13 Which are born not of blood, nor of the [a]will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 (A)[b]And that Word was made [c]flesh, and [d]dwelt among us, (and we (B)saw the [e]glory thereof, [f]as the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father) [g]full of grace and truth.

15 [h]John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that cometh [i]after me, was [j]before me: for he was better than I.

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Footnotes

  1. John 1:13 Of that gross and corrupt nature of man, which is throughout the Scriptures set as enemy to the Spirit.
  2. John 1:14 That Son, who is God from everlasting, took upon him man’s nature, that one and the selfsame might be both God and man, which manifestly appeared to many witnesses, that saw him amongst whom he was conversant, and unto whom by sure and undoubted arguments he showed both his natures.
  3. John 1:14 That is, man: so that the part is taken for the whole, by the figure Synecdoche: for he took upon him all our whole nature, that is to say, a true body, and a true soul.
  4. John 1:14 For a season, and when that was ended, he went up into heaven: for the word which he useth, is taken from tents: and yet notwithstanding, his absence from us in body is not such, but that he is always present with us, though not in flesh, yet by the virtue of his Spirit.
  5. John 1:14 The glory which he speaketh of here, is that manifestation of Christ’s majesty, which was as it were laid open before our eyes when the Son of God appeared in flesh.
  6. John 1:14 This word (as) doth not in this place betoken a likeness, but the truth of the matter, for his meaning is this, that we saw such a glory, as beseemed and was meet for the true and only begotten Son of God, who is Lord and King over all the world.
  7. John 1:14 He was not only a partaker of grace and truth, but was full of the very substance of grace and truth.
  8. John 1:15 John is a faithful witness of the excellency of Christ.
  9. John 1:15 That is, He before whom I am sent to prepare him the way: so that these words are referred to the time of his calling, and not of his age, for John was six months older than he.
  10. John 1:15 This sentence hath in it a turning of the reason as we call it, as who would say, a setting of that first which should be last, and that last which should be first: for in plain speech this it is: He that cometh after me, is better than I am, for he was before me. The like kind of turning the reason we find in Luke 7:47: many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much, which is thus much to say, she loved much, because many sins are forgiven her.

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