15 John gave witness about him, crying, This is he of whom I said, He who is coming after me is put over me because he was in existence before me.
16 From his full measure we have all been given grace on grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and the true way of life are ours through Jesus Christ.
18 No man has seen God at any time; the only Son, who is on the breast of the Father, he has made clear what God is.
19 And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you?
20 He said quite openly and straightforwardly, I am not the Christ.
21 And they said to him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And his answer was, I am not.
22 So they said to him, Who are you then? We have to give some answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the waste land, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.
24 Those who had been sent came from the Pharisees.
25 And they put this question to him, saying, Why then are you giving baptism if you are not the Christ, or Elijah, or the prophet?
26 John's answer was: I give baptism with water; but there is one among you of whom you have no knowledge;
27 It is he who is coming after me; I am not good enough to undo his shoes.
28 These things took place at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was giving baptism.
29 The day after, John sees Jesus coming to him and says, See, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
30 This is he of whom I said, One is coming after me who is put over me because he was in existence before me.
31 I myself had no knowledge of him, but I came giving baptism with water so that he might be seen openly by Israel.
32 And John gave this witness, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting on him.
33 I had no knowledge who he was, but he who sent me to give baptism with water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting, it is he who gives baptism with the Holy Spirit.
34 This I saw myself and my witness is that he is the Son of God.
35 The day after, John was there again with two of his disciples;
36 And looking at Jesus while he was walking he said, See, there is the Lamb of God!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on John 1
Commentary on John 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The Gospel According to ST. John
Chapter 1
The scope and design of this chapter is to confirm our faith in Christ as the eternal Son of God, and the true Messiah and Saviour of the world, that we may be brought to receive him, and rely upon him, as our Prophet, Priest, and King, and to give up ourselves to be ruled, and taught, and saved by him. In order to this, we have here,
Jhn 1:1-5
Austin says (de Civitate Dei, lib. 10, cap. 29) that his friend Simplicius told him he had heard a Platonic philosopher say that these first verses of St. John's gospel were worthy to be written in letters of gold. The learned Francis Junius, in the account he gives of his own life, tells how he was in his youth infected with loose notions in religion, and by the grace of God was wonderfully recovered by reading accidentally these verses in a bible which his father had designedly laid in his way. He says that he observed such a divinity in the argument, such an authority and majesty in the style, that his flesh trembled, and he was struck with such amazement that for a whole day he scarcely knew where he was or what he did; and thence he dates the beginning of his being religious. Let us enquire what there is in those strong lines. The evangelist here lays down the great truth he is to prove, that Jesus Christ is God, one with the Father. Observe,
Jhn 1:6-14
The evangelist designs to bring in John Baptist bearing an honourable testimony to Jesus Christ, Now in these verses, before he does this,
Jhn 1:15-18
In these verses,
Jhn 1:19-28
We have here the testimony of John, which he delivered to the messengers who were sent from Jerusalem to examine him. Observe here,
Jhn 1:29-36
We have in these verses an account of John's testimony concerning Jesus Christ, which he witnessed to his own disciples that followed him. As soon as ever Christ was baptized he was immediately hurried into the wilderness, to be tempted; and there he was forty days. During his absence John had continued to bear testimony to him, and to tell the people of him; but now at last he sees Jesus coming to him, returning from the wilderness of temptation. As soon as that conflict was over Christ immediately returned to John, who was preaching and baptizing. Now Christ was tempted for example and encouragement to us; and this teaches us,
Jhn 1:37-42
We have here the turning over of two disciples from John to Jesus, and one of them fetching in a third, and these are the first-fruits of Christ's disciples; see how small the church was in its beginnings, and what the dawning of the day of its great things was.
Jhn 1:43-51
We have here the call of Philip and Nathanael.