(8) John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh (b) after me is preferred (c) before me: for he was before me.
(8) John is a faithful witness of the excellency of Christ.
(b) That is, "He before whom I am sent to prepare him the way": so that these words refer to the time of his calling, and not of his age, for John was six months older than Christ.
(c) This sentence has in it a turning of the reason as we call it, as one would say, a setting of that first which should be last, and that last which should be first: for in plain speech it is this, "He that comes after me, is better than I am, for he was before me." We find a similar turning of the reason in (Luke 7:47): "Many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much", which is this much to say, "She loved much, because many sins are forgiven her.