John 1:30

“This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because He was before me.’”

            John the Baptist is continuing from the last verse explaining Jesus and declaring Him to the crowd. It is interesting to take note that after John the Baptist gives the gospel in a sentence, he then chooses this as the next qualifier for his introduction of Jesus. This phrase is a repeat of what he has been telling people as we read in verse 15. When it comes down to it John the Baptist’s message was simple, and it is used as an example of the same thing John, the gospel writer, is also saying. Jesus is the Lamb of God who sacrifices Himself to take away every sin in the world and Jesus is above John the Baptist because He is God eternal who has “come before.”

            In this sentence, John the Baptist is explaining the truth of the incarnation. When it comes to the incarnation, or God taking on flesh, it is an essential piece of the puzzle to who Jesus is. John understands the essential nature of this theological truth and wants those whom he is speaking to understand it also. It is the same truth that John, the author of the gospel, is trying to explain in the first paragraph of this chapter in more depth. In essence, what John is saying here is this is the man who I said is more important than me because He is not just a man but is God who created me. We can start to see why John, the author of the gospel, started this chapter with explaining this concept of the Word with more details so that we can understand. Jesus is the Word that was in the beginning, that created everything. Jesus. Is. God.

            There are two things a Christian can take away from this verse. First, we find a fundamental talking point when preaching the gospel and communicating our faith in Jesus. We must be able to tell people Jesus is God. However, this is also an encouragement for us in our times of need because we can look at our faith and understand we are not the most important person in it, Jesus is, and take heart that all we must do is take refuge in Him. He ranks above us because He is before us. This is the reason John the Baptist could do what he did, and it is also the reason we can carry on every day. This fact is the reason why we can pick up our Bibles every day to read and pray because we know our creator God hears us.

            To those who a not Christians, it is time to put away this notion of you being the center of your world and understand that there is one who ranks higher than you. God is before you and He demands your life either in mercy through the saving faith in Jesus or in Justice through the separation forever from Him in hell.