John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus is sometimes used in an attempt to prove that Jesus preexisted in heaven:

John 1:15, 27 and 29-30 (NASB) John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'” …²⁷  “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”…²⁹  The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰  “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ³¹  “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” (emphasis added)

Some Christians reason that if Jesus preexisted in heaven, it proves he is God.  In this post, we will look at the context of the passage, the langue of the text itself, and the traditional Hebraic view of preexistence to determine if John the Baptist preached Jesus preexisted as God.

Context

The context of this passage reveals that the Jews sent a group of priests and Levites to John the Baptist to ask if he was the expected Christ.  John denies being the Christ and says that his ministry is to prepare the way for the one who is coming after him, that is, the Messiah.  Regarding Jesus’ identity, John never claims Jesus is divine.  Instead, he clearly pronounces Jesus to be a man.  It is this man who outranks John.  What’s more, the prophet identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God, that is, the sacrifice that belongs to or is from God, not God the Lamb as some erroneously interpret the phrase to mean.  If John thought that Jesus was God, he could have plainly said so.  After all, which is the greater proclamation, that Jesus is the promised king, the Messiah, or that Jesus is God?

That John equated the title Lamb of God with that of the Messiah is evidenced by the conversation Andrew, one of John the Baptist’s disciples, had with his brother Peter the day after John’s pronouncement:

John 1:40-41 (NASB) One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹  He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). (emphasis added)

Andrew did not announce to his brother that they had found the God-man or the second person of the Trinity, or any other post-Biblical moniker.  Rather, Andrew understood, according to the Baptist’s testimony, that Jesus was the promised anointed one of God.

Jesus Existed Before Me

To the Trinitarian mind, the phrase he existed before me in verses 15 and 30 indicates Jesus preexisted in heaven.  They reason, how else could Jesus, who was six months younger than John,[1] have existed before John?  But the context tells us that the priests and Levites questioned the wilderness prophet about his ministry, not his birth:  Are you the Christ?  Are you Elijah?  Are you the Prophet?[2] John responded to their inquiries by explaining that he was not the Christ,[3] for his ministry paled in comparison to the ministry of the one who was to come after him.

John 1:26-27 (NASB) John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷  “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

So how could Jesus be before John, but also come after him?  The key lies in properly rendering the phrase before me, or prôtos mous (πρῶτός μου) in the Greek.  Prôtos means first, foremost, of first importance.  It can also mean first in time; chronologically, but also first in rank or chief.[4]  Thus, even though John’s ministry preceded Jesus’ ministry chronologically (It is he who comes after me), as the Christ of God, Jesus’ ministry ranked ahead of or before John’s ministry in degree of importance.  This is in keeping with John’s statements that he was merely the one called by God to prepare the way for the Messiah,[5]  and thus not worthy to untie Jesus’ sandal.  Moreover, it is in keeping with John’s understanding that his ministry role was diminishing in importance now that the Christ was on the scene:

John 3:28-30 (NASB) “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ ²⁹  “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. ³⁰ “He must increase, but I must decrease.

Thus, John’s comments all point to the fact that the prophet is referring to Jesus being before him, that is, his chief or superior, first in status or rank, not first in time.  Unfortunately, some Biblical translations, perhaps in an effort to bolster their claims of Jesus’ divinity, choose to translate prôtos in chronological terms contrary to the context.

But not all Trinitarian scholars understand the phrase in that way.  John Calvin, for example, in his commentary on John 1:15 says:

Though John the Baptist was older than Christ by a few months, yet he does not now speak of age; but as he had discharged the office of prophet for a short period before Christ appeared in public, so he makes himself the predecessor with respect to time. With respect, therefore, to public manifestation, Christ came after John the Baptist. The words which follow might be literally rendered, he was made before me, for he was before me; but the meaning is, that Christ was justly preferred to John, because he was more excellent. He therefore surrenders his office to Christ and — as the proverb runs — “delivers to him the torch,” or gives way to him as his successor. But as he arose later in the order of time, John reminds his hearers that this is no reason why he should not be preferred to himself, as his rank deserved. Thus, all who are superior to others, either in the gifts of God or in any degree of honor, must remain in their own rank, so as to be placed below Christ.[6]

New Testament scholar C.H. Dodd translates John 1:30 as:

There is a man in my following who has taken precedence of me, because he is and always has been essentially my superior.[7] (emphasis added)

Additionally, Johann Albrecht Bengel, in his Gnomon of the New Testament, writes regarding John 1:15:

