Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 1:9

[That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

9. That was, &c.] This verse is ambiguous in the Greek. Most of the Ancient Versions, Fathers, and Reformers agree with our translators. Many modern commentators translate the true Light, which lighteth every man, was coming into the world: but ‘was’ and ‘coming’ are almost too far apart in the Greek for this. There is yet a third way; there was the true Light, which lighteth every man by coming into the world. ‘Was’ is emphatic: ‘there was the true Light,’ even while the Baptist was preparing the way for Him. The Baptist came once for all; the Light was ever coming.

The word for ‘true’ ( althinos) is remarkable: it means true as opposed to ‘spurious,’ not true as opposed to ‘lying.’ It is in fact the old English ‘very,’ e.g. ‘very God of very God’. Christ then is the true, the genuine, the perfect Light, just as He is ‘the perfect Bread’ (Joh 6:32) and ‘the perfect Vine’ (Joh 15:1): not that He is the only Light, and Bread, and Vine, but that He is in reality what all others are in figure and imperfectly. All words about truth are very characteristic of S. John.

every man ] not ‘all men:’ the Light illumines each one singly, not all collectively. God deals with men separately as individuals, not in masses. But though every man is illumined, not every man is the better for it: that depends upon himself.

that cometh into the world ] A Jewish phrase for being born, frequent in S. John (Joh 9:39, Joh 11:27, Joh 16:28); see on Joh 18:37. ‘The world’ is another of the expressions characteristic of S. John: it occurs nearly 80 times in the Gospel and 22 in the First Epistle. This verse, Hippolytus tells us ( Refut. vii. x.), was used by Basilides in defending his doctrine, and as he began to teach about a.d. 125, this is very early evidence of the use of the Gospel.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

That was the true Light – Not John, but the Messiah. He was not a false, uncertain, dangerous guide, but was one that was true, real, steady, and worthy of confidence. A false light is one that leads to danger or error, as a false beacon on the shores of the ocean may lead ships to quicksands or rocks; or an ignis fatuus to fens, and precipices, and death. A true light is one that does not deceive us, as the true beacon may guide us into port or warn us of danger. Christ does not lead astray. All false teachers do.

That lighteth – That enlightens. He removes darkness, error, ignorance, from the mind.

Every man – This is an expression denoting, in general, the whole human race – Jews and Gentiles. John preached to the Jews. Jesus came to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as to be the glory of the people of Israel, Luk 2:32.

That cometh into the world – The phrase in the original is ambiguous. The word translated that cometh may either refer to the light, or to the word man; so that it may mean either this true light that cometh into the world enlightens all, or it enlightens every man that cometh into the world. Many critics, and, among the fathers, Cyril and Augustine, have preferred the former, and translated it, The true light was he who, coming into the world, enlightened every man. The principal reasons for this are:

1. That the Messiah is often spoken of as he that cometh into the world. See Joh 6:14; Joh 18:37.
2. He is often distinguished as the light that cometh into the world. Joh 3:19; this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world. Joh 12:46; I am come a light into the world.

Christ may be said to do what is accomplished by his command or appointment. This passage means, therefore, that by his own personal ministry, and by his Spirit and apostles, light or teaching is afforded to all. It does not mean that every individual of the human family is enlightened with the knowledge of the gospel, for this never yet has been; but it means:

1. That this light is not confined to the Jews, but is extended to all – Jews and Gentiles.
2. That it is provided for all and offered to all.
3. It is not affirmed that at the time that John wrote all were actually enlightened, but the word lighteth has the form of the future. This is that light so long expected and predicted, which as the result of its coming into the world, will ultimately enlighten all nations.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Joh 1:9

That was the true Light

The true Light which lighteth every man

I.

CHRIST IS THE TRUE LIGHT. This is seen when we reflect that

1. He is the source of all the knowledge we have of the Divine Being–His relation to us, His infinite love, and the wonderful plan of salvation He has devised.

