There was a man sent from God whose name was John.(A) He came as a witness to testify(B) concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.(C) He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

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The Witness of John the Baptist

There came a man commissioned and sent from God, whose name was [a]John.(A) This man came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe [in Christ, the Light] through him. John was not the Light, but came to testify about the Light.

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Footnotes

  1. John 1:6 The births of both John the Baptist and Jesus were foretold by the angel, Gabriel (Luke 1:5-80). This passage is about John the Baptist, the son of Zacharias the priest and his wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was related to Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:36). John the Baptist is considered to be the last of the OT prophets, and is not to be confused with John the Apostle who wrote this Gospel, three brief letters (1 John, 2 John, 3 John) and Revelation.

John’s Witness: The True Light

There was a (A)man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a (B)witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might (C)believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that (D)Light.

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A man named John, who was sent by God, was the first to clearly articulate the source of this Light. This baptizer put in plain words the elusive mystery of the Divine Light so all might believe through him. Some wondered whether he might be the Light, but John was not the Light. He merely pointed to the Light.

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6-8 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.

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14 The Word became flesh(A) and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,(B) the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace(C) and truth.(D)

15 (John testified(E) concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)(F)

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The Word Made Flesh

14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).(A) 15 John testified [repeatedly] about Him and [a]has cried out [testifying officially for the record, with validity and relevance], “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me [b]has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’”

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Footnotes

  1. John 1:15 Here John the writer uses the Greek perfect tense (“has cried out”), emphasizing the truth and continuing importance of John the Baptist’s testimony.
  2. John 1:15 Lit has become before (in front of) me, because He was first of me. The Greek is difficult because John the Baptist was making a word-play on the adverbs/adjective “after” (or “behind”), “before,” and “first.” The playful wording assumes the form of a riddle which, like some of Jesus’ parables, conceals the speaker’s meaning from those who are hostile toward him and have neither the patience nor the spiritual inclination to learn from him.

The Word Becomes Flesh

14 (A)And the Word (B)became (C)flesh and dwelt among us, and (D)we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, (E)full of grace and truth.

15 (F)John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, (G)‘He who comes after me [a]is preferred before me, (H)for He was before me.’ ”

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Footnotes

  1. John 1:15 ranks higher than I

14 The Voice took on flesh and became human and chose to live alongside us. We have seen Him, enveloped in undeniable splendor—the one true Son of the Father—evidenced in the perfect balance of grace and truth. 15 John the Baptist testified about Him and shouted, “This is the one I’ve been telling you is coming. He is much greater than I am because He existed long before me.”

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14 The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

15 John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

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