John 1:34

Ver. 34. “ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. ”

The ἐγώ, I, in κἀγώ, distinguishes, as in John 1:31; John 1:33, him who alone was to see, and who also (καί) has seen, from all the others who were to believe on the ground of his testimony. The perfects: I have seen and I have testified indicate facts accomplished once for all and abiding for the future. The ὅτι, that, depends on the second verb only; the verb to see is without an object; it is the act which is of importance, as the condition of that of testifying. The term Son of God characterizes a being as a representative of the divinity in a particular function. It is applied in the Old Testament to angels, to judges, to kings, and, finally, to the Messiah: “ Thou art my Son; to-day have I begotten thee ” (Psalms 2:7; Psa 2:12); but there is a difference in the mode of representation in each case. An ambassador represents his sovereign, but otherwise than does the son of the latter, for the son, while representing the sovereign, represents in him also his father. John 1:30 proves that John the Baptist takes the word Son here in the loftiest sense which can be attached to it; the being whose existence is united to that of God by an incomparable bond, and who comes to fulfill here on earth the function of Saviour.