2. He is the source of all the knowledge we have of the life beyond.

3. He is the source of all the consolation we experience under the pressure of trial.

II. HE LIGHTETH EVERY MAN.

1. The general direction which the beams of the true Light are here directed to take is a marvellous instance of His condescension. The noble chandelier which floods the throne-room of the palace with its dazzling light throws not a single ray into the murky gloom of the squalid courts not far away. That Christ, the true Light, should dart His beams downwards to this abiding-place of sin is part of the wonderfulness of the gospel which we preach.

2. To Him we owe the gift of reason, which is one of the two great foundation stones of natural religion.

3. He has placed within us the gift of conscience–Gods eye and voice, a witness against ourselves.

4. The proclamation of the gospel in every land.

III. THE TRUE LIGHT IS MADE EVIDENT FROM THE WORKING OF HIS SPIRIT AND GRACE. (H. W. Price.)

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Christs light is

I. The light of NATURAL REASON, which He has given us to cultivate and improve, for the benefit of ourselves and others, especially in the great concerns of religion. This light, which even the Gentiles had, was sufficient to have led them to the knowledge of the true God, and, by the visible works of the creation, to understand His eternal power and Godhead Rom 1:10).

II. The light of REVELATION. By this light His will has been made known to us in the Holy Scriptures; the religion of nature commenced revealed; and the lesser light of natural reason was not extinguished by, but absorbed in, revelation. This further light was typified to us by the Shechinah in the tabernacle, and by that bright cloud by day and pillar of fire by night which conducted the Israelites through the wilderness.

III. The light of the GOSPEL: and this is represented by that noblest and brightest of all the heavenly luminaries, the Sun; Christ Himself, who is therefore styled the Sun of Righteousness, having now arisen on His Church with healing in His wings. This is the light which constitutes our present day.

IV. The last and most perfect light of all will be that of GLORY, which shall never set, nor ever change. But this light none shall ever behold who neglect the use of those lesser lights, who advance not gradually from reason to revelation, from revelation to faith, from faith to glory. (Wogan.)

The arrival of the Light

I. Its NATURE. True, not the genuine as opposed to the false, but the substantial, the essential, the original, the permanent, as opposed to the shadowy, phenomenal, derived, transitory.

II. Its INFLUENCE. Set forth

1. Intensively, it lighteth.

2. Extensively, as reaching to every man, i.e, to all mankind, in the sense that its light exists for all, and to some degree shines on all, and to all souls who inwardly admit its beams.

III. Its CONDITION, described as

1. Coming into the world, i.e, in process of passing from a Divine and Eternal into a human and temporal mode of existence, and

2. Coming into His own, i.e, as unfolding His glory before the theocratic people. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)

The true Light

I. He is UNDECEIVING light, the true light in opposition to all the false lights of the Gentiles.

II. He is REAL light, true in opposition to ceremonial types and shadows.

III. He is UNDERIVED light, true in opposition to all light that is borrowed, communicated, or participated from another.

IV. He is SUPEREMINENT light, true in opposition to all that is ordinary and common. (Arrowsmith.)

Christ the Enlightener

Jesus Christ enlightening every man

I. FROM WITHIN, i.e, in the intuitive conceptions of the mind.

1. This light is internal, shining in the mental constitution of every man. What was life in the Word pre-incarnate was light or reason in men.

2. This light is innate in every man. That was the true Light which lighteth every man as he cometh, etc., is a translation of many scholars. God takes care to write His name on the soul of every man; human nature bears the sign-manual of its Maker in its deepest constitution (Rom 1:19, in them).

3. This light is Divine, the same in its nature as that which illuminates God Himself. The light proceeding from the sun is the same as that which resides in the sun.

4. This light is persistent. It continues to shine notwithstanding the Fall and its consequences lighteth, present tense.

II. FROM WITHOUT, in the revealed doctrines of Christianity.

1. It is a supernatural light: not unnatural, or contranatural, for the most perfect correspondence obtains between the natural and the supernatural. Railway companies often possess running powers on each others property, and the natural and the supernatural often run their trains on each others lines. The latter is only an extension of the former.

2. It is a perfect light: true, i.e, the complete as opposed to the imperfect, the full as opposed to the partial. Christ is this; not a ray wanting. You may see God through the creation, but you may see Him in Jesus Christ.

