July 26, 2006

 

Ch.1, verse 10-11- “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.”- After John has said in vs.9 that the Logos lights every man, he picks up on the word, “world” and gives 3 brief insights.

  “he was in the world”- may anticipate the whole experience of Jesus in

coming to the Roman world in ministry and rejection.  Others view this “in the world” to refer to the pre-incarnation revelation of Christ to Israel through the medium of prophets and OT writings- note Lk.24:44 and John 5:46-47.

  Although Jesus’ time on earth  was only 3 years of public ministry, His impact was greatly disproportionate to the time.

  “world was made through Him”—the word, “world” generally in John refers to the cultural, political, commercial and religious system of mankind.  Yet, here it likely refers to “all things” in vs.3 and therefore, the physical earth with its

environmental and ecological systems.  That is, a world teeming with life that is kept dynamic through the Logos- Heb. 1:3.

  “the world did not know Him”- here, “world” is this system of mankind, acting through its various divisions that did not recognize Him as the Logos, or the unique expression of the Divine Mind.  The aorist tense is used to show a decisive act of rejection.  Likely, this remark describes of the broad refusal of divine authority as in Rom. 1:21-23 as Creator and Sovereign. 

   “He came unto His own”- while the earlier may have referred to the

Gentile world at large as per Rom.1, this reference would be to Israel, the

people of the Covenant and Jesus’ ethnic family.

Note:

1) Jesus was born a Jew, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob through

 David- Matt.1. and Luke 1-2

2) Jesus was a practicing Jew of the 1^st Century- Lk. 4:16-28- at synagogue

on the Sabbath; thoroughly familiar with OT regulation- Lk.5:14; conscious of

external ceremonial defilement- Lk.5:30 and Passover rules- Matt. 26:17; knowledgeable in Sabbath rules-Lk. 6:2-5, 9  and in OT prophecy of the suffering Messiah- Lk.9:44, Matt. 20:18-19, 26:24.

3)  Jesus said himself that He came to fulfill OT law in relation to Messiah- Matt.5:17 and Gal. 4:4, Romans 15:8 as well as the place of the New Covenant- Matt.26:27-28.

4)  As a Jew, Jesus understood the role of a Jew under Roman rule- Matt.6:39-42, 17:24-27, and  22:15-22.

  Yet, for all this, the people of Israel did not respond to His ministry as a whole-

Matt. 12:38-42, 13:13-17, John 19:15.

 

 

 

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“His own did not receive Him”- must refer to the rejection of Jesus as the

Messiah-Savior as in the gospels- Matt. 27:22, Mk.15:13 and Lk. 23:21 and

In Acts 4:1-4, 5:28, 7:54, 57-58, 8:1, and 13:45-47, 18:12-16, 28:17, 25-29.

  Here in vs. 11, John introduces the first evidence of the troubling encounter

that Jesus will have with Israel.  Although deity in flesh, He is not embraced as

the promised One by the covenant people.

 

1:12- “received Him”- (aorist) obviously in contrast to “did not receive” in the previous verse.  Commentators take the following view:

Westcott- to receive something transmitted     

Alford- expressing the personal assumption to one’s self as a friend/companion

De Wette- to receive into the house          Godet- to welcome

Milligan & Moulton- the possession gained

  In this context, it is a positive expression of faith as an exercise of acceptance

of a belief or person and is used here as interchangeable with believe as seen

in the latter part of vs.12 “even to those who believe in His name”.

   “to them He gave the right [or authority] to become the children of God”   The word for “right/authority” = exousia  meaning ‘liberty to act or lawful authority’; therefore, it is not a word to indicate mere possibility, but reality.

The word for “to become” = gennao-  to be born (ch.3:3,5)- it is an aorist middle verb for “to become what they were not before”.

   Children = tekna [from tikto- to bring forth]- it is a relation based on a community of nature as opposed to huios which may involved adoption or heirship.

   John’s use of “who believe in His name”- is explanatory of the earlier

“received him” making receiving and believing the same.  This verse is often used evangelistically in sharing the gospel with the lost to point out that

salvation or conversion involves, not giving God something, but receiving

something from God; that is, eternal life as a gift (Rom.6:23).