John 1:15 15John bore witness about him, and cried out, saying, “This one was whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me has become greater than me, because he was before me.’”
John the author now returns to the topic of John the Baptist (see verses 6-8). John will compare John the Baptist to Jesus further in chapter 3, but at this point, shows how John was the witness about Jesus. The purpose of John’s ministry was to prepare the way for the coming Messiah in fulfillment of Malachi 4:5. John’s witness is introduced in this verse and developed further in verse 19 after the brief interlude of verses 16-18. In the Synoptic Gospels, John’s ministry focused on calling people to be ready for the Messiah. In John’s Gospel, the focus is more on identity. The purpose of the opening of this Gospel is to show the identity of Jesus, both his divinity and humanity.
John the Baptist had been proclaiming a message about a coming one. When Jesus showed up on the scene, the identity of the coming one was evident to John. John came first, then Jesus. The idea in this verse is that the greater comes later. John was only the preparation. People flocked to hear John, and many had become his disciples. But John was temporary.
John’s testimony is carefully stated in this verse with significant contrasts between time and rank. The after me refers to time, since obviously John began his ministry before Jesus. Jesus could not begin his ministry until John had done his. The greater than me refers to rank. Jesus was in a higher position of importance. The reason for this is given in the last phrase before me. This is another reference to time. The assumption is that John knew something about Jesus’ eternal personhood. According to Luke’s account of the birth narratives, John was older than Jesus by a few months. The time frame referred to here goes back before physical birth. This subtle statement adds further confirmation of the claims made at the beginning of this Gospel. John, as the greatest prophet born, added further witness to the divinity of Jesus the Messiah.
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