3. It is a universal light.

(1) It enlightens every man that cometh into the world. The perfect is always universal. Go ye into all the world. The Sun of Christianity is as all-pervasive as the sun of nature.

(2) It enlightens every man that goeth out of the world. It can penetrate the blackest recesses of the dark mountains along which you are descending, and dissipate the mist of the swelling flood, and illumine your way right into the unseen.

(3) It enlightens the world into which you are going. The Lamb is the light thereof. (J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)

The Light of the world

There has been a threefold revelation of the Word.

I. THROUGH NATURE. In the beginning, before there was ear to hear or mind to understand–the mind of God was speaking with itself. There was a Word. Then

1. The Word is spoken of as bringing the world into being, i.e, Gods Word found utterance in creation. A word is an expression or a work. The most expressive of all are not those which the lips speak. The American sculptor gazed upon the sky upon a summers morning. He went about haunted with the memory of it. It was a necessity for him to express it. Had he been a poet he would have thrown it into words; a painter, on canvas; an architect, into a building; but being a sculptor his thoughts and syllables were expressed in stone. This world is Gods sculptured work whereby He speaks out Himself.

2. This creation is a pervading immanence. He was in the world. Creation is not the work of a Divine watchmaker, who winds it up, leaves it to go by itself, interfering now and then in great emergences called miracles. He is in the world, the life of all that is. The world is the form of which Christ is the Personality. The beauty of the sea-shell and of the field-flower is the loveliness of God. The world is an everlasting anthem hymning Gods secrets.

II. THROUGH MAN.

1. Universally: lighteth every man. Just as the sunlight shines on all, more intensely in the tropics, more feebly at the poles, yet shines on all. Your reason and conscience are the God within you. Thus the Fathers spoke of the wisdom of Plato and others as the unconscious Christ within them. Thus, too, in the Old Testament rulers and judges are called gods Joh 10:35-36).

2. Specially: He came to His own. The distinction is between those who received the light common to every man and those who received the special illumination which entitled them to be His own–the Jewish people, the inspired people. Inspiration is Gods acting on mans higher spirit–his worship and reverence. There is an inspiration of genius, but the inspiration of the prophet is another thing altogether. The Jews were not great statesmen, artists, scientists; but the thought of God, the sanctity of duty, moral and spiritual truth were in them as in no other nation on earth.

III. THROUGH THE INCARNATION. God manifested Himself not through what Jesus taught or spoke, hut through what Jesus was and did.

1. Christ was not a transient theophany like the burning bush, the Angel of the Covenant, or the Shechinah glory.

2. But God Himself in man and with man for ever. The application is

(1) That all that can be known of God is through a revelation. The light of revelation is not contrary to, but complementary of, the light of nature.

(2) That revelation is progressive. In the world; with the world; made flesh. In the world unconsciously in nature; nearer in man; nearest in Christ; the time is coming when He will be still nearer, when we shall see Him as He is. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

Christ the Light of all the living

I. EVERY MAN COMES INTO THE WORLD WITH A LIGHT IN HIM. Dim in infancy, but ready to be fanned by educational influences; dark in heathenism., but glimmering amongst fogs of superstition. This light reflects

1. On social obligation. Every man has the sense of right and wrong.

2. On religious worship: the sentiment of a God is universal.

3. On future retribution: reference to a future life of reward and punishment instinctive. That all men have their light is clear

(1) From history. Its rays may be seen in the best heathen, in their sacred books, and even amongst the most degraded tribes.

(2) From the Word of God (Rom 1:1-32.). It is absurd to deny its existence because it burns dimly under the glass of ignorance, and never throws a false hue on duty and destiny, etc. Any light is better than darkness. A manuscript may contain truth, although part may be torn away.

II. THE LIGHT IN EVERY MAN IS FROM CHRIST. This fact

1. Exalts Christ as the Creator of souls (Joh 1:2). He puts this inextinguishable light in them.

2. Reveals the responsibility of heathens. They are not in utter darkness. It is amongst them in these elements of truth by living up to which they may be accepted of God. Thus heathen salvation is not independent of Christ.

3. Furnishes an argument for the congruity of Christianity with human nature. Both the natural and the gospel light come from one source in Christ and harmonize with each other.

