Lecture 9 — John’s witness

^1:15^ John bears witness to him, and cries out, saying: this was he of whom I spoke: he who will come after me, is preferred before me: because he was before me. [n. 191]

191. Having given the evidence by which the Word was made known to the apostles by sight, the Evangelist then presents the evidence by which the Word was made known to persons other than the apostles by their hearing the testimony of John.

He does three things about this.

First, the witness is presented.

Second, his manner of testifying is indicated: and he cries out.

Third, his testimony is given: this was he of whom I spoke: he who will come after me, is preferred before me: because he was before me.

192. So he says: **we **indeed saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14). But we are not believed, perhaps because we are held in suspicion. So let his witness come forth, that is, John the Baptist, who bears witness to Christ. He is a faithful witness who will not lie: a faithful witness will not lie (Prov 14:5); you sent to John, and he gave testimony to the truth (John 5:33).

John gives his testimony here and fulfills his office with perseverance because he came as a witness. Truthful lips endure forever (Prov 12:19).

193. Then when he says, and cries out, saying, he describes the way he bore witness, that is, it was with a cry. So he says, he cries out, i.e., freely without fear. Cry out in a loud voice . . . say to the cities of Judah: here is your God (Isa 40:9). He cried out ardently and with great fervor, because it is said, his word burned like a torch (Sir 48:1); seraphim cried one to another (Isa 6:3), which is expressive of a more interior eagerness of spirit.

The use of a cry shows that the statements of the witness are not made to a few in figurative language or secretly, but that a truth is being declared openly and publicly, and told not to a few but to many. Cry out, and do not stop (Isa 58:1).

194. Then he adds his testimony: this was he of whom I spoke. And he does two things.

First, he shows that his testimony was continuous. Second,

he describes the person to whom he bore witness: he who will come after me, is preferred before me: because he was before me.

195. The testimony of the Baptist was continuous because he bore witness to him not only once but many times, and even before Christ had come to him. And so he says, this was he of whom I spoke, i.e., before I saw him in the flesh I bore witness to him. And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High (Luke 1:76). He pointed him out both as present and when about to come.

And his testimony is certain because he not only predicted that he would come, but pointed him out when he was present, saying, behold the Lamb of God (John 1:36). This implies that Christ was physically present to John; for he had often come to John before being baptized.

196. Then he describes the one to whom he bore witness, saying, he who will come after me, is preferred before me.

Here we should note that John does not at once preach to his disciples that Christ is the Son of God, but he draws them little by little to higher things: first, by preferring Christ to himself, even though John had such a great reputation and authority as to be considered the Christ or one of the great prophets.

Now he compares Christ to himself:

first, with regard to the order of their preaching;

second, as to the order of dignity; and

third, as to the time of their existence.

197. With respect to the order of their preaching, John preceded Christ as a servant precedes his master, and as a soldier his king, or as the morning star the sun: see, I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me (Mal 3:1). He therefore, comes after me, in being known to men, through my preaching.

Observe that comes is in the present tense, because in Greek the present participle is used.

Now John preceded Christ for two reasons.

First, according to Chrysostom, because John was a blood relation of Christ according to the flesh: your relative, Elizabeth (Luke 1:36). Therefore, had he borne witness to Christ after knowing him, his testimony might have been open to question; accordingly, John came preaching before he was acquainted with Christ, in order that his testimony might have more force. Hence he says, and I did not know him, but that he may be made manifest in Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water (John 1:31).

Second, John preceded Christ because in things that pass into act from potency, the imperfect is naturally prior to the perfect; hence it is said: the spiritual is not first, but the animal (1 Cor 15:46). Accordingly, the perfect doctrine of Christ should have been preceded by the less perfect teaching of John, which was in a certain manner midway between the doctrine of the law and the prophets, which announced the coming of Christ from afar, and the doctrine of Christ, which was clear and plainly made Christ known.

198. John compares him to himself with respect to dignity when he says, he is preferred before me. It should be noted that it is from this text that the Arians took occasion for their error. For they said that he who comes after me, is to be understood of Christ as to the flesh he assumed, but what follows, is preferred before me, can only be understood of the Word of God, who existed before the flesh; and for this reason Christ as the Word was made, and was not coeternal with the Father.

According to Chrysostom, however, this exposition is stupid, because if it were true, the Baptist would not have said, he is preferred before me, because he was before me, since no one is unaware that if he was before him, he was made before him. He rather would have said the opposite: he was before me, because he was made before me. And so, according to Chrysostom, these words should be taken as referring to Christ’s dignity, that is, he was preferred to me and placed ahead of me. It is as though he said: although Jesus came to preach after me, he was made more worthy than I both in eminence of authority and in the repute of men: gold will not be equal to it (Job 28:17). Or alternatively: he is preferred before me, that is, before my eyes, as the Gloss says and as the Greek text reads. As if to say: before my eyes, i.e., in my sight, because he came into my view and was recognized.

199. He compares him to himself with respect to their duration, saying, because he was before me. As if to say: he was God from all eternity, I am a frail man of time. And therefore, even though I came to preach ahead of him, yet it was fitting that he rank before me in the reputation and opinion of men, because he preceded all things by his eternity: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). Before Abraham was made, I am (John 8:58).

If we understand this passage as saying that he is preferred before me, it can be explained as referring to the order of time according to the flesh. For in the instant of his conception Christ was perfect God and perfect man, having a rational soul perfected by the virtues, and a body possessed of all its distinctive features, except that it lacked perfect size: a woman shall enclose a man, i.e., a perfect man (Jer 31:22). Now it is evident that Christ was conceived as a perfect man before John was born; consequently he says that he is preferred before me, because he was a perfect man before I came forth from the womb.