christ. The grace of pardon and reconciliation; the grace of holiness and sanctification; the grace of love and adoption; even all that grace that fits us for service here, and glory hereafter. Christ is both the Dispenser and the Author of it. Grace came by Jesus Christ.
Again, 4. John the Baptist here Joh 1:18 doth not only prefer Christ before himself, before Moses, before all believers, but even before all persons whatsoever, in point of knowing and revealing the mind of God. No man hath seen God at any time; that is, no mere man hath ever seen God in his essence, whilst he was in this mortal state. Here God’s invisibility is asserted: next Christ’s intimacy with the Father, is declared.
The only-begotten Son, that is in the bosom of the Father. This expression implies three things.
1. Unity of natures; the bosom is the child’s place, who is part of ourselves.
2. Dearness of affection. None lie in the bosom, but the person that is dear to us. A bosom friend is the dearest of friends.
3. It implies communication of secrets. Christ’s lying in his Father’s bosom intimates his being conscious to all his Father’s secrets, to know all his counsels, and to understand his whole will and pleasure.
Now as Christ’s lying in his Father’s bosom implies unity of nature, it teaches us to give the same worship to Christ which we give to God the Father, because he is of the same nature with the Father. As it implies dearness of affection betwixt the Father and the Son, it teaches us to place our chief love upon Christ the Son, because God the Father doth so: he, who is the Son of God’s love, should be the object of our love; as God hath an bosom for Christ, so should we have also; the noblest object challenges the highest affection.
Again, as Christ’s lying in the Father’s bosom implies the knowlege of his mind and will, it teaches us to apply ourselves to Christ, to his word and Spirit, for illumination. Whither should we go for instruction, but to this great Prophet; for direction, but to this wonderful Counselor: We can never be made wise unto salvation, if Christ, the wisdom of the Father, doth not make us so.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v15 In these verses,
In these verses,
I. The evangelist begins again to give us John Baptist's testimony concerning Christ, Joh 1:15. He had said (Joh 1:8) that he came for a witness; now here he tells us that he did accordingly bear witness. Here, Observe,
Read full note →
1. How he expressed his testimony: He cried, according to the prediction that he should be the voice of one crying. The Old Testament prophets cried aloud, to show people their sins; this New Testament prophet cried aloud, to show people their Saviour. This intimates, (1.) That it was an open public testimony, proclaimed, that all manner of persons might take notice of it, for all are concerned in it. False teachers entice secretly, but wisdom publishes her dictates in the chief places of concourse. (2.) That he was free and hearty in bearing this testimony. He cried as one that was both well assured of the truth to which he witnessed and well affected to it. He that had leaped in his mother's womb for joy of Christ's approach, when newly conceived, does now with a like exultation of spirit welcome his public appearance.
2. What his testimony was. He appeals to what he had said at the beginning of his ministry, when he had directed them to expect one that should come after him, whose forerunner he was, and never intended any other than to lead them to him, and to prepare his way. This he had given them notice of from the first. Note, It is very comfortable to a minister to have the testimony of his conscience for him that he set out in his ministry with honest principles and sincere intentions, with a single eye to the glory and honour of Christ. Now what he had then said he applies to this Jesus whom he had lately baptized, and who was so remarkably owned from heaven: This was he of whom I spoke. John did not tell them that there would shortly appear such a one among them, and then leave them to find him out; but in this he went beyond all the Old Testament prophets that he particularly specified the person: "This was he, the very man I told you of, and to him all I said is to be accommodated." Now what was it he said?
(1.) He had given the preference to this Jesus: He that comes after me, in the time of his birth and public appearance, is preferred before me; he that succeeds me in preaching and making disciples is a more excellent person, upon all accounts; as the prince or peer that comes after is preferred before the harbinger or gentleman-usher that makes way for him. Note, Jesus Christ, who was to be called the Son of the Highest (Luk 1:32), was preferred before John Baptist, who was to be called only the prophet of the Highest, Luk 1:76. John was a minister of the New Testament, but Christ was the Mediator of the New Testament. And observe, though John was a great man, and had a great name and interest, yet he was forward to give the preference to him to whom it belonged. Note, All the ministers of Christ must prefer him and his interest before themselves and their own interests; they will make an ill account that seek their own things, not the things of Christ, Phi 2:21. He comes after me, and yet is preferred before me. Note, God dispenses his gifts according to his good pleasure, and many times crosses hands, as Jacob did, preferring the younger before the elder. Paul far outstripped those that were in Christ before him.
(2.) He here gives a good reason for it: For he was before me, prōtos mou ēn - He was my first, or first to me; he was my first Cause, my original. The First is one of God's names, Isa 44:6. He is before me, is my first, [1.] In respect of seniority: he was before me, for he was before Abraham, Joh 8:58. Nay, he was before all things, Col 1:17. I am but of yesterday, he from eternity. It was but in those days that John Baptist came (Mat 3:1), but the goings forth of our Lord Jesus were of old, from everlasting, Mic 5:2. This proves two natures in Christ. Christ, as man, came after John as to his public appearance; Christ, as God, was before him; and how could he otherwise be before him but by an eternal existence? [2.] In respect of supremacy; for he was my prince; so some princes are called the first; prōton, "It is he for whose sake and service I am sent: he is my Master, I am his minister and messenger."
II. He presently returns again to speak of Jesus Christ, and cannot go on with John Baptist's testimony till Joh 1:19. The Joh 1:16 has a manifest connection with Joh 1:14, where the incarnate Word was said to be full of grace and truth. Now here he makes this the matter, not only of our adoration, but of our thankfulness, because from that fulness of his we all have received. He received gifts for men (Psa 68:18), that he might give gifts to men, Eph 4:8. He was filled, that he might fill all in all (Eph 1:23), might fill our treasures, Pro 8:21. He has a fountain of fulness overflowing: We all have received. All we apostles; so some. We have received the favour of this apostleship, that is grace; and a fitness for it, that is truth. Or, rather, All we believers; as many as received him (Joh 1:16), received from him. Note, All true believers receive from Christ's fulness; the best and greatest saints cannot live without him, the meanest and weakest may live by him. This excludes proud boasting, that we have nothing but we have received it; and silences perplexing fears, that we want nothing but we may receive it. Let us see what it is that we have received.
