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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_1:9-13
9There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every Man_1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Joh_1:9 "the true light" This is "true" in the sense of genuine or real, not just the opposite of falsehood. This may relate to all the false Christologies of the first century. This is a common adjective in John's writings (cf. Joh_4:23; Joh_4:37; Joh_6:32; Joh_7:28; Joh_15:1; Joh_17:3; Joh_19:35 and 1Jn_2:8; 1Jn_5:20 and ten times in the Revelation). See Special Topics: Truth at Joh_6:55 and World at Joh_14:17. Jesus is the light of the world (cf. Joh_3:19; Joh_8:12; Joh_9:5; Joh_12:46; 1Jn_1:5; 1Jn_1:7; 1Jn_2:8-10). Believers are to reflect His light (cf. Php_2:15). This is in sharp contrast with the real darkness which is in the created order because of the rebellion of
1. humans
2. angels
▣ "coming into the world" John often uses this phrase to refer to Jesus leaving heaven, the spiritual realm, and entering the physical realm of time and space (cf. Joh_6:14; Joh_9:39; Joh_11:27; Joh_12:46; Joh_16:28). In this verse it seems to refer to Jesus' incarnation. This is one of the common dualisms of Johanine literature (i.e., above vs. below).
NASB "enlightens every man"
NKJV "gives light to every man"
NRSV "enlightens everyone"
TEV "shines on all people"
NJB "that gives light to everyone"
This phrase can be understood in two ways. First, by supposing a Greek cultural setting, it refers to an inner light of revelation in every man, the divine spark. This is the way the Quakers interpret this verse. However, such a concept never appears in John. For John, "light" reveals mankind's evil (cf. Joh_3:19-21).
Second, it can refer not to natural revelation (that is God known through nature [cf. Psa_19:1-5; Rom_1:19-20] or an inner moral sense [cf. Rom_2:14-15]), but rather to God's offer of enlightenment and salvation through Jesus, the only true light.
Joh_1:10 "the world" John uses the term kosmos in three distinct ways.
1. the physical universe (Joh_1:10-11; Joh_11:9; Joh_16:21; Joh_17:5; Joh_17:24; Joh_21:25)
2. all mankind (Joh_1:10; Joh_1:29; Joh_3:16-17; Joh_4:42; Joh_6:33; Joh_12:19; Joh_12:46-47; Joh_18:20)
3. fallen human society organized and functioning apart from God (Joh_7:7; Joh_15:18-19; 1Jn_2:15; 1Jn_3:1; 1Jn_3:13)
In this context #2 is applicable. See Special Topic at Joh_14:17.
▣ "the world did not know Him" Neither the fallen Gentile nations nor the elect Jewish nation recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah. The term "know" reflects a Hebrew idiom of intimate relationship more than intellectual assent to facts (cf. Gen_4:1; Jer_1:5).
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Joh_1:11 "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him" "His own" is used twice in Joh_1:11. The first grammatical form is neuter plural and refers to (1) all creation or (2) geographically to Judea or Jerusalem. The second is masculine plural and refers to the Jewish people.
Joh_1:12 "But as many as received Him" This shows humanity's part in salvation (cf. Joh_1:16). Humans must respond to God's offer of grace in Christ (cf. Joh_3:16; Rom_3:24; Rom_4:4-5; Rom_6:23; Rom_10:9-13; Eph_2:8-9). God is certainly sovereign, yet in His sovereignty He has initiated a conditional covenant relationship with fallen humanity. Fallen mankind must repent, believe, obey, and persevere in faith.
This concept of "receiving" is theologically parallel to "believing" and "confessing," which denoted a public profession of faith in Jesus as the Christ (cf. Mat_10:32; Luk_12:8; Joh_9:22; Joh_12:42; 1Ti_6:12; 1Jn_2:23; 1Jn_4:15). Salvation is a gift that must be received and acknowledged.
Those who "receive" Jesus (Joh_1:12) receive the Father who sent Him (cf. Joh_13:20; Mat_10:40). Salvation is a personal relationship with the Triune God!
▣ "He gave the right" This Greek term (i.e., exousia) can mean (1) legal authority or (2) right or privilege (cf. Joh_5:27; Joh_17:2; Joh_19:10-11). Through Jesus' sonship and divine mission, fallen mankind can now know God and acknowledge Him as God and Father.
▣ "to become the children of God" The NT writers constantly use familial metaphors to describe Christianity: (1) Father; (2) Son; (3) children; (4) born again; and (5) adoption. Christianity is analogous to a family, not a product (ticket to heaven, fire insurance policy). Believers in Christ have become the new eschatological "people of God." As children we should reflect the Father's character, as did the "unique" (cf. Joh_1:14; Joh_3:16) Son (cf. Eph_5:1; 1Jn_2:29; 1Jn_3:3). What a shocking title for sinners (cf. Joh_11:52; Rom_8:14; Rom_8:16; Rom_8:21; Rom_9:8; Php_2:15; 1Jn_3:1-2; 1Jn_3:10; 1Jn_5:2; Hos_1:10 quoted in Rom_9:26; and 2Co_6:18).
It is also interesting that of the two Greek terms for children, one is always used of Jesus (huios), while the other (teknon, tekna) is used for believers. Christians are children of God, but they are not in the same category as the Son of God, Jesus. His relationship is unique, but analogous.
The word "church" (ekklēsia) does not appear in Mark, Luke, or John. They use family metaphors for the new dynamic individual and corporate fellowship of the Spirit.
▣ "those who believe" This is a present active participle meaning "those who continue to believe." The etymological background of this term helps establish the contemporary meaning. In Hebrew it originally referred to a person in a stable stance. It came to be used metaphorically for someone who was dependable, loyal, or trustworthy. The Greek equivalent is translated into English by the terms ("faith," "believe," and "trust"). Biblical faith or trust is not primarily something we do, but someone in whom we put our trust. It is God's trustworthiness, not ours, which is the focus. Fallen mankind trusts God's trustworthiness, faiths His faithfulness, believes in His Beloved. The focus is not on the abundance or intensity of human faith, but the object of that faith. See Special Topics at Joh_1:7; Joh_2:23.
▣ "in His name" In the OT the name of a person was very important. It was a hopeful/potential prophecy about their character or a description of their character. To believe in the name is to believe and receive the person (cf. Joh_2:23; Joh_3:18; Joh_20:31; 1Jn_5:13). See Special Topic: The Name of the Lord at Joh_14:13-14.
Joh_1:13
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV "who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man"
TEV "they did not become God's children by native means, that is, by being born and the children of a human father"
NJB "who was born not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man"
Some early church fathers (i.e., Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine) see this phrase as referring to Jesus (i.e., singular), but the overwhelming Greek textual evidence has the plural (plural of this word is found only here in the NT; UBS4 rates it as "A"), which means this verse is referring to believers in Jesus (cf. Joh_3:5; 1Pe_1:3; 1Pe_1:23), therefore, it refers not to racial privilege nor to human sexual descent (lit. "bloods"), but to God's electing and drawing of those who trust in His Son (cf. Joh_6:44; Joh_6:65). Joh_1:12-13 exhibit the covenantal balance between God's sovereignty and the need for human response.
The Greek verb (aorist passive indicative) is placed last in the Greek sentence for emphasis. This emphasizes the initiating and sovereign role of God in the second birth (i.e., "but of God," which is part of the final phrase, cf. Joh_6:44; Joh_6:65).