15 John doth testify concerning him, and hath cried, saying, 'This was he of whom I said, He who after me is coming, hath come before me, for he was before me;' 16 and out of his fulness did we all receive, and grace over-against grace; 17 for the law through Moses was given, the grace and the truth through Jesus Christ did come; 18 God no one hath ever seen; the only begotten Son, who is on the bosom of the Father—he did declare.
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent out of Jerusalem priests and Levites, that they might question him, 'Who art thou?' 20 and he confessed and did not deny, and confessed—'I am not the Christ.' 21 And they questioned him, 'What then? Elijah art thou?' and he saith, 'I am not.'—'The prophet art thou?' and he answered, 'No.' 22 They said then to him, 'Who art thou, that we may give an answer to those sending us? what dost thou say concerning thyself?' 23 He said, 'I 'am' a voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.' 24 And those sent were of the Pharisees, 25 and they questioned him and said to him, 'Why, then, dost thou baptize, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?' 26 John answered them, saying, 'I baptize with water, but in midst of you he hath stood whom ye have not known, this one it is who is coming after me, who hath been before me, 27 of whom I am not worthy that I may loose the cord of his sandal.' 28 These things came to pass in Bethabara, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing,
29 on the morrow John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, 'Lo, the Lamb of God, who is taking away the sin of the world; 30 this is he concerning whom I said, After me doth come a man, who hath come before me, because he was before me: 31 and I knew him not, but, that he might be manifested to Israel, because of this I came with the water baptizing. 32 And John testified, saying—'I have seen the Spirit coming down, as a dove, out of heaven, and it remained on him; 33 and I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, He said to me, On whomsoever thou mayst see the Spirit coming down, and remaining on him, this is he who is baptizing with the Holy Spirit; 34 and I have seen, and have testified, that this is the Son of God.'
35 On the morrow, again, John was standing, and two of his disciples, 36 and having looked on Jesus walking, he saith, 'Lo, the Lamb of God;'
37 and the two disciples heard him speaking, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus having turned, and having beheld them following, saith to them, 'What seek ye?' and they said to them, 'Rabbi, (which is, being interpreted, Teacher,) where remainest thou?' 39 He saith to them, 'Come and see;' they came, and saw where he doth remain, and with him they remained that day and the hour was about the tenth. 40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard from John, and followed him; 41 this one doth first find his own brother Simon, and saith to him, 'We have found the Messiah,' (which is, being interpreted, The Anointed,) 42 and he brought him unto Jesus: and having looked upon him, Jesus saith, 'Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas, thou shalt be called Cephas,' (which is interpreted, A rock.)
43 On the morrow, he willed to go forth to Galilee, and he findeth Philip, and saith to him, 'Be following me.' 44 And Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter; 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him, 'Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets, we have found, Jesus the son of Joseph, who 'is' from Nazareth;' 46 and Nathanael said to him, 'Out of Nazareth is any good thing able to be?' Philip said to him, 'Come and see.' 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming unto him, and he saith concerning him, 'Lo, truly an Israelite, in whom guile is not;' 48 Nathanael saith to him, 'Whence me dost thou know?' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Before Philip's calling thee—thou being under the fig-tree—I saw thee.' 49 Nathanael answered and saith to him, 'Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel.' 50 Jesus answered and said to him, 'Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, thou dost believe; greater things than these thou shalt see;' 51 and he saith to him, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the messengers of God going up and coming down upon the Son of Man.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on John 1:15-51
Commentary on John 1:15-18
(Read John 1:15-18)
As to the order of time and entrance on his work, Christ came after John, but in every other way he was before him. The expression clearly shows that Jesus had existence before he appeared on earth as man. All fulness dwells in him, from which alone fallen sinners have, and shall receive, by faith, all that renders them wise, strong, holy, useful, and happy. Our receivings by Christ are all summed up in this one word, grace; we have received "even grace," a gift so great, so rich, so invaluable; the good will of God towards us, and the good work of God in us. The law of God is holy, just, and good; and we should make the proper use of it. But we cannot derive from it pardon, righteousness, or strength. It teaches us to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, but it cannot supply the place of that doctrine. As no mercy comes from God to sinners but through Jesus Christ, no man can come to the Father but by him; no man can know God, except as he is made known in the only begotten and beloved Son.
