Success and Failure Blog

He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

-John 1:8-13

John the Baptist was not the Light. He was not the Messiah and never claimed to be so, but he came into the world to testify concerning the Light who was coming. The true light was not John the Baptist but was Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. And coming into the world the true Light is said to enlighten every man. The meaning of this particular statement is hard to determine. There are many good commentators who have written learned things about this statement. The one which seems most within the context of the passage is this: Verse 4 of John 1 reads: In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. Perhaps it can be concluded through this statement that enlightens every man is equivalent to gives life to all men. He is the one who sustains life for all men, who upholds life for all men, and who provides life for all men. This interpretation seems to be most well aligned with the next verse. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. Without Christ nothing that is made would be made, the entire world was made through Him. Yet, when He came to His own (the world), not even His own Jewish people received Him.

To those who receive Him and believe in His name, the right is given to them to become children of God. Ponder the depth of that statement: children of God. Even though man rebels against the One who sustains him, he is still able to be given the right to be a child of the most high God. The way in which a man is born and becomes a child of God is this: not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. The point here is that man does not become a child of God because he is a descendant of some special man, because he wills it, or because another man should will it. A man is saved because God wills it.

We live in a world which is filled with people who do not know Him. The world we live in abhors God so much that they would rather believe they are descendants of apes than give glory to their Creator. Even more amazing is this: that men blaspheme the very One who sustains them. Just as John starts his gospel by describing the Light who sustains creation, just as Paul opens his gospel proclamation to the men of Athens (Acts 17:25) with an account of creation, so believers would be wise to include creation in their proclamation of the gospel. And if it sounds absurd to it’s audience then it would be good to remember 1 Corinthians 1:18:

Verse 8- John reassures his readers that John the Baptist merely prepared the way.

Verse 9- “enlightens every man” — This is an interesting phrase that is sort of difficult to interpret. The “every man” is likely emphasizing that Christ came not just for the Jew, but also for the Gentile.

Verse 10- John re-emphasizes verse 3. He adds to verse three in saying that even though Christ sustains everything, the world did not recognize Him.

Verse 11- The first “own” refers to the whole world, the second “own” refers to the Jews (this is a bit more clear in the ESV translation).