1. We have received grace for grace. Our receivings by Christ are all summed up in this one word, grace; we have received kai charin - even grace, so great a gift, so rich, so invaluable; we have received no less than grace; this is a gift to be spoken of with an emphasis. It is repeated, grace for grace; for to every stone in this building, as well as to the top-stone, we must cry, Grace, grace. Observe,
(1.) The blessing received. It is grace; the good will of God towards us, and the good work of God in us. God's good will works the good work, and then the good work qualifies us for further tokens of his good will. As the cistern receives water from the fulness of the fountain, the branches sap from the fulness of the root, and the air light from the fulness of the sun, so we receive grace from the fulness of Christ.
(2.) The manner of its reception: Grace for grace - charin anti charitos. The phrase is singular, and interpreters put different senses upon it, each of which will be of use to illustrate the unsearchable riches of the grace of Christ. Grace for grace bespeaks, [1.] The freeness of this grace. It is grace for grace' sake; so Grotius. We receive grace, not for our sakes (be it known to us), but even so, Father, because it seemed good in thy sight. It is a gift according to grace, Rom 12:6. It is grace to us for the sake of grace to Jesus Christ. God was well pleased in him, and is therefore well pleased with us in him, Eph 1:6. [2.] The fulness of this grace. Grace for grace is abundance of grace, grace upon grace (so Camero), one grace heaped upon another; as skin for skin is skin after skin, even all that a man has, Job 2:4. It is a blessing poured out, that there shall not be room to receive it, plenteous redemption: one grace a pledge of more grace. Joseph - he will add. It is such a fulness as is called the fulness of God which we are filled with. We are not straitened in the grace of Christ, if we be not straitened in our own bosoms. [3.] The serviceableness of this grace. Grace for grace is grace for the promoting and advancing of grace. Grace to be exercised by ourselves; gracious habits for gracious acts. Grace to be ministered to others; gracious vouchsafements for gracious performances: grace is a talent to be traded with. The apostles received grace (Rom 1:5; Eph 3:8), that they might communicate it, Pe1 4:10. [4.] The substitution of New Testament grace in the room and stead of Old Testament grace: so Beza. And this sense is confirmed by what follows (Joh 1:17); for the Old Testament had grace in type, the New Testament has grace in truth. There was a grace under the Old Testament, the gospel was preached then (Gal 3:8); but that grace is superseded, and we have gospel grace instead of it, a glory which excelleth, Co2 3:10. Discoveries of grace are now more clear, distributions of grace far more plentiful; this is grace instead of grace. [5.] It bespeaks the augmentation and continuance of grace. Grace for grace is one grace to improve, confirm, and perfect another grace. We are changed into the divine image, from glory to glory, from one degree of glorious grace to another, Co2 3:18. Those that have true grace have that for more grace, Jam 4:6. When God gives grace he saith, Take this in part; for he who hath promised will perform. [6.] It bespeaks the agreeableness and conformity of grace in the saints to the grace that is in Jesus Christ; so Mr. Clark. Grace for grace is grace in us answering to grace in him, as the impression upon the wax answers the seal line for line. The grace we receive from Christ changes us into the same image (Co2 3:18), the image of the Son (Rom 8:29), the image of the heavenly, Co1 15:49.
2. We have received grace and truth, Joh 1:17. He had said (Joh 1:14) that Christ was full of grace and truth; now here he says that by him grace and truth came to us. From Christ we receive grace; this is a string he delights to harp upon, he cannot go off from it. Two things he further observes in this verse concerning this grace: - (1.) Its preference above the law of Moses: The law was given by Moses, and it was a glorious discovery, both of God's will concerning man and his good will to man; but the gospel of Christ is a much clearer discovery both of duty and happiness. That which was given by Moses was purely terrifying and threatening, and bound with penalties, a law which could not give life, which was given with abundance of terror (Heb 12:18); but that which is given by Jesus Christ is of another nature; it has all the beneficial uses of the law, but not the terror, for it is grace: grace teaching (Tit 2:11), grace reigning, Rom 5:21. It is a law, but a remedial law. The endearments of love are the genius of the gospel, not the affrightments of law and the curse. (2.) Its connection with truth: grace and truth. In the gospel we have the discovery of the greatest truths to be embraced by the understanding, as well as of the richest grace to be embraced by the will and affections. It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation; that is, it is grace and truth. The offers of grace are sincere, and what we may venture our souls upon; they are made in earnest, for it is grace and truth. It is grace and truth with reference to the law that was given by Moses. For it is, [1.] The performance of all the Old Testament promises. In the Old Testament we often find mercy and truth put together, that is, mercy according to promise; so here grace and truth denote grace according to promise. See Luk 1:72; Kg1 8:56. [2.] It is the substance of all the Old Testament types and shadows. Something of grace there was both in the ordinances that were instituted for Israel and the providences that occurred concerning Israel; but they were only shadows of good things to come, even of the grace that is to be brought to us by the revelation of Jesus Christ. He is the true paschal lamb, the true scape-goat, the true manna. They had grace in the picture; we have grace in the person, that is, grace and truth. Grace and truth came, egeneto - was made; the same word that was used (Joh 1:3) concerning Christ's making all things. The law was only made known by Moses, but the being of this grace and truth, as well as the discovery of them, is owing to Jesus Christ; this was made by him, as the world at first was; and by him this grace and truth do consist.
3. Another thing we receive from Christ is a clear revelation of God to us (Joh 1:18): He hath declared God to us, whom no man hath seen at any time. This was the grace and truth which came by Christ, the knowledge of God and an acquaintance with him. Observe,
(1.) The insufficiency of all other discoveries: No man hath seen God at any time. This intimates, [1.] That the nature of God being spiritual, he is invisible to bodily eyes, he is a being whom no man hath seen, nor can see, Ti1 6:16. We have therefore need to live by faith, by which we see him that is invisible, Heb 11:27. [2.] That the revelation which God made of himself in the Old Testament was very short and imperfect, in comparison with that which he has made by Christ: No man hath seen God at any time; that is, what was seen and known of God before the incarnation of Christ was nothing to that which is now seen and known; life and immortality are now brought to a much clearer light than they were then. [3.] That none of the Old Testament prophets were so well qualified to make known the mind and will of God to the children of men as our Lord Jesus was, for none of them had seen God at any time. Moses beheld the similitude of the Lord (Num 12:8), but was told that he could not see his face, Exo 33:20. But this recommends Christ's holy religion to us that it was founded by one that had seen God, and knew more of his mind than any one else ever did.
