John 1:15-17

Amplified Bible

¹⁵John 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.’” ¹⁶For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift]. ¹⁷For the Law was given through Moses, but grace [the unearned, undeserved favor of God] and truth came through Jesus Christ.^(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

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.
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.