John 1:15

‘John bears witness of him and cries, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is become before me, for he was before me'.” '

So as to leave his readers in no doubt the author now stresses again that ‘the Word' is the One to whom John the Baptiser bears witness. John, who has been sent by God (John 1:6), and whose powerful ministry is everywhere acknowledged, now testifies to the superiority of Jesus. He says of the Word, ‘He who comes after me is now ranked and placed before me, for He existed (was) before me' (compare John 1:30).

‘He was before me.' In context the statement must intend to be seen as giving the significance ‘was in existence before me' as well as ‘was before me in precedence in God's purposes'. For John is aware of the uniqueness of the One to Whom he testifies. He is aware that He has come from God and from Heaven with a unique pre-existence. The past tense makes this abundantly clear. Had he been thinking of Jesus' future status he would have used another tense.