Verse 15. John testifies of Him, and called... [32] If, says the Evangelist, it may seem to some that I am not fully trustworthy, then before me testifies to the Divinity of the Word John, that John whose name was great and glorious among all the Jews; and not only testifies, but also calls, that is, boldly shouts, preaches freely and without any fear. Listen to what he testifies and preaches:

Verse 15... Saying: This is His rekh, Who is coming after me, was before me... [33] He also said other things similar to the Jews about Christ, before He appeared as a prophet, to warn them by talking about Christ, and when He appeared, so that it would be easier to receive the testimony of Him. And Matthew (3:11) wrote: "And he who is coming for me is strong, Who is worthy to bear the boots... What does this mean: He who is coming is before me after me? He who is soon to come to you, but who has not yet appeared to you as a man, surpasses me in glory and majesty, because He must be greatly glorified and magnified. He spoke of the future as having already been accomplished, according to the laws of prophecy. Then he sets forth the reason for such superiority.

Verse 15... For I was before me,[34] because He was before me, as God.

Verse 16. And from His fulfillment we all received... [35] Having said that the Word was full of grace and truth, and having also shown that He is the eternal and inexhaustible source of all good, the Evangelist says that we, all the disciples, will receive from this fullness His participation through participation.

Verse 16... And grace to grace...,[36] the New Testament instead of the Old. What he says of these Covenants is clear from what follows, but now he has for the time being called both graces, because both of them have been granted by grace to those who have received them, since God has given them to men by His mercy, and has not rewarded them for their former virtues. Just as covenant and covenant, law and law, and many other things have a common name, so are the names grace and grace used. These are homonyms, not synonyms: the grace of the Old Testament is only the original instruction, and the grace of the New Testament is the consummation, the latter is appropriate for infants, and for perfect people, or: this for perfect people, and this even for angels. Further, he points out the difference between the Covenants and the difference between their founders.

Verse 17. As the law was given by Moses, grace and truth were given by Jesus Christ. [37] The Law, or Old Testament, was given to the Jews through Moses, and grace, or the New Testament, was given by Jesus Christ without any mediator. Moses was a servant and gave what he himself received from God, and Jesus Christ was the Master, and He Himself established the New Covenant as God. So, as much as there is a difference between Moses and Jesus Christ, so is the difference between the Testaments. Above the Evangelist said: grace and grace for the reason indicated there, but here only the New Testament called grace as true grace, because only it grants the remission of sins, regeneration, adoption, the Kingdom of Heaven, and those blessings which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor ascended into the heart of man (1 Corinthians 2:9). [38] Having said grace, the Evangelist added: and truth, thus testifying to the non-falsity or perfection of the New Testament. The Old Testament was imperfect grace: for the law did not perfect anything, says the Apostle (Heb. 7:19), but the New Testament is perfect grace, because it makes perfect. Thus, the greater grace we have been vouchsafed, the greater virtue we bind ourselves to, so that, living unworthy of so great a blessing, we may not suffer a punishment worthy of so great sloth.

Verse 18. God is nowhere to be seen: the Only-begotten Son, sitting in the bosom of the Father, that confession. [40] See with what consistency the evangelist proceeded to this. Having shown the difference between law and grace, he adds a reasonable reason for this difference: the law was brought by Moses, a man who did not see God, since God is nowhere to be seen, and therefore the law is inferior, as brought by man; but grace, or the Gospel, the Only-begotten Son, who dwells in the bosom of the Father and always sees God as God, confessed, established, taught, and therefore grace is higher than that which proceeded from God, who sees God and knows all things of God. But how did the Evangelist say: "God is nowhere to be seen?" And Isaiah (6:1) saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and exalted; Ezekiel (10:18) saw Him sitting on the cherubim; Daniel (7:8) saw the Ancient of Days sitting, and others also saw. But they all saw not as He was in His being, but as He appeared in one likeness or another. If they had seen His very essence, they would not have seen Him in various images, because it is something simple, having no image, not sitting, not standing, not walking, everything that is proper to bodies. That is why God said: "I have multiplied visions, and in the hands of the prophets they have been likened to them" (Hosea 12:10)[41], thus indicating various visions and likenesses. The Son is called the Only-begotten, first of all, because he is born of the Father alone, because he is born of the Father alone, and His Father is only the Father, and not any one's son, like other fathers, — further, because only the Son is born, and not someone's father, like other sons — and, finally, because He is born of the Single or special generation, surpassing all reason and word, and not like bodies. He is called the Son, because He is of one and the same being with the Father, and not only of the same being, but also of the same being. The bosom of the Father is said, not because God has a bosom — since the bosom is in bodies — but by this expression: he who is in the bosom of the Father signifies the kinship, consubstantiality, and indivisibility of the Son. It can also be said in another way: the following saying serves as a confirmation of God's words: "The Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, confessed," i.e., He taught that God is nowhere to be seen; and Jesus Christ spoke about this in various ways, as we will see later. Thus, no creature, not only corporeal, but also incorporeal, has seen God, since He is essentially invisible even to bodiless powers, although they see Him as far as they can.

