John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

16-18 We all live off his generous abundance,
    gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
    and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
    all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
    not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
    who exists at the very heart of the Father,
    has made him plain as day. (The Message)

These verses point to:

  • The supremacy of Jesus (15): In terms of lineage, John the Baptist was born before Jesus; but in terms of eternity, John knew that Jesus was before Him (see vv.27/30);
  • The grace of Jesus (16): All who come to Jesus enter a life of sheer abundance. It’s not one based on earning (by law-keeping), but one of gift upon gift from start to finish – in other words ‘grace’;
  • The divinity of Jesus (18): Jesus is to say to Philip: ”“Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (14:9) As Michael Green said, ‘Jesus is the window into God.’ This eighteenth verse reads in the New King James Bible: ”No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” In the New International Version it says: ”No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” I understand the idea is that Jesus is the perfect exegete of God.