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THE KING’S BUSINESS
sents him as a herald w ho cries, w ith loud, ringing vo ice so th a t all m igh t h ear, b e fo re th e K ing w ho follow s him. Jo h n th e B ap tist’s testim o n y to ou r L o rd Jesu s is full of m eaning. In p o in t o f tim e th e L o rd Jesu s in H is e a rth ly m an ife sta tion cam e a fte r Jo h n th e B aptist, Jo h n th e B ap tist w as a p re p a ra tio n fo r H is m an ife sta tio n o f H im self, b u t th e m om en t H e d id m an ifest H im self, th o u g h com ing a fte r Jo h n , H e “be c am e b e fo re h im ,” th a t is, to o k th e p re c ed en ce o f him . J o h n th e B ap tist a t once b e g a n to d ecrease a n d sink in to th e b a ck g ro u n d (cf. J o h n 3 : 3 0 ) : th e L o rd Jesu s a d v a n c e d to th e front. B efore Jesu s m an ife sted H im self publicly J o h n h a d b e e n to ld o f G o d th a t H e w as com ing (cf. W . 3 0 -3 3 ), an d h a d to ld o th e rs th a t O n e was com ing a fte r him w ho w ou ld tak e th e p re c ed en ce o f him (cf. M att. 3:1 1, 1 2 ). J ohn th e B ap tist gives th e reason w hy th e L o rd Jesus shou ld b ecom e b e fo re him, “for (ra th e r, “because” ) He was before (ra th e r, “first of” ) me.” T h e w o rd s tra n sla te d in b o th th e A u th o riz ed an d th e R ev ised “b e fo re m e ” are v e ry p ecu liar a n d striking. T h ey m ean literally “ first o f m e ,” an d th e y se t fo rth th e th o u g h t th a t th e L o rd Jesu s w as n o t m erely c om p a r a tiv e ly b e fo re Jo h n , b u t th a t H e was sup e rla tiv e ly “ first o f” all. H e was first in H is essential n atu re, being v e ry G o d o f v e ry G od , a n d H e was first in tim e. It seem s clear th a t th e e te rn a l p re-ex istence o f th e W o rd is a t least h in ted a t here. Som e o f th e ab le st G e rm an critics a n d expositors h av e reused th e question w h e th e r it is p ro b a b le th a t J o h n th e B ap tist could h a v e h e ld o r exp ressed such view s o f th e p re-ex istence o f Christ. If w e b e a r in m ind th a t Jo h n th e B ap tist w as d iv inely inspired, “ full o f th e H o ly G h o st,” a n d received a
an d tru th a re m e t to g e th e r, rig h t eousness an d p e a c e h av e kissed each o th e r............G ra c e ’ co rre sp o n d s w ith th e id e a o f th e rev e la tio n th a t G o d is love (1 J o h n 4 :8 , 1 6 ), b y H im who is life; an
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