(2.) The all-sufficiency of the gospel discovery proved from its author: The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. Observe here,
[1.] How fit he was to make this discovery, and every way qualified for it. He and he alone was worthy to take the book, and to open the seals, Rev 5:9. For, First, He is the only-begotten Son; and who so likely to know the Father as the Son? or in whom is the Father better known than in the Son? Mat 11:27. He is of the same nature with the Father, so that he who hath seen him hath seen the Father, Joh 14:9. The servant is not supposed to know so well what his Lord does as the Son, Joh 15:15. Moses was faithful as a servant, but Christ as a Son. Secondly, He is in the bosom of the Father. He had lain in his bosom from eternity. When he was here upon earth, yet still, as God, he was in the bosom of the Father, and thither he returned when he ascended. In the bosom of the Father; that is, 1. In the bosom of his special love, dear to him, in whom he was well pleased, always his delight. All God's saints are in his hand, but his Son was in his bosom, one in nature and essence, and therefore in the highest degree one in love. 2. In the bosom of his secret counsels. As there was a mutual complacency, so there was a mutual consciousness, between the Father and Son (Mat 11:27); none so fit as he to make known God, for none knew his mind as he did. Our most secret counsels we are said to hide in our bosom (in pectore); Christ was privy to the bosom-counsels of the Father. The prophets sat down at his feet as scholars; Christ lay in his bosom as a friend. See Eph 3:11.
[2.] How free he was in making this discovery: He hath declared. Him is not in the original. He has declared that of God which no man had at any time seen or known; not only that which was hid of God, but that which was hid in God (Eph 3:9), exēgēsato - it signifies a plain, clear, and full discovery, not by general and doubtful hints, but by particular explications. He that runs may now read the will of God and the way of salvation. This is the grace, this the truth, that came by Jesus Christ.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–18 John bare witness of him,.... Which was his office…
John bare witness of him,.... Which was his office and business, for which purpose he was sent, Joh 1:6.
and cried; this agrees with his work and office, according to the prophecy of him in Isa 40:3 and with the time of his ministry, the year of jubilee; and with the nature of his ministry, which was clear, open, and public; and performed with vigour, and in a powerful manner, with much assurance and certainty, with boldness and intrepidity, and with great zeal and fervency, and in an evangelical way; for it was such a cry as debased the creature, and exalted Christ:
Read full note →
this was he, of whom I spake; when he first entered upon his ministry and baptism, before he saw Christ, or baptized him; see Mat 3:11.
he that cometh after me; for Christ came into the world after John; he was born six months after him; he came after him to be baptized by him, and attended on his ministry; and came later into the public ministry than he did,
is preferred before me; by God, the Father, in setting him up as Mediator; constituting him the head of the church; causing a fulness of grace to dwell in him; appointing him the Saviour of his people; and ordaining him judge of quick and dead. And by the prophets, who spake much of him, and sparingly of John; and of him as the Messiah and Saviour, and of John only as his harbinger: and by John himself, who represents him as coming from above, and as above all; and himself as of the earth, earthly: and by all Gospel ministers, and every true believer; and good reason there is for it:
for he was before me; which cannot be meant of honour and dignity; for this is expressed before; and it would be proving one thing by the same: nor of his birth, as man; for John in that sense was before him, being born before him; besides, being born before another, is no proof of superior worth; others were born before John, whom he yet excelled: but of his eternal existence, as the word, and Son of God, who was before John, or any of the prophets; before Abraham, and Noah, and Adam, or any creature whatever: the Arabic and Persic versions read, "for he was more ancient than me"; being from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15–18 John cried - With joy and confidence; This is…
John cried - With joy and confidence; This is he of whom I said - John had said this before our Lord's baptism, although he then knew him not in person: he knew him first at his baptism, and afterward cried, This is he of whom I said. &c. He is preferred before me - in his office: for he was before me - in his nature.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Verse 15. Of him] The glorious personage before mentioned:…
Verse 15. Of him] The glorious personage before mentioned: John the Baptist, whose history was well known to the persons to whom this Gospel came in the beginning, bare witness; and he cried, - being deeply convinced of the importance and truth of the subject, he delivered his testimony with the utmost zeal and earnestness, - saying, This is he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me - for I am no other than the voice of the crier in the wilderness, Isa 40:3, the forerunner of the Messiah.
Was before me.] Speaking by the prophets, and warning your fathers to repent and return to God, as I now warn you; for he was before me-he was from eternity, and from him I have derived both my being and my ministry.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Joh 1:15. John bare witness of him, saying, This…
Joh 1:15. John bare witness of him, saying, This is he, &c. — “This might probably happen at the time when Jesus made his first appearance among those that came to be baptized by John; when, at his offering to receive his baptism, though John before had been a stranger to him, and knew him not by any personal acquaintance with him, yet, by some powerful impression on his mind, he presently discerned that this was He whom he before had taught the people to expect, and of whose person he had given them so high a character. For it was plainly from his knowledge of him, that John at first would have declined baptizing him as an honour of which he looked upon himself to be unworthy. Nor is it to be doubted, that when first he knew the person, of whose appearance he had raised such expectations by his preaching, he would immediately be ready to acquaint his hearers, that this was he who was intended by him; which they themselves might have been ready to conclude from the uncommon veneration and respect with which the Baptist treated him, who had been always used to treat men with the greatest plainness.” He that cometh after me is preferred before me — Namely, by God. “Erasmus supposes, that John here refers to the honours which he knew had been paid to Jesus in his infancy, by the angel who announced his birth to the shepherds; by the shepherds themselves; by the eastern sages; by Simeon and Anna; honours which could not be paralleled by any thing which had happened to him. But the words seem to have a more extensive meaning, comprehending the superior dignity of Christ’s nature, office, commission, and exaltation, as Mediator. See Mat 3:11, the passage here referred to. For he was before me — It is fit that Jesus should be raised above me, because he is a person superior in nature to me. For though he was born after me, he existed before me.” “This must undoubtedly refer to the state of glory in which Christ existed before his incarnation, of which the Baptist speaks so plainly, Joh 3:31.” See Doddridge and Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15–18 John bare witness of him - The evangelist now…
John bare witness of him - The evangelist now returns to the testimony of John the Baptist. He had stated that the Word became incarnate, and he now appeals to the testimony of John to show that, thus incarnate, he was the Messiah.
