John was sent by God to identify Jesus and to prepare the way before him. The Scriptures seem to show John was to comfort the common people, encouraging them and lifting them up because they were oppressed. On the other hand he was to confront the oppressors, those who ruled the Jews and eventually this cost him his life. It seems the Jewish leadership had a bone of contention with John concerning his baptism (John 3:25), because his baptism of repentance probably seemed to them to compete with the ceremonial cleansing performed in the Temple according to the Law of Moses (cp. Luke 2:22). Immediately after the dispute with the Jewish leaders, John was cast into prison (cp. John 3:24; John 4:1-3), so it is very possible that it was through the Pharisees’ conspiring with the Herodians that John was arrested (cp. Mark 3:6; 12:13).
There is no question that John was a rising leader, and for the most part it is the first leader of a movement that is considered to be the most important leader of all. All kings are compared with David; there is no question that Moses had no equal in Judaism; Elijah was considered to be the greatest of the prophets, and both he and Moses appear with Jesus during his Transfiguration. Nevertheless, John makes an interesting point involving his leadership, and his testimony about Jesus seems to declare Jesus’ pre-existence. Notice:
John 1:15 KJV 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.
There is no question that John testifies that Jesus is the most important leader of the two, even though John came first. John said Jesus came after him, but is preferred before him. He also confirms this in John 3:28-31 when he tells his disciples that Jesus is the bridegroom, but John is the friend of the bridegroom. Jesus must increase, and John must decrease.
What I find interesting in John 1:15 is the tense of three verbs referring to Jesus. John begins by saying (Jesus) “comes after me…” The verb is present passive/middle participle, and is connected to the main verb (preferred) to derive its context. It is perfect indicative active. Long-story-short, it simply means what is clearly stated—though Jesus came after John, he is before him in rank. The interesting part is why this is so. John testifies: “…because he was before me!” The verb was is in the imperfect tense. What this means is that it is a continuous action in the past. In other words, John is saying Jesus has always been before John. But, what does John mean by Jesus being continually before John in rank in the past?
John is six months older than Jesus, so this could not be the meaning of his words. John began his ministry before Jesus began his, so this could not be the meaning of his words. So what does John mean? He must mean that Jesus’ outranked John, because he existed before John. This seems to be the only possible meaning of John’s words which he later testifies to his own disciples. Notice:
John 3:31 KJV He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
Here John testifies that his own ministry is earthly because it originates here, but Jesus ministry is above all because he comes out from heaven. If Jesus came out from heaven, he existed before his birth and outranks John, because he is God come in the flesh.
Smoodock's Blog 
10 responses to “Jesus Existed Before John!”
There is more to understand about Jesus and John.
While I would agree that there would have to be a great deal more to understand about Jesus and John than I could put in my blog, you have offered very little through criticism to add to what can be known about Jesus and John. I welcome comments, including yours, but if you have something to say, step up and say it. Don’t be shy! :-)
My statement was not intended as a criticism, it was just a statement. As you have invited me to offer a comment, then I offer it through a video on my blog, as it can explain in more depth than I am able to give in the written word.
If you were to watch it fully, you wiould clearly understand my statement. I meant no offense to you.
http://yies1.wordpress.com/
Greetings. I did go to your website and I viewed the 9th Divine Principle concerning John’s family and Jesus’, and listened to the speaker remarking about a supposed necessity of their families banding together, and then he goes on to presume many things for which he really has no foundation in the text. For example, while on the one hand he admits to John being the greatest of the prophets (he actually isn’t, but the text says there are none greater than John-big difference), he concludes that John failed in his ministry to prepare a people for the Lord. If he is the greatest (or none greater) then obviously there is some misunderstanding on the part of the speaker. I also found his conclusion that Mary and Joseph should have left Jesus in the Temple at the age of 12 to be educated by many of the very men who accused him before Pilate to be utterly astonishing. How could anyone believe that the Temple of Annas (the reigning high priest at that time) was preferable to Jesus’ family home in Nazareth. The speaker’s interpretation of Jesus’ feelings toward his mother in John 2 is also unbelievable and without foundation in the text. One could receive such an understanding only from the spin he put on Jesus’ words. His interpretation of the marriage at Cana cannot be supported in the text.
I would think, all in all, you sell yourself short. With a little prayer and thought, I believe you could come up with a much better interpretation than the speaker in the video. Just a thought! :-)
I thankyou for your integrity and honesty, in actually viewing this video, But you leave me confused.
Is it so hard to understand that a person can be born with a great mission, yet actually fail to complete that mission?
The Jewish people of today still await Elijah, Why? Because John said there was no Elijah (IAre you Elijah? NO!), Yet Jesus said clearly, that Elijah had ALREADY come.
The Jewish people still wait for Elijah, because John DIDN’T prepare them for Jesus.
Mary KNEW that Jesus was special from God, why did she not support Jesus in His religious life.
As the speaker said, The parents of both John and Jesus knew about Jesus’s mission. Didn’t they mention this fact to John? HOW could John say he didn’t know Jesus?
Both families were real people with real feelings, problems and struggles, just as everyother family. And as with every other family, things don’t always go as one might have wished.
Again, I thank you for taking the time to look.
God Bless.