4. Supplies a motive to extend the light of the gospel Although Christ gave men natural light, He saw their need of a higher light, and became flesh and died to give it. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Christ our revealing Light

I once spent a night on Mount Righi, and there was nothing visible for a rod from my window. But when the morning broke, the icy crowns of the Jungfrau and the Schreckhorn began to glitter in the early beams. They had been there all the night, waiting for the unfoldings of the dawn. Even so have all Gods laws of the material universe and all His purposes of redeeming mercy through Jesus Christ been in existence from the beginning. They only waited for the dayspring of discovery. And one of the most delightful occupations of a devout mind is to watch the unfoldings of God, and to drink in new truths as He gradually reveals them. (Theodore L. Cuyler.)

Jesus our Light

A visitor went one cold day last spring to see a poor young girl, kept at home by a lame hip. The room was on the north side of a bleak house. It was not a pleasant prospect without, nor was there much that was pleasant or cheerful within. Poor girl I what a cheerless life she has of it, he thought, as he saw how she was situated; and he immediately said to himself, what a pity it was her room was on the north side of the house. You never have any sun, he said; not a ray comes in at these windows. That I call a misfortune. Sunshine is everything; I love the sun. Oh, she answered, with the sweetest smile, my sun pours in at every window, and even through the cracks. The visitor looked surprised. The Sun of Righteousness, she said, softly–Jesus. He shines in here and makes everything bright to me. Who could doubt her? She looked perfectly happy. Yes! Jesus shining in at the window can make any spot beautiful and any home happy.

Christ the interpreter of human life

I. HOW FAR IS THIS TRUE? Is it not rather sin which explains it? Its facts meet us everywhere, and sum up the life of the individual and the nation. We see them and feel their curse. But do they explain all? Are there not stirrings of the awakened conscience, longings of the soul for its lost innocence, better hopes, holier resolves, efforts to lay hold of God? Whence have these come? From the Light. Sin, so far from interpreting life, is its confusion. The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. But sin has obscured it all; caused its power and promise to be wasted, changed its blessing into a curse, quenched its light in darkness. A saved soul–that is consistent; a lost soul–there is bewilderment in the very thought. We cannot understand our own being till Christ gives us light; then our darkness passes, and the true light shineth.

II. It is not only true that salvation in Christ is the end which alone makes human life intelligible–THE LAW OF LIFE IN CHRIST IS THE LAW ACCORDING TO WHICH WE WERE MADE. The self-devoted Saviour is the Light which lighteth every man. Men resolve every motive into selfishness. Men are always seeking, it is said, to please, themselves. But this only confuses. There is an impulse of self-denial which cannot thus be explained away. The father labouring for his little ones, the mother watching over her sick childs couch, do this for loves sake, and not to please themselves. The patriot denies himself for his countrys good; we are often ashamed of our comforts when we reflect on the wants of others. The impossibility of living a life wholly selfish, the inspirations of pity, the passion for self-devotedness find their explanation in Christ. In Him we see the self-devoted life, the only true and blessed life for man. As Christ was it would be well for us all to be; that is what God would have us all be. All falls into harmony now; this is the true light.

III. If we turn from the quenchless impulse of devotedness to the QUENCHLESS IMPULSE OF WORSHIP; if we ask how it was that amidst the degradations of heathenism and the corruption of the Jews, faith itself did not die out; if we ask how it was that though philosophers often seemed on the verge of proclaiming that all religion was only a fiction useful for civil government, men could not rid themselves of reverence; if we ask how it was that in even the worst superstitions of idolatry something may be often seen which strangely suggests to us the gospel revelation; again we are reminded that Christ, the true Light which lighteth every man, was in the world. He would not let them sink into utter godlessness. He preserved in them some little longing for the true, awoke in them some dissatisfaction with the false.