This is not said of His Divine nature, but of the office of the Christ: and it is said again, John 1:27, and a third time, John 1:30, where He is called ανήρ, a man. In this sense: He who was behind my back is now before my face, and has outstripped me, and left me behind Him.[8] (emphasis added)

The New International Commentary on John 1:15 notes:

The expression here could be taken to mean, “A follower of mine has taken precedence of me, for he (always) was before me, my superior.”[9] (emphasis added)

Jewish View of Preexistence

Not only does the context of John 1:15 and 30 preclude a preexistence interpretation, but the idea of a literal preexistence is foreign to the traditional Hebraic thought found in the Bible.  This despite the fact that orthodoxy insists John 1:1-3 be interpreted to mean Jesus preexisted.  Instead, first century Jews understood preexistence to mean that things first existed in God’s plan or foreknowledge before coming into literal existence.  For example, we are said to be foreknown by God and a part of His plan before we came into existence:

Psalm 139:15-16 (NASB) My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; ¹⁶ Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.  (emphasis added)

The same is said of Jesus.  He preexisted in the sense that he was foreknown by God:

1 Peter 1:20 (NASB)  For He [Jesus] was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (emphasis added)

It does not say that Jesus literally preexisted, but that his coming was a part of God’s plan before the world began.  If Peter had believed Jesus literally preexisted, he could have easily said so.  Instead, the text plainly says God foreknew Jesus, something that was also said of the prophet Jeremiah.[10]  In this same chapter, Peter wrote that believers were also “foreknown,” but that does not convey the meaning of a literal heavenly preexistence.[11] Peter made a similar statement about the foreknowledge of God in his sermon on the day of Pentecost:

Acts 2:23 (NASB) [Jesus] this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.[12] (emphasis added)

Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion preexisted in God’s plan before it became a reality.  This is confirmed in the book of Revelation as well:

Revelation 13:8 (KJV) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.[13] (emphasis added)

Jesus wasn’t literally slain before foundation of the world, but in God’s plan it “preexisted.” Therefore, in a Hebraic sense, Jesus prophetically “preexisted” in the plan or purpose of God before the foundation of the world. 

The Revised English Version’s translation of John 1:15 and 30 provides us with an interpretation that is in keeping with, not only with the context and the translation of before me (prôtos mous) but also traditional first century Hebraic thought:

John 1:15, 30 (REV) “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me has advanced in front of me, because he ranks ahead of me.'”…³⁰ “This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who has surpassed me, for he ranks ahead of me.'”

 Sir Anthony Buzzard offers a similar translation of the same text:

John 1:15, 30 “This is the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me has now moved ahead of me, because he always was my superior.'”…³⁰“This is the one of whom I said, ‘After me there comes a man who has now moved ahead of me, because he was always my superior.'”[14]

Conclusion

To read Jesus preexisted into John 1:15 and 30 is to fail to take into account the context in which John the Baptist made his statements, the alternate, more plausible translation of the text, as well as traditional Hebraic thought concerning preexistence in the first century.  John did not intend to convey that Jesus preexisted in heaven as God, rather, that Jesus is the man, the human Messiah, whom God anointed to be His sacrificial lamb.

[1] Elizabeth was six months into her pregnancy with John when Mary was visited by the angel who prophesied the virgin’s miraculous conception.  See Luke 1:35-39.

[2] John 1:1 and 24, “Who are you…why are you baptizing if you are not the Christ…” John 1:21 and 25 Are you Elijah? Are you the Prophet?

[3] John 1:20.

[4] https://biblehub.com/greek/4413.htm

[5] John 1:19-23; 3:28.

[6] John Calvin, John 1:15, Commentary on the Gospel of John, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/john-1.html#30

[7] Cited by Anthony Buzzard in Jesus Was Not a Trinitarian, (McDonough, GA: Restoration Fellowship, 2007), p. 287.

[8] Johann Albrecht Bengel, Commentary on John 1:15, Gnomon of the New Testament,  (Philadelphia: Perkins and Higgins, 1862), p.553.

[9] Leon Morris, The Gospel of John, The New International Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm Eerdmans, 1971),  p. 108, footnote 100.

[10] Jeremiah 1:5.

[11] God’s foreknowledge of us: 1 Peter 1:1-2; Romans 8:29, 2 Timothy 1:9, etc.

[12] See also Acts 4:27-28.

[13] Revised English Version, https://www.revisedenglishversion.com/John/1/nav15

[14] Sir Anthony Buzzard, John 1:15, 30, The One God, the Father, One Man Messiah Translation, (McDonough, GA: Restoration Fellowship, 2014), 240-241.