He that cometh after me - He of whom I am the forerunner, or whose way I am come to prepare. See the notes at Mat 3:3.
Read full note →
Is preferred before me - Is superior to me. Most critics have supposed that the words translated “is preferred” relate to “time,” and not to “dignity;” meaning that though he came after him publicly, being six months younger than John, as well as entering on his work after John, yet that he had existed long before him. Most, however, have understood it more correctly, as our translators seem to have done, as meaning, He was worthy of more honor than I am.
He was before me - This can refer to nothing but his pre-existence, and can be explained only on the supposition that he existed before John, or, as the evangelist had before shown, from the beginning. He came “after” John in his public ministry and in his human nature, but in his divine nature he had existed long before John had a being - from eternity. We may learn here that it is one mark of the true spirit of a minister of Christ to desire and feel that Christ is always to be preferred to ourselves. We should keep ourselves out of view. The great object is to hold up the Saviour; and however much ministers may be honored or blessed, yet they should lay all at the feet of Jesus, and direct all men to him as the undivided object of affection and honor. It is the business of every Christian, as well as of every Christian minister, to be a witness for Christ, and to endeavor to convince the world that he is worthy of confidence and love.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 18 Is preferred before me.[4] Literally, is made before me.…
Is preferred before me.[4] Literally, is made before me. The sense, says St. John Chrysostom is, that he is greater in dignity, deserves greater honour, &c. though born after me, he was from eternity. (Witham)
===============================
Read full note →
[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
and 27. Aute me factus est, Greek: emprosthen mou gegonen, is preferred before me: St. John Chrysostom says, he is Greek: lamproteros, entimoteros, illustrios, honorabilior.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–18 A SAYING OF THE BAPTIST CONFIRMATORY OF THIS. (Joh…
A SAYING OF THE BAPTIST CONFIRMATORY OF THIS. (Joh 1:15)
after me--in official manifestation.
Read full note →
before me--in rank and dignity.
for he was before me--in existence; "His goings forth being from of old, from everlasting" (Mic 5:2). (Anything lower than this His words cannot mean); that is, "My Successor is my Superior, for He was my Predecessor." This enigmatic play upon the different senses of the words "before" and "after" was doubtless employed by the Baptist to arrest attention, and rivet the thought; and the Evangelist introduces it just to clinch his own statements.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15. John bare witness of him—Our Evangelist adduces the…
15. John bare witness of him—Our Evangelist adduces the Baptist’s testimony not to prove (as he will in Joh_1:19-34) that Jesus, and not himself, was the Messiah; but to prove what he is just now saying, that the Messiah was truly of this exalted nature. And cried—The great truth was maintained with a cry; a lofty voice that made the wilderness ring.
Cometh after me… preferred before me—Put in the form of a paradox; my successor is my predecessor. He is my successor in time, my predecessor in a previous eternity. This was indeed crying up the divine Comer to his true divine height.
Read full note →
For he was before me—Literally, he was my First. Not merely my former, but my absolute FIRST: first in the train of all my predecessors; therefore at the eternal beginning. The quotation of the Baptist’s words embraces but this verse, and then follows the Evangelist in continuance.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15. bare witness] Better, bears witness. At the end…
15. bare witness] Better, bears witness. At the end of a long life this testimony of the Baptist abides still fresh in the heart of the aged Apostle. Three times in 20 verses (15, 27, 30) he records the cry which was such an epoch in his own life. The testimony remains as a memory for him, a truth for all.
and cried] Better, and cries. The word indicates strong emotion, characteristic of a prophet. Comp. Joh_7:28; Joh_7:37, Joh_12:44; Isa_40:3.
Read full note →
of whom I spake] As if his first utterance under the influence of the Spirit had been scarcely intelligible to himself.
He that cometh after, &c.] The exact meaning seems to be—‘He who is coming after me (in His ministry as in His birth) has become superior to me, for He was in existence from all eternity before me.’ Christ’s pre-existence in eternity a great deal more than cancelled John’s pre-existence in the world; and as soon as He appeared as a teacher He at once eclipsed His forerunner. But this is not quite certain. The words translated ‘is preferred before me,’ or ‘is become superior to me,’ literally mean ‘has come to be before me;’ and this may refer to time and not to dignity. But the perfect tense ‘has come to be, has become’ points to dignity rather than time. Moreover if ‘has become before me’ refers to time, this is almost tautology with ‘for He was before me,’ which must refer to time.
he was before me] The Greek is peculiar, being the superlative instead of the comparative; not simply ‘prior to me,’ but ‘first of me.’ Perhaps it means ‘before me and first of all.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–18 (15) John bare witness of him, and cried.—Better, John…
(15) John bare witness of him, and cried.—Better, John beareth witness of him, and crieth. The latter verb is past in tense, but present in meaning. For the sense comp. Note on Joh_7:37. The writer thinks of the testimony as ever present, ever forceful. Twice on successive days had he heard them from the lips of the Baptist; three times within a few verses does he himself record them. (Comp. Joh_1:27; Joh_1:30.) They are among the words stamped on the heart in the crisis of life, and as fresh in the aged Apostle as they had been in the youthful inquirer. He remembers how he heard them, and from whom they came. That wondrous spiritual power in their midst which all men felt, whose witness men would have accepted had he declared that he was himself the Christ, uttered his witness then, and it holds good now. It is quoted here as closely bound up with the personal reminiscence of Joh_1:14, and with the thought of Joh_1:6-7.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–18 (6) The testimony to this fact by the prophetic…
(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 nationJohn beareth 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. And he crieth (kekragen ); 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 activitybefore me. He came forth in many ways from the Father, and was the central reality of the old covenant; gegonen , he hath come in the voice of the Lord, in the Shechinah glory, in the Angel of the presence, chronologically "before me." The English Version has followed the traditionary interpretation from Chrysostom to Lucke, De Wette, Alford, McLellan, and has seen in this emprosyen mou gegonen a reference to the higher rank or dignity of the Logos incarnate, 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 as Isa_6:1 and Mal_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 reality before him. The difficulty of this interpretation is said to be that the proof which followsbecause, or for (prwtov mou hn), 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, emprosyen mou gegonen and prwtov nou hn , 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 the oti prwtov 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.