IV. FROM THE CROSS COMES THE LIGHT WHICH INTERPRETS THE DEEPEST AND MOST MYSTERIOUS FACTS IN HUMAN LIFE. The selfishness of pride is crushed as we recognize ourselves saved not by our own righteousness, but by Him that bore our curse. We have murmured that we should bear a doom for Adams sin: Christ bore the doom for Adam and for us. We have murmured at our birth into a state of sin and suffering. But Christ was born into it for us. Our Christian life is interpreted here. If we are restless amid our pleasures, if we cannot be happy, if we are yearning to be better, it is because the Word is within us pleading with us to receive Him. If we have not been allowed to sink amidst temptations, to rest in a life of ungodliness, and if there be in us purer feelings and holier aspirations, these seek their fulfilment in Christ. (A. Mackennal, D. D.)

The natural light in man

God prints His own name, He stamps some great universal truths on the mind of every man as he cometh into the world. Men are like so many volumes, continually issuing from the Divine press; and if nothing else be written on them, the name of the Author and Printer is indisputably engraved on the title-page. I do not say that the name is very legible at first, especially since the soul has been soiled by sin, but that it is there is to me a demonstrated truth. Take a sheet of white paper; write on it your own thoughts–your good thoughts or your bad thoughts, just as you please–and underneath your own signature and address. Is that all that is to be read off the paper? Nay; hold it up to the light, and you will behold the name of the manufacturer in watermarks. You may write on it what you like and as you like; but you will never rub off the name of the maker. Your name is on it, but his name is in it. Thus God has written His name in watermarks on the raw material of the soul. You may write on it, the world may write on it, the devil may write on it; but God has written in it–He has deeply stamped His name into the soul in its first make. The idea of God is a lighted lamp hung up in the dome of every mans soul as he cometh into the world, a lighted lamp flashing forth its penetrating and comforting beams in all directions. (J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)

Light before Christ came

We must not suppose that all light of faith, of hope, of justice, of purity, of truth, first dawned on the world when Christ came. God has been in the world ever since there was one, and whatever there is that is noble and good proceeded from the inspiration of the Divine mind working upon the human soul, on all nations, in every age, and under the ministrations of the truth as it is in Jesus. He that brought life and immortality to light was neither supine nor slumbering, but was working everywhere before His appearance, and whatever light of truth there has been at any time has come from Him. When, however, He came in bodily form, He came to interpret what only life and conduct can interpret. (H. F.Beecher.)

Christ the efficient Light

The earthly sunlight only illumines eyes that see, but Christ the true Light enlightens the eyes of the blind; He is at once the Eye and Light of the world. (Brenz.)

Light dawning upon man

Standing far down in the darkness of an icy valley, I once witnessed a sunrise in the Alps. The first beam struck the summit of Monte Rosa, and looked like a vivid crimsom spot amid a deep gloom; and then the rising dawn fired the summits of mountain after mountain, and floated in a river of broadening gold down through snowy slopes, until at last the hills and the valleys and the pine forests seemed to shout aloud, and clap their hands, as they were flooded irresistibly with the rejoicing light. Even so, He who is the Light which enlighteneth every man dawned with an infinitude of blessing upon a dark and guilty world. (Archdeacon Farrar.)

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Christ the true Light

That only is light which lighteth another; and that, therefore, which should light everybody is the True, Original, Primal Light. Nature teaches it. You cannot conceive of light which does not emit. It must propagate itself. The moment that light does not shed itself, it is gone out. There is no propagation in darkness. Darkness is naked. A dark room does not darken a light room; but a light room will lighten a dark one. And the more light, the more it brightens–up to that Perfect Light which lights everything. The sun lights the whole world. Christ is the Sun of Gods moral system. When the world was four days old, God gathered all the light–which vibrated and was diffused in the atmosphere–into one great centre: or, more accurately, He made for all that light one great reflector to rule the day; then He made another reflector for the sun–the moon, to govern the night. When the world was four thousand years old He gathered all moral and spiritual light–of the law, of prophecy, of grace, of love, of hope–which was scattered and indistinct before, into one grand depository; or, more accurately, He gave a perfect mirror, to give back all His own lustre and glory, to be the ruler and arbiter of the Gospel Day (Heb 1:1). And then God made a reflector of that Divine luminary–the Church; the Church, to catch and disseminate its rays in a dark world; the Church, to rule and govern the worlds night. (Sermons by the Monday Club.)

