John 1:30

‘This is He of whom I said, after me comes a man who is become before me, for He was before me.’

John the Baptiser now expands on what he has said. Here was the One for whom he was preparing the way, the One who ranked before him because of His inherent superiority and who by right of that superiority would take over.

‘Who is become before me’. Jesus has not yet emerged into the limelight, but John already recognises that The One Who is to come is classed as his superior and is placed ‘before him’ by inherent right. And this right lies in His total genuine superiority, and in His pre-existence - ‘for He was before me’.