6-9. The Evangelist here approaches his grand thesis, so paving his way for the full statement of it in John 1:14, that we may be able to bear the bright light of it, and take in its length and breadth and depth and height. read more
8. not that Light—(See on :-). What a testimony to John to have to explain that "he was not that Light!" Yet was he but a foil to set it off, his night-taper dwindling before the Dayspring from on high ( :-). read more
9. lighteth every man, c.—rather, "which, coming into the world, enlighteneth every man" or, is "the Light of the world" ( :-). "Coming into the world" is a superfluous and quite unusual description of "every man"; but it is of all descriptions of Christ amongst the most familiar, especially in the writings of this Evangelist (John 12:46; John 16:28; John 18:37; 1 John 4:9; 1 Timothy 1:15, &c.). read more
10-13. He was in the world, c.—The language here is nearly as wonderful as the thought. Observe its compact simplicity, its sonorousness—"the world" resounding in each of its three members—and the enigmatic form in which it is couched, startling the reader and setting his ingenuity a-working to solve the stupendous enigma of Christ ignored in His own world. "The world," in the first two clauses, plainly means the created world, into which He came, says John 1:9 "in it He was," says this verse.... read more
11. his own—"His own" (property or possession), for the word is in the neuter gender. It means His own land, city, temple, Messianic rights and possessions. and his own—"His own (people)"; for now the word is masculine. It means the Jews, as the "peculiar people." Both they and their land, with all that this included, were "HIS OWN," not so much as part of "the world which was made by Him," but as "THE HEIR" of the inheritance ( :-; see also on Matthew 22:1). received him not—nationally, as... read more
12. But as many—individuals, of the "disobedient and gainsaying people." gave he power—The word signifies both authority and ability, and both are certainly meant here. to become—Mark these words: Jesus is the Son of God; He is never said to have become such. the sons—or more simply, "sons of God," in name and in nature. believe on his name—a phrase never used in Scripture of any mere creature, to express the credit given to human testimony, even of prophets or apostles, inasmuch it carries... read more
13. Which were born—a sonship therefore not of mere title and privilege, but of nature, the soul being made conscious of the vital capacities, perceptions, and emotions of a child of God, before unknown. not of blood, &c.—not of superior human descent, not of human generation at all, not of man in any manner of way. By this elaborate threefold denial of the human source of this sonship, immense force is given to what follows, but of God—Right royal gift, and He who confers must be... read more
14. And the Word, c.—To raise the reader to the altitude of this climax were the thirteen foregoing verses written. was made flesh—BECAME MAN, in man's present frail, mortal condition, denoted by the word "flesh" (Isaiah 40:6 1 Peter 1:24). It is directed probably against the Docetæ, who held that Christ was not really but only apparently man; against whom this gentle spirit is vehement in his Epistles (1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7; 2 John 1:10; 2 John 1:11), [LUCKE, c.]. Nor could He be too much so,... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - John 1:5
5. shineth in darkness, &c.—in this dark, fallen world, or in mankind "sitting in darkness and the shadow of death," with no ability to find the way either of truth or of holiness. In this thick darkness, and consequent intellectual and moral obliquity, "the light of the Word" shineth—by all the rays whether of natural or revealed teaching which men (apart from the Incarnation of the Word) are favored with. the darkness comprehended it not—did not take it in, a brief summary of the effect... read more