The safety of the Light

The night is of the darkest; the moon has hid her face behind the swift-rolling clouds, and not a star ventures to peep out upon what is going on far below on earth. Her anchor weighed and sails broadly spread, a noble ship moves steadily on her way, her captain on the bridge, her trusty steersman at the helm, the watch at their posts. We hear the low, firm word of command, and feel the movement of the vessel responding slowly to her rudder as her course is changed in obedience to the indications of the chart, or in consequence of the observations of the look-out. Now she rounds a rocky headland, and, passing from its shelter, enters a narrow strait, on which, in striking contrast to the gloom behind, a flood of brilliant light is cast from the lighthouse which stands in the centre of that short but dangerous channel, whence it sends forth guiding rays to help mariners who pass through from one great sea to another beyond. The light makes the channel safe; let it be removed, and, striking against the rocky isles which stud the strait, the brave ship, in vain effort to escape, will beat out its life. Do you ask me on what map you will find this channel marked? what are the names of the two seas which it connects? I will tell you. The name of the ocean on the one hand is Eternity; the name of the ocean on the other hand is Eternity; the name of the channel is Life, and its Light is Jesus Christ. Without Him we perish; but with Him, overcoming the perils of the passage, we reach at last the great and wide sea of the Fathers infinite love. (H. W. Price.)

Christ the Light of the future world

Into the impenetrable darkness of the hereafter He alone has entered; only His sacred feet have trodden that awful path of gloom. We read, a little time ago, of some of our English officers exploring a subterranean cavern never yet visited by man–how they groped, and climbed, and crawled for hundreds of yards into the darkness that was but feebly lit up by the glimmer of their tapers. They pressed onward in spite of every difficulty, till an impassable obstacle prevented their further progress, and the gallant explorers had to return. They might have perished in their perilous enterprise, and left their bones to moulder in their unknown charnel-house till the resurrection morn; or they might have threaded their way through mazy intricacies until, at last, they came again within the welcome sight of daylight, and emerged from their underground wanderings on the other side of the mountain. The Great Explorer passed right through! The Founder of our Faith came out of death into a fuller and more glorious life than He laid down when He yielded up His spirit. It is from Christ–messenger from the land of light and love, victor over death and the grave, that we learn all we know of the home beyond, of the many mansions, of the place prepared, of the thrones, and of the crown. (H. W. Price.)

Christ the Light of every man

How can this be true when there are, and always have been, so many who live on still in darkness? First, it was Gods intention that light should be all-pervasive, and it does not make that intention untrue if, through the negligence of His people–to whom it was committed to carry it out–it has not yet taken place. The orb of day is not less the light to the universe, because you choose to eclipse it with your little hand. Neither is Christ less the true Light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, because they, to whom it was given, have not transmitted its beams. But, evil as things are now, it is impossible to calculate what may be the indirect rays of light which have reached, from the gospel, through the whole earth. There is a twilight of truth in almost every superstition and every error. Is that dim twinkle a refraction from the cross? (Sermons by the Monday Club.)

God the Light of life

When we grasp a truth, and the exquisite pleasure of knowing what is true abides with us like a noble guest; when we conquer a selfish or worldly desire and lie down to rest on the goodness we have won and feel at peace; when in the golden summer-time we pass through the happy woodland and hear the stream and the trees talk to one another, and the beauty that flows into the eyes and ears kindles its instructive fire in our hearts; when we give love or pity or kindness to those that need it, and the quick thrill of heavenly joy, such as the shepherd feels when he finds his lost sheep, swells the heart–what is it that we feel? We feel not only ourselves but God within us. His is the truth, the goodness, His the beauty and the tenderness, and His the joy. He is mingled with us then. His light and life make our light and our life. It is more or less in all men, it is of different kinds in different men, but it shines in all. One may hold it in a soul which is a palace for the crowned Truth to dwell in; another may keep it in a soul which is a ruined cabin where many an outlawed thought and many a felon feeling dwells: but its eternal fire burns in both–in one as brightly as the sun, in the other dimly as in the dying star. (Stopford A. Brooke, M. A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 9. Which lighteth every man] As Christ is the Spring and Fountain of all wisdom, so all the wisdom that is in man comes from him; the human intellect is a ray from his brightness; and reason itself springs from this Logos, the eternal reason. Some of the most eminent rabbins understand Isa 60:1, Rise and shine, for thy LIGHT is come, of the Messiah who was to illuminate Israel, and who, they believe, was referred to in that word, Ge 1:3, And God said, Let there be LIGHT; and there was light. Let a Messiah be provided; and a Messiah was accordingly provided. See Schoettgen.

