7. Houtos ēlthen eis martyrian, hina martyrēsȩ̄ peri tou phōtos, hina pantes pisteusōsin di’ autou. I have already said in the Introduction that this verse should prevent us from viewing the assessment of the Baptist in the prologue one-sidedly from the standpoint of its probable ecclesiastico-political significance and hence interpreting it in a one-sided negative way. In this verse, as H. Holtzmann59 better perceived than W. Bauer after him,60 every word but one is positive. And this verse is present and throws light on the whole statement, as v. 8 will in its own fashion later.
Ēlthen is here undoubtedly the same solemn erchesthai with which Elijah came according to the Synoptics, the same as that with which the kingdom of God has come near, the same as that with which the Son of Man will come at the end of the days, the same as that which serves both in the Synoptics and in this Gospel to denote the first epiphany of the Lord. “Coming” is also a technical term for the appearing of the Revealer in Mandean works. If the appearance of the Baptist as a total phenomenon (this is the point in v. 7 as distinct from vv. 19ff.) is described by this solemn erchesthai, this embraces its coordination with the office of the Revealer himself. The same is true of the terms martyria and martyrein, which, as we have said in the Introduction, denote also the work of the disciples of Jesus and at times that of Jesus himself. Finally, note how directly the aim of the mission of John is described by the point that all are to believe through him. The above-mentioned exception, the limitation of the positive character of the statement about John, lies in the self-evident pisteusōsin di’ autou. This at once sets the Baptist alongside the Samaritan woman, of whom it is said in 4:41f. that many come to believe through her word, whereas the Gospel never says that anyone believes “through” Jesus but always that people believe or do not believe eis auton or autō̧. Consider what this means. One may believe, i.e., come to faith, through John, but the Revealer himself is the object of faith. We have seen the solemn mediatorial significance of the expression di’ autou in v. 3. What breadth and depth it gives to John’s summons to repentance and baptism of repentance—his function according to the Synoptics. It rules out any limitation of his significance as purely Old Testament or perhaps legal (v. 17). The pantes shows that his work is both extensive and universal, as that of the Samaritan woman in ch. 4 could never be, and as only that of Christ, and on a lower level that of his disciples as his designated witnesses, can also be. All who come to faith are to do so through John. That is how we are to construe the pantes, and later the phōtizei panta anthrōpon of v. 9. All this is indeed positive enough.
Irrespective of the caveat in v. 8, it is important for the author to say that there is not only the absolute but also a qualified relative, not only revelation but also, deriving from it, relating to it, serving it, applying to all to whom revelation applies, the witness to it, the indication of it, the word from the lips of a man, but from a man who is “sent by God.” What martyria and martyrein are may best be seen if we take as literally as possible the peri and genitive with which John’s Gospel often denotes the object of witness. Witness is truly and in the best sense speaking about a subject, describing it exactly and fully, pointing to it, confirming and repeating it, and all in such a way that the subject remains itself and can speak for itself, that it is not in any way absorbed in human speech or shouted down and overpowered by it. Only where we have supreme concern both to be as close to the subject as possible, and yet to keep at a distance so that it may speak for itself, do we have martyria. And di’ autou, by a human mediator of the divine Mediator, by this human witness that is still qualified as a medium, di’ anthrōpou apestalmenou para theou, there comes about, not revelation, for this needs no witness in order to take place, but faith in it. “Testis hic nostra, non Christi causa est ordinatus.”61 But he is ordained for our sake. As we come to faith, we cannot bypass or leap over the witness, the prophet, the apostle. The figure of John is not there for nothing. It is not there for its own sake at the beginning of all the Gospels. In John’s Gospel especially the first disciples come to Jesus as they follow the pointing finger of John. “John” in the broadest sense, understood in such a way that the prophets before him and the apostles after him are also “John,” as he stands in highly significant ambivalence between them—this John, because he is a relative entity, is not on that account an indifferent or dispensable entity. “L’idée du témoignage […] est corrélative et inseparable de celle de la foi” (F. Godet).62 From the other side, we may also say with Schlatter: “He who is a witness has a right to be believed. He speaks as one who knows about something that others do not know and cannot know for themselves. He tells them so that they may achieve certainty through his knowledge. If in reply to the word of witness faith grasps it and accepts it, then the light shines into us. By whether we come to faith or not it may be seen whether the light wins the victory or shone in the darkness in vain, whether it remained or withdrew.”63 Thus far Schleiermacher rightly observed concerning this verse that “John the Baptist is close to the Redeemer as the instrument that God uses.”64
8. But now we come very definitely to the caveat with which alone all this can be said. Ouk ēn ekeinos to phōs, all’ hina martyrēsē peri tou phōtos. Only now, if very vigorously (for note the emphatic place of ouk ēn), do we find polemic, not against the Baptist, but against a false evaluation of the Baptist. The Baptist must not be confused with the Revealer; he must be respected in his position as a witness. The existence of a false evaluation of the Baptist is presupposed not only here but also in v. 15, in vv. 19ff., in ch. 3, and elsewhere in the New Testament. Luke 3:15 tells us that the people were musing in their hearts whether John was the Christ. In his address at Antioch Paul has John issue the disclaimer: “I am not the one you suppose me to be” (Acts 13:25). The statement of John that all the Synoptics record (Mark 1:7; Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16): “A mightier than I comes after me,” and the related sayings about the shoelaces and the baptism that is more than water baptism, are also to be understood in connection with this presupposition. The same is true of the doubting question of the Baptist from prison as it is recorded in Matt. 11:3: “Are you he who is to come, or do we look for another?” We are also told in Acts 18:24f. that the Alexandrian Apollos, whom we also know from 1 Corinthians but who was then in Ephesus, was “an eloquent man, well versed in the scriptures, instructed in the way of the Lord, and fervent in spirit,” but also that although he edidasken akribōs ta peri tou Iēsou, he knew only the baptism of John. And we are then told in Acts 19:1ff. that there were “some disciples” in Ephesus who had never even heard of a Holy Spirit, and who explain this by the fact that they have been baptized only with John’s baptism. This deviation, which the author of Acts obviously judges very mildly and thinks is easily remediable, clearly presupposes both here and in the Synoptics and John an alleged superiority of the Baptist to Christ.