The testimony of John the Baptist.
Read full note →
I THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE MESSIAH. "This was he of whom I spake." Thus he was the true forerunner of Christ.
II THE TRUE POSITION OF THE MESSIAH IN RELATION TO THE BAPTIST. "He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
1. There is here a recognition of the pre-existence of Christ, as well as of his higher dignity. (Joh_3:33)
2. It is a testimony that bespeaks the sincere humility of the Baptist.
Though "amongst them that were born of women there was not a greater than John the Baptist," he took his true place of inferiority at the feet of Jesus. To exalt Christ was his mission. He never thinks of himself.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv15–18 John bare witness of Him
Joh_1:15-18
John bare witness of Him
Read full note →
The pre-eminence of Christ
I.
CHRISTS SUPERIORITY TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.
1. John refers to and repeats previous testimonies, applying them to Him whom the congregation had just seen depart. The testimony was pointed, warm, confident, bold.
2. The substance and form of the testimony that, though Jesus was after John as to His birth and ministry, He was before him as to the dignity of His person, His mediatorial office, and above all His Deity.
II. CHRISTS SUPERIORITY TO ALL BELIEVERS.
1. All the fulness demanded for their wants, the entire supply for their need, is treasured up in Him.
(1) This might be asserted of the Word.
(2) But it is here asserted of Him as made flesh.
2. What has the believer that he has not received from Christ? By nature he is empty.
3. How exalting to Christ the truth that all are and always have been, and always will be, dependent on Him.
4. We derive from Christ, not through merit, grace after grace, and grace corresponding in nature to that poured on Christ.
III. CHRISTS SUPERIORITY TO MOSES.
1. Moses held a high place--the Law was given by him.
2. Nevertheless, no comparison could be made of Moses with Christ. He fulfilled his ministry and passed away, but Christ abides as the eternal administrator of grace and truth.
(1) The Law gives knowledge of sin and leaves us: grace and truth come with salvation from sin.
(2) The Law was the shadow of good things to come: the grace and truth of Christ were those good things.
IV. CHRISTS SUPERIORITY TO ALL CREATED INTELLIGENCES.
1. God is invisible and incomprehensible to all except His Son Jesus Christ.
2. Many are sons of God, Christ alone is the only-begotten of the Father.
3. Christ has declared the Father as no creature has done, revealing His nature, perfections, counsels, by His teaching, example, and secret influence on the minds of His people.
4. The eternal life of the best of His creatures consist in the knowledge of Him. (A. Beith, D. D.)
Christ pre-eminent
I. IT IS CHRIST ALONE WHO SUPPLIES THE SPIRITUAL WANTS OF ALL BELIEVERS (Joh_1:16).
1. The Spirit of Life is His special gift to the Church, and conveys from Him, as from a great root, sap and vigour to all the believing branches.
2. He is rich in mercy, wisdom, righteousness, holiness.
3. Out of His fulness believers in every age have been supplied.
4. Every saint in glory will acknowledge that he is Christs debtor for all he is.
II. THE VAST SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST TO MOSES AND THE GOSPEL TO THE LAW (Joh_1:17).
1. Moses was employed as a servant to convey the moral and ceremonial law which could not justify.
2. Christ as a Son came with the keys of Gods treasury of grace and truth Heb_3:6).
(1) Grace bringing salvation through faith.
(2) Truth fulfilling in His own Person the types of the Old
Testament.
III. IT IS CHRIST ALONE WHO HAS REVEALED THE FATHER TO MAN (verse 18).
1. No man could see God and live.
2. Yet all that man is capable of knowing of God the Father is revealed to us by God the Son. In His words, deeds, life, and death we see the wisdom, love, and holiness of God.
IV. How GREAT THE HONOUR OF THE BAPTIST AND CHRISTIAN MINISTERS in heralding such a Being. (Bp. Ryle.)
Face to face with Jesus Christ
How far ahead John was of the apostles in his conception and reception of the Saviour. Throughout the Baptist was not only a seer of the light but was drenched by the light.
I. JOHNS EXPERIENCE AND TESTIMONY. Verse 15 is information that the Apostle evidently thought very valuable. Having affirmed the Incarnation he recalls the testimony of the Baptist to that Incarnation. In this testimony lay the power and grace of the Forerunner. His was no outside knowledge or second-hand information, but experience, direct and personal. So now the man of permanent power is the man who speaks, or teaches, or works out of personal and spiritual experience. Learning, culture, travel, profoundest and most masterly thinking are well in their several places, because sanctifiable; but sanctity based on experience of the witness of the Spirit in us and to us individually is the grand thing.
II. JOHNS FULL-VOICED, ARTICULATE UTTERANCE OF THAT EXPERIENCE. Combine the two, beareth and crieth, and you have the perfection of Christ-like witness. Sometimes in law-courts witnesses have again and again to be instructed to speak out or up. There is self-evident reserve, hesitancy, a wish to say as little as possible. But John had no reserves, concealments, trickeries, and so cried out. Fitting it should have been so. Your private letter or personal explanation may be quiet and unobtrusive; but if your stand is in the public market, and the proclamation is a royal one, security must be taken that all around hear and know. If our heart be in our utterance the voice will answer to the heart. The testimony must not be chirped or whined, or spoken in falsetto. An unnatural twang will spoil the best speaking, albeit roaring, violence, physical sensationalism must not be confounded with crying.
III. THE WELL-BASED AND SELF-ABNEGATING CHARACTER OF JOHNS TESTIMONY. It was the experience of no mere mood or frame, but the granitic conviction and enunciation that he was only the runner before another.
1. His aim was to keep men from leaning on himself.
2. He disclaimed any intention of founding a sect or organizing a Church. He called himself a Voice, not a foundation.
3. His great purpose was to lead men to Christ. From this he never swerved. Johns conduct in drawing attention away from self to Christ should be imitated by every worker for Christ. Explanation, system-making, to say nothing of self-proclamation, is often sheer waste of that strength which can only be profitably utilized in sending men straight to Christ.
IV. JOHNS UNEXAGGERATED, almost charily worded, RECOGNITION OF CHRISTS DIVINITY. There was no gospel for him as there is none for us if Christ were not human. He was a Man, but a Man who was co-eternal with the Father. But the Baptists economy of words in proclaiming that fact is noticeable. He was before me. Simple, ordinary-looking, superficially unremarkable, but they hold in them an absolute statement of the pre-existence and Divinity of the Man Christ Jesus.
