There
was a man sent from God whose name was John.
John 1:6, Modern English Version (MEV)
From Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible:
A
man sent from God - See Matthew 3:0. The evangelist proceeds now to show that
John the Baptist was not the Messiah and to state the true nature of his
office. Many had supposed that he was the Christ, but this opinion he corrects;
yet he admits that he was “sent from God” - that he was divinely commissioned.
Though he denied that he was “the Messiah,” yet he did not deny that he was
sent from or by heaven on an important errand to human beings. Some have
supposed that the sole design of this gospel was to show that John the Baptist
was not the Messiah. Though there is no foundation for this opinion, yet there
is no doubt that one object was to show this. The main design was to show that
“Jesus was the Christ,” John 20:31. To do this, it was proper, in the
beginning, to prove that “John” was not the Messiah; and this might have been
at that time an important object. John made many disciples, Matthew 3:5. Many
persons supposed that he might be the Messiah, Luke 3:15; John 1:19. “Many of
these disciples of John remained” at Ephesus, “the very place where John is
supposed to have written this gospel, long after the ascension of Jesus,” Acts
19:1-3. It is not improbable that there might have been many others who adhered
to John, and perhaps many who supposed that he was the Messiah. On these
accounts it was important for the evangelist to show that John “was not the
Christ,” and to show, also, that he, who was extensively admitted to be a
prophet, was an important “witness” to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ.
The evangelist in the first four verses stated that “the Word” was divine; he
now proceeds to state the proof that he was a “man,” and was the Messiah. The
first evidence adduced is the testimony of John the Baptist.
John 1:6, Modern English Version (MEV)
From Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible:
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