That cometh into the world.] Or, coming into the world – : a common phrase among the rabbins, to express every human being. As the human creature sees the light of the world as soon as it is born, from which it had been excluded while in the womb of its parent; in like manner, this heavenly light shines into the soul of every man, to convince of sin, righteousness, and judgment; and it is through this light, which no man brings into the world with him, but which Christ mercifully gives to him on his coming into it, that what is termed conscience among men is produced. No man could discern good from evil, were it not for this light thus supernaturally and graciously restored. There was much light in the law, but this shone only upon the Jews; but the superior light of the Gospel is to be diffused over the face of the whole earth.

The following not only proves what is asserted in this verse, but is also an excellent illustration of it.

The GAYATRI, or holiest verse of the VEDAS, i.e. the ancient Hindoo Scriptures.

“Let us adore the supremacy of that divine Sun, the Godhead who illuminates all, who re-creates all; from whom all proceed; to whom all must return; whom we invoke to direct our understandings aright, in our progress towards his holy seat.”

The ancient comment.

“What the sun and light are to this visible world, that are the supreme good and truth to the intellectual and invisible universe; and, as our corporeal eyes have a distinct perception of objects enlightened by the sun, thus our souls acquire certain knowledge by meditating on the light of truth, which emanates from the Being of beings; that is the light by which alone our minds can be directed in the path to blessedness.” Sir Wm. Jones’s works, vol. vi. p. 417.

Sir William observes that the original word Bhargas, which he translates Godhead, consists of three consonants, and is derived from bha, to shine; ram, to delight; and gam, to move:- the Being who is the light, the source of happiness, and the all-pervading energy.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

That was the true Light: true is sometimes opposed to what is false, Eph 4:25; sometimes to what is typical and figurative, Joh 1:17; sometimes to what is not original, and of itself: in opposition to all these Christ is the true Light; he who alone deserved the name of light, having light in himself, and from himself, 1Jo 2:8, and shining more gloriously than the prophets or apostles.

Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world; he lighteth not the Jews only, (as the prophets of old), but both the Jews and Gentiles. Some understand this of the light of reason; but besides that reason is no where in holy writ called light, neither did this illumination agree to Christ as Mediator. It is rather therefore to be understood of the light of gospel revelation, which Christ caused to be made to all the world, Mat 28:19; Mar 16:15. Those who interpret it of the more internal illumination by the Holy Spirit of God, by which Christ is not revealed to us only, but in us, say, that Christ hath done what lay in him (as a Minister of the gospel) so to enlighten all that came into the world; and that Christ is said to enlighten every man, because none is enlightened but by him, and that some of all sorts are by him enlightened; in one of which two latter senses the terms all and every man must be interpreted in a multitude of texts in the Gospel. The words in the Greek are so, as they may either be translated as we read them, or thus, who coming into the world, enlightened every man: a more universal spiritual light, or means to come to the knowledge of God, overspreading the world after Christs coming, than before. So Joh 7:46, I am come a light into the world. And it is by some observed, that the phrase cometh into the world, doth not barely signify a being born, but being sent into the world by the Father, being sanctified, as in Joh 10:36; 17:18.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

9. lighteth every man,c.rather, “which, coming into the world, enlighteneth everyman” or, is “the Light of the world” (Joh9:5). “Coming into the world” is a superfluous andquite unusual description of “every man”; but it is of alldescriptions of Christ amongst the most familiar, especially in thewritings of this Evangelist (Joh 12:46;Joh 16:28; Joh 18:37;1Jn 4:9; 1Ti 1:15,&c.).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