V. THE SIMPLICITY AND DIRECTNESS OF JOHNS WITNESS TO THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST. This is He. To-day the message of the servant of Christ in relation to every problem of life and destiny must be, this is He. There lies the spell, the mission, the divinest success. Not His gospel even, but Himself. Not about Him, but to Him. Not the Bible or the Church, but Himself. (A. B. Grosart, D. D.)
The effectiveness of the Baptists ministry
He who follows me preceded me. Here, then, is an apparent contradiction, intended to excite attention and stimulate mental activity. The enigmatical form must have also contributed to impress this important declaration on the memory of the hearers. (F. Godet, D. D.)
Public attention drawn to Christ
The coming forth of the Incarnate Word among men was not in secrecy and silence, as a king might go forth incognito among his subjects; but public attention was directed to Him. This was done most efficiently by John. (J. Culross, D. D.)
Johns self-effacement
Not only is the moon changeable, waving and waning, and its shape and light declining as it grows older, and itself approaches nearer and nearer to the sun; but so soon as the sun arises, though the moon should be yet in its full size and roundness, its light immediately fades from view, and itself becomes as if it no longer existed, for the superior glory of that incomprehensible luminary. And so both John the Baptist and the Jewish form of worship faded and shrunk, and became as non-existent, after they had performed their parts and offices as witnesses and schoolmasters to the great and glorious appearing of the Son of God Himself, the Sun of righteousness, the Word made flesh, the Godhead incarnate, the light and life of men and all creation, embodied in shape, and planted in place, and made visible: though too bright and dazzling to be comprehended, except by those who had opened and exercised their eyes to see His witnesses in the hours of darkness, when others were immersed in sleep, and so were not forced to shut them close in the daytime, in the blindness of unbelief. (S. A. Bosanquet.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15. John bare witness. At the time of Christ's…
15. John bare witness. At the time of Christ's baptism when the Spirit descended. See 1:33.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv16–17
John
THE FULNESS OF CHRIST
Read full note →
Joh 1:16.
What a remarkable claim that is which the Apostle here makes for his Master! On the one side he sets His solitary figure as the universal Giver; on the other side are gathered the whole race of men, recipients from Him. As in the wilderness the children of Israel clustered round the rock from which poured out streams, copious enough for all the thirsty camp, John, echoing his Master’s words, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink,’ here declares ‘Of His fulness have all we received.’
I. Notice, then, the one ever full Source.
The words of my text refer back to those of the Joh 1:14: ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.’ ‘And of His fulness have all we received.’ The ‘fulness’ here seems to mean that of which the Incarnate Word was full, the ‘grace and truth’ which dwelt without measure in Him; the unlimited and absolute completeness and abundance of divine powers and glories which ‘tabernacled’ in Him. And so the language of my text, both verbally and really, is substantially equivalent to that of the Apostle Paul. ‘In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and ye are complete in Him.’ The whole infinite Majesty, and inexhaustible resources of the divine nature, were incorporated and insphered in that Incarnate Word from whom all men may draw.
There are involved in that thought two ideas. One is the unmistakable assertion of the whole fulness of the divine nature as being in the Incarnate Word, and the other is that the whole fulness of the divine nature dwells in the Incarnate Word in order that men may get at it.
The words of my text go back, as I said, to the previous verse; but notice what an advance upon that previous verse they present to us. There we read, ‘We beheld His glory.’ To behold is much, but to possess is more. It is much to say that Christ comes to manifest God, but that is a poor, starved account of the purpose of His coming, if that is all you have to say. He comes to manifest Him. Yes! but He comes to communicate Him, not merely to dazzle us with a vision, not merely to show us Him as from afar, not merely to make Him known to understanding or to heart; but to bestow-in no mere metaphor, but in simple, literal fact-the absolute possession of the divine nature. ‘We beheld His glory’ is a reminiscence that thrills the Evangelist, though half a century has passed since the vision gleamed upon his eyes; but ‘of His fulness have all we received’ is infinitely and unspeakably more. And the manifestation was granted that the possession might be sure, for this is the very centre and heart of Christianity, that in Him who is Christianity God is not merely made known, but given; not merely beheld, but possessed.
In order that that divine fulness might belong to us there was needed that the Word should be made flesh; and there was further needed that incarnation should be crowned by sacrifice, and that life should be perfected in death. The alabaster box had to be broken before the house could be filled with the odour of the ointment. If I may so say, the sack, the coarse-spun sack of Christ’s humanity, had to be cut asunder in order that the wealth that was stored in it might be poured into our hands. God came near us in the life, but God became ours in the death, of His dear Son. Incarnation was needed for that great privilege-’we beheld His glory’; but the Crucifixion was needed in order to make possible the more wondrous prerogative: ‘Of His fulness have all we received.’ God gives Himself to men in the Christ whose life revealed and whose death imparted Him to the world.
And so He is the sole Source. All men, in a very real sense, draw from His fulness. ‘In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.’ The life of the body and the life of the spirit willing, knowing, loving, all which makes life into light, all comes to us through that everlasting Word of God. And when that Word has ‘become flesh and dwelt among us,’ His gifts are not only the gifts of light and life, which all men draw from Him, but the gifts of grace and truth which all those who love Him receive at His hands. His gifts, like the water from some fountain, may flow underground into many of the pastures of the wilderness; and many a man is blessed by them who knows not from whence they come. It is He from whom all the truth, all the grace which illuminates and blesses humanity, flow into all lands in all ages.
II. Consider, then, again, the many receivers from the one Source. ‘Of His fulness have all we received.’
Observe, we are not told definitely what it is that we receive. If we refer back to words in a previous verse, they may put us on the right track for answering the question, What is it that we get? ‘He came unto His own,’ says Joh 1:11, ‘and His own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power,’ etc. That answers the question, What do we receive? Christ is more than all His gifts. All His gifts are treasured up in Him and inseparable from Him. We get Jesus Christ Himself.
The blessings that we receive may be stated in many different ways. You may say we get pardon, purity, hope, joy, the prospect of Heaven, power for service; all these and a hundred more designations by which we might describe the one gift. All these are but the consequences of our having got the Christ within our hearts. He does not give pardon and the rest, as a king might give pardon and honours, a thousand miles off, bestowing it by a mere word, upon some criminal, but He gives all that He gives because He gives Himself. The real possession that we receive is neither more nor less than a loving Saviour, to enter our spirits and abide there, and be the spirit of our spirits, and the life of our lives.