Verse 19. And this is the testimony of John...,[42] of which I am now going to speak.

Verse 19... When priests and Levites were sent to the Jews from Jerusalem, let them ask him, "Who art thou?" [43] That is, this testimony was given when the Jews sent, etc. The chief priests and priests of the Jews, who knew the extraordinary events that took place at the birth of Jesus Christ, and then received the proof of His wisdom, when, as a twelve-year-old lad, He came into contact with the teachers, listened to and asked them, as Luke said (2:46), were amazed and began to envy Him. Hearing afterwards that John also had many and great things to say about Jesus Christ to those who came to be baptized (and they understood that John was saying all this about Him), they were even more troubled and sent priests and Levites, i.e. ministers, from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who art thou?" They did not do this because they did not know it, since everyone knew what happened at his birth, circumcision and naming, when everyone said: "For this child shall be" (Luke 1:66)? [44] But they deceitfully pretend not to know, and do not say, "Who art thou?" Thou to whom we have all striven, of whom we have formed a lofty conception for ourselves, and before whom we have so much reverence. They foolishly assumed that, though John had despised glory in all other respects, yet he, as a man, would experience that which is proper to man, and out of love of glory would say that he was the Christ, and thus the fame of Jesus Christ, against which all measures had been taken, would be diminished. Therefore they sent not just anyone, but priests and Levites, and moreover from Jerusalem, as more hostile and treacherous than from any other city.

Verse 20. And confess, and do not deny it... [45] He confessed, of course, the truth, since he was truthful and unyielding.

Verse 20... And confess, as I am Christ. [46] The Evangelist repeats the same thing, proving the virtue of John, since he not only did not show any love of glory and did not appropriate to himself the glory of the Lord, but also despised that which was given to him by many. And pay attention to his prudence: he did not say who he was, what he did afterwards, but, referring to their thoughts and knowing their desires, he first directly destroyed what they thought he should have answered. He said, "I am Christ."

Verse 21. And she asked him, "What is it? Are you Elijah? and the verb: "Bear... [47] Deceived in this design, they turn to another, and, wishing to conceal their purpose, say: "What is this? Are you Elijah, so that it would seem that they are asking innocently and without malice, since they were waiting for the coming of Elijah on the basis of the words of the prophet Malachi (4, 5, 6): "I will send you Elijah the Tishbite..., who will arrange the heart of the father to the son." [48] For this reason the question is again proposed in order to remain beyond all suspicion.

Verse 21... Are you a prophet? and answered: neither. Do they not say: are you a prophet (προφητης)? Because they knew that John was a prophet; But: Are you a prophet (ο προφητης)? It is the one of whom Moses wrote: "The Lord thy God shall raise up a prophet from thy brethren as unto me, Him ye shall hear" (Deuteronomy 18:15); [49] and such a prophet was Jesus Christ.

Verses 22–23. And he said unto him, Who art thou? yes, yes, the answer of the ladies who sent us: What do you say about yourself? [50] He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Straighten out the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet spoke." Having magnanimously answered all their questions, he now says who he is: I am the one of whom it is written: the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, etc.51 This saying is explained in the third chapter (v. 3) of the Gospel of Matthew.