“John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.”
John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, 'This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me has surpassed me, because he was before me' — the Baptist's testimony now clarifies the temporal paradox central to Johannine Christology: Jesus comes after the Baptist historically but precedes him ontologically. "Surpassed" (protos, "became first") suggests that priority belongs to Jesus despite chronological succession. The Baptist's words invert worldly logic: the greater yields to the lesser in time, yet is greater in being.
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