Then, notice the universality of this possession. John has said, in the previous words, ‘We beheld His glory.’ He refers there, of course, to the comparatively small circle of the eye-witnesses of our Master’s life; who, at the time when he wrote, must have been very, very few in number. They had had the prerogative of seeing with their eyes and handling with their hands the Word of life that ‘was manifested unto us’; and with that prerogative the duty of bearing witness of Him to the rest of men. But in the ‘receiving,’ John associates with himself, and with the other eyewitnesses, all those who had listened to their word, and had received the truth in the love of it. ‘We beheld’ refers to the narrower circle; ‘we all received’ to the wider sweep of the whole Church. There is no exclusive class, no special prerogative. Every Christian man, the weakest, the lowliest, the most uncultured, rude, ignorant, foolish, the most besotted in the past, who has wandered furthest away from the Master; whose spirit has been most destitute of all sparks of goodness and of God-receives from out of His fulness. ‘If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His.’ And every one of us, if we will, may have dwelling in our hearts, in the greatness of His strength, in the sweetness of His love, in the clearness of His illuminating wisdom, the Incarnate Word, the Comforter, the All-in-all whom ‘we all receive.’
And, as I said, that word ‘all’ might have even a wider extension without going beyond the limits of the truth. For on the one side there stands Christ, the universal Giver; and grouped before Him, in all attitudes of weakness and of want, is gathered the whole race of mankind. And from Him there pours out a stream copious enough to supply all the necessities of every human soul that lives to-day, of every human soul that has lived in the past, of every one that shall live in the future. There is no limit to the universality except only the limit of the human will: ‘Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’
Think of that solitary figure of the Christ reared up, as it were, before the whole race of man, as able to replenish all their emptiness with His fulness, and to satisfy all their thirst with His sufficiency. Dear brother! you have a great gaping void in your heart-an aching emptiness there, which you know better than I can tell you. Look to Him who can fill it and it shall be filled. He can supply all your wants as He can supply all the wants of every soul of man. And after generations have drawn from Him, the water will not have sunk one hairsbreadth in the great fountain, but there will be enough for all coming eternities as there has been enough for all past times. He is like His own miracle-the thousands are gathered on the grass, they do ‘all eat and are filled.’ As their necessities required the bread was multiplied, and at the last there was more left than there had seemed to be at the beginning. So ‘of His fulness have all we received’; and after a universe has drawn from it, for an Eternity, the fulness is not turned into scantiness or emptiness.
III. And so, lastly, notice the continuous flow from the inexhaustible Source. ‘Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.’
The word ‘for’ is a little singular. Of course it means instead of, in exchange for; and the Evangelist’s idea seems to be that as one supply of grace is given and used, it is, as it were, given back to the Bestower, who substitutes for it a fresh and unused vessel, filled with new grace. He might have said, grace upon grace; one supply being piled upon the other. But his notion is, rather, one supply given in substitution for the other, ‘new lamps for old ones.’
Just as a careful gardener will stand over a plant that needs water, and will pour the water on the surface until the earth has drunk it up, and then add a little more; so He gives step by step, grace for grace, an uninterrupted bestowal, yet regulated according to the absorbing power of the heart that receives it. Underlying that great thought are two things: the continuous communication of grace, and the progressive communication of grace. We have here the continuous communication of grace. God is always pouring Himself out upon us in Christ. There is a perpetual out flow from Him to us: if there is not a perpetual inflow into us from Him it is our fault, and not His. He is always giving, and His intention is that our lives shall be a continual reception. Are they? How many Christian men there are whose Christian lives at the best are like some of those Australian or Siberian rivers; in the dry season, a pond here, a stretch of sand, waterless and barren there, then another place with a drop of muddy water in some hollow, and then another stretch of sand, and so on. Why should not the ponds be linked together by a flashing stream? God is always pouring Himself out; why do we not always take Him in?
There is but one answer, and the answer is, that we do not fulfil the condition, which condition is simple faith. ‘As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God; even to them that believed on His name.’ Faith is the condition of receiving, and wherever there is a continuous trust there will be an unbroken grace; and wherever there are interrupted gifts it is because there has been an intermitted trust in Him. Do not let your lives be like some dimly lighted road, with a lamp here, and a stretch of darkness, and then another twinkling light; let the light run all along the side of your path, because at every moment your heart is turning to Christ with trust. Make your faith continuous, and God will make His grace incessant, and out of His fulness you will draw continual supplies of needed strength.
But not only have we here the notion of continuous, but also, as it seems to me, of progressive gifts. Each measure of Christ received, if we use it aright, makes us capable of possessing more of Christ. And the measure of our capacity is the measure of His gift, and the more we can hold the more we shall get. The walls of our hearts are elastic, the vessel expands by being filled out; it throbs itself wider by desire and faith. The wider we open our mouths the larger will be the gift that God puts into them. Each measure and stage of grace utilised and honestly employed will make us capable and desirous, and, therefore, possessors, of more and more of the grace that He gives. So the ideal of the Christian life, and God’s intention concerning us, is not only that we should have an uninterrupted, but a growing possession, of Christ and of His grace.
Is that the case with you, my friend? Can you hold more of God than you could twenty years ago? Is there any more capacity in your soul for more of Christ than there was long, long ago? If there is you have more of Him; if you have not more of Him it is because you cannot contain more; and you cannot contain more because you have not desired more, and because you have been so wretchedly unfaithful in your use of what you had. The ideal is, ‘they go from strength to strength,’ and the end of that is, ‘every one of them appeareth before God.’
So, dear brother, as the dash of the waves will hollow out some little indentation on the coast, and make it larger and larger until there is a great bay, with its headlands miles apart, and its deep bosom stretching far into the interior, and all the expanse full of flashing waters and leaping waves, so the giving Christ works a place for Himself in a man’s heart, and makes the spirit which receives and faithfully uses the gifts which He brings, capable of more of Himself, and fills the widened space with larger gifts and new grace.