Commentary on John 1:19-28
(Read John 1:19-28)
John disowns himself to be the Christ, who was now expected and waited for. He came in the spirit and power of Elias, but he was not the person of Elias. John was not that Prophet whom Moses said the Lord would raise up to them of their brethren, like unto him. He was not such a prophet as they expected, who would rescue them from the Romans. He gave such an account of himself, as might excite and awaken them to hearken to him. He baptized the people with water as a profession of repentance, and as an outward sign of the spiritual blessings to be conferred on them by the Messiah, who was in the midst of them, though they knew him not, and to whom he was unworthy to render the meanest service.
Commentary on John 1:29-36
(Read John 1:29-36)
John saw Jesus coming to him, and pointed him out as the Lamb of God. The paschal lamb, in the shedding and sprinkling of its blood, the roasting and eating of its flesh, and all the other circumstances of the ordinance, represented the salvation of sinners by faith in Christ. And the lambs sacrificed every morning and evening, can only refer to Christ slain as a sacrifice to redeem us to God by his blood. John came as a preacher of repentance, yet he told his followers that they were to look for the pardon of their sins to Jesus only, and to his death. It agrees with God's glory to pardon all who depend on the atoning sacrifice of Christ. He takes away the sin of the world; purchases pardon for all that repent and believe the gospel. This encourages our faith; if Christ takes away the sin of the world, then why not my sin? He bore sin for us, and so bears it from us. God could have taken away sin, by taking away the sinner, as he took away the sin of the old world; but here is a way of doing away sin, yet sparing the sinner, by making his Son sin, that is, a sin-offering, for us. See Jesus taking away sin, and let that cause hatred of sin, and resolutions against it. Let us not hold that fast, which the Lamb of God came to take away. To confirm his testimony concerning Christ, John declares the appearance at his baptism, in which God himself bore witness to him. He saw and bare record that he is the Son of God. This is the end and object of John's testimony, that Jesus was the promised Messiah. John took every opportunity that offered to lead people to Christ.
Commentary on John 1:37-42
(Read John 1:37-42)
The strongest and most prevailing argument with an awakened soul to follow Christ, is, that it is he only who takes away sin. Whatever communion there is between our souls and Christ, it is he who begins the discourse. He asked, What seek ye? The question Jesus put to them, we should all put to ourselves when we begin to follow Him, What do we design and desire? In following Christ, do we seek the favour of God and eternal life? He invites them to come without delay. Now is the accepted time, 2 Corinthians 6:2. It is good for us to be where Christ is, wherever it be. We ought to labour for the spiritual welfare of those related to us, and seek to bring them to Him. Those who come to Christ, must come with a fixed resolution to be firm and constant to him, like a stone, solid and stedfast; and it is by his grace that they are so.
Commentary on John 1:43-51
(Read John 1:43-51)
See the nature of true Christianity, it is following Jesus; devoting ourselves to him, and treading in his steps. Observe the objection Nathanael made. All who desire to profit by the word of God, must beware of prejudices against places, or denominations of men. They should examine for themselves, and they will sometimes find good where they looked for none. Many people are kept from the ways of religion by the unreasonable prejudices they conceive. The best way to remove false notions of religion, is to make trial of it. In Nathanael there was no guile. His profession was not hypocritical. He was not a dissembler, nor dishonest; he was a sound character, a really upright, godly man. Christ knows what men are indeed. Does He know us? Let us desire to know him. Let us seek and pray to be Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile; truly Christians, approved of Christ himself. Some things weak, imperfect, and sinful, are found in all, but hypocrisy belongs not to a believer's character. Jesus witnessed what passed when Nathanael was under the fig-tree. Probably he was then in fervent prayer, seeking direction as to the Hope and Consolation of Israel, where no human eye observed him. This showed him that our Lord knew the secrets of his heart. Through Christ we commune with, and benefit by the holy angels; and things in heaven and things on earth are reconciled and united together.