Only remember the condition of having Him is trusting to His name and longing for His presence. ‘If any man open the door I will come in.’ We have Him if we trust Him. That trust is no mere passive reception, such as is the case with some empty jar which lies open-mouthed on the shore and lets the sea wash into it and out of it, as may happen. But the ‘receive’ of our text might be as truly rendered ‘take.’ Faith is an active taking, not a passive receiving. We must ‘lay hold on eternal life.’ Faith is the hand that grasps the offered gift, the mouth that feeds upon the bread of God, the voice that says to Christ, ‘Come in, Thou blessed of the Lord; why standest Thou without?’ Such a faith alone brings us into vital connection with Jesus. Without it, you will be none the richer for all His fulness, and may perish of famine in the midst of plenty, like a man dying of hunger outside the door of a granary. They who believe take the Saviour who is given, and they who take receive, and they who receive obtain day by day growing grace from the fulness of Christ, and so come ever nearer to the realisation of the ultimate purpose of the Father, that they should be ‘filled with all the fulness of God.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Grace. Summary:
grace
Grace. Summary:
Read full note →
(1) Grace is "the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man.. . not by works of righteousness which we have done" Tit 3:4; Tit 3:5.
It is, therefore, constantly set in contrast to law, under which God demands righteousness from man, as, under grace, he gives righteousness to man Rom 3:21; Rom 3:22; Rom 8:4; Php 3:9. Law is connected with Moses and works; grace with Christ and faith; Joh 1:17; Rom 10:4-10. Law blesses the good; grace saves the bad; Exo 19:5; Eph 2:1-9. Law demands that blessings be earned; grace is a free gift; Deu 28:1-6; Eph 2:8; Rom 4:4; Rom 4:5.
(2) As a dispensation, grace begins with the death and resurrection of Christ Rom 3:24-26 Rom 4:24; Rom 4:25. The point of testing is no longer legal obedience as the condition of salvation, but acceptance or rejection of Christ, with good works as a fruit of salvation,; Joh 1:12; Joh 1:13; Joh 3:36; Mat 21:37; Mat 22:24; Joh 15:22; Joh 15:25; Heb 1:2; 1Jn 5:10-12. The immediate result of this testing was the rejection of Christ by the Jews, and His crucifixion by Jew and Gentile Act 4:27. The predicted end of the testing of man under grace is the apostasy of the professing church: See "Apostasy" (See Scofield "2Ti 3:1") 2Ti 3:1-8 and the resultant apocalyptic judgments.
(3) Grace has a twofold manifestation: in salvation Rom 3:24 and in the walk and service of the saved Rom 6:15.
See, for the other six dispensations:
Innocence, (See Scofield "Gen 1:28")
Conscience, (See Scofield "Gen 3:23")
Human Government, (See Scofield "Gen 8:21")
Promise, (See Scofield "Gen 12:1")
Law, (See Scofield "Exo 19:8")
Kingdom, (See Scofield "Eph 1:10").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v15 The closing testimony of the prologue:
The closing testimony of the prologue:
v. 15. John bare witness of Him and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me; for He was before me.
Read full note →
v. 16. And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.
v. 17. For the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
v. 18. No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
The glory of the Messiah, of the Word Incarnate, had been testified to even by John the Baptist, and the evangelist was not the first one to call attention to this feature. He had called out loud, without fear and dread of the consequences. His witnessing and preaching had been in the nature of continual, earnest, impressive urging and pleading, in order to prepare the hearts for the reception of Christ. John had pointed forward to Jesus and His coming. Christ came after him in point of time, but He was before His herald in point of honor, authority, power, glory. In these things the Master had at once gained the ascendancy, leaving John far behind. He was prior to John, as the eternal Son of God, and His priority was evident in every respect. This testimony of John the Baptist agreed in substance exactly with that of the evangelist.
And the latter now continues his testimony. Out of the fullness of Jesus we all, all believers, have received, and grace for grace. The fount of mercy never dries up; ever and again fresh grace and mercy appears over and above that already received. Because sin abounds and ever again brings on transgressions, therefore grace and mercy must abound still more Though we use up grace daily, there is always anew and rich supply on hand from the inexhaustible store of God, Rom 5:20. The river of grace flowing from the Savior is always full of water. Under the Old Covenant, indeed, the opposite of grace, merit and works, was prominent. The Law as given by Moses demanded full obedience and threatened the transgressor with temporal and eternal punishment. But Moses, though the keeper and preacher of the Law by God’s command, was a mere man, and therefore the Law itself could not have lasting value in the way in which it had been in use among the Jews. But Christ is the God-man, the Word of God Incarnate; He brings grace and truth which will have an abiding place in the world. Grace, the fullness of the assurance of free pardon, and truth, the Word of the Gospel which proclaims grace and mercy, and is the sum and substance of the truth and faithfulness of God, came through Jesus Christ, who came down in His own person, not only to preach the Gospel, but to be the exponent of the Gospel and make its proclamation possible. And another fact the Christians should remember. God is the essence of faithfulness and mercy toward all men. But His essence is hidden before the eyes of men. So far as the knowledge and the application of His beautiful attributes are therefore concerned, someone had to reveal them to men, otherwise the veil of Moses would have been before their eyes until the end of time. And so the only-begotten Son, He who was with the Father from eternity, and, as a matter of fact, is in eternity in the bosom of the Father, could and did reveal and proclaim the Father to us. He is of the same essence with the Father, He is one with the Father, He was intimately acquainted with the counsel of love for the salvation of mankind. And this He revealed to us, giving us thereby the correct picture of God, not one representing Him as the threatening, terrible Judge, but as the gracious Father for the sake of the Son that earned salvation for all men. Note: The proclaiming of the secrets of God was done by Christ at the same time that He was in God’s bosom. While He was on earth, He was yet in the bosom of the Father; for He is in the bosom of the Father from everlasting to everlasting. In coming to this earth to assume true human nature, He did not leave the bosom of His Father. The glorious intimacy of the Holy Trinity was never interrupted.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v16 This word refers to God's grace that has no…
fullness
This word refers to God's grace that has no end.
Read full note →
grace after grace
"blessing after blessing"
Father
This is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)
translationWords
grace
law
Moses
true
Jesus
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17, 18 1:15 he existed long before me: In a society…
1:15 he existed long before me: In a society where age was respected and honored (Lev 19:32; contrast Isa 3:5), John the Baptist emphasized Jesus’ honor by pointing to his existence even before creation (John 1:1-3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.