That was the true light,…. Christ is that light, that famous and excellent light, the fountain of all light to all creatures; that gave light to the dark earth at first, and spoke light out of darkness; that light of all men in the earth, and of all the angels in heaven, and of all the saints below, and of all the glorified ones above: he is the true light, in distinction from typical lights; the “Urim” of the former dispensation; the candlestick, with the lamps of it; the pillar of fire which directed the Israelites by night in the wilderness; and from all the typical light there was in the institutions and sacrifices of the law; and in opposition to the law itself, which the Jews z magnify, and cry up as the light, saying, there is no light but the law; and in opposition to all false lights, as priests, diviners, and soothsayers among the Gentiles, Scribes, and Pharisees, and the learned Rabbins among the Jews, so much boasted of as the lights of the world; and to all false Christs and prophets that have risen, or shall rise, in the world.

Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world: the sense is, either that every man that is enlightened in a spiritual manner, is enlightened by him, which is true of Christ, as the Son of God, existing from the beginning; but not in the Socinian sense, as if they were enlightened by his human ministry and example; for the Old Testament saints were not enlightened by his preaching; and many were enlightened by the ministry of John the Baptist; and multitudes afterwards, through the ministry of the apostles; and very few, comparatively, were enlightened under the ministry of Christ; and none we read of, in this sense, enlightened by him, when, and as soon as they came into, the world: or, the meaning is, that he is that light which lighteth all sorts of men; which is true in, a spiritual sense: some connect the phrase, “that cometh into the world”, not with “every man”, but with the “true light”; and the Arabic version so reads, and joins it to the following verse; but this reading is not so natural and the order of the words requires the common reading; nor is the difficulty removed hereby; for still it is every man that is enlightened: it is best therefore to understand these words of the light of nature, and reason, which Christ, as the word, and Creator and light of men, gives to every man that is born into the world; and which serves to detect the Quakers’ notion of the light within, which every man has, and is no other than the light of a natural conscience; and shows how much men, even natural men, are obliged to Christ, and how great a person he is, and how deserving of praise, honour, and glory. The phrase, “every man that cometh into the world”, is Jewish, and often to be met with in Rabbinical writings, and signifies all men that are born into the world; the instances are almost innumerable; take one or two: on those words in Job 25:3 on whom doth not his light arise? it is asked a, who is he that cometh,

“Mlwe yab lkm, “of all that come into the world”; and says, the sun hath not lightened me by day, nor hath the moon lightened me by night! thou enlightenest those above, and those below, and “all that come into the world”.”

Again, God is introduced thus speaking b:

“I am the God, , “of all that come into the world”; and I have not united my name, but to the people of Israel.”

Once more c,

“Moses, our master, from the mouth of power, (i.e. God; see Mt 26:64.) commanded to oblige, , “all that come into the world”, to receive the commandments which were commanded the sons of Noah.”

z T. Bava Bathra, fol. 4. 1. a Vajikra Rabba, sect. 31. fol. 171. 4. b Midrash Ruth, c. l. v. 1. fol. 27. 3. c Maimon. Hilch. Melakim. c. 8. sect. 10. Vid. Misn. Roshhashana, c. l. sect. 2. T. Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol. 25. 4. & 26. 3. Sepher Bahir apud Zohar in Gen. fol. 30. 3. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 21. 2. & 22. 3. & 24. 3. & 27. 2. Caphter, fol. 56. 1. Jarchi in Exod. 15. 2.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

There was (). Imperfect indicative. Emphatic position at the beginning of the sentence and so probably not periphrastic conjugation with (coming) near the end, though that is possible.

The true light ( ). “The light the genuine,” not a false light of wreckers of ships, but the dependable light that guides to the harbor of safety. This true light had been on hand all the time in the darkness ( imperfect, linear action) before John came.

Even the light (not in the Greek). Added in the English to make plain this interpretation.

Lighteth every man ( ). Old verb (from ) to give light as in Rev 22:5; Luke 11:35. The Quakers appeal to this phrase for their belief that to every man there is given an inner light that is a sufficient guide, the Quaker’s text it is called. But it may only mean that all the real light that men receive comes from Christ, not necessarily that each one receives a special revelation.

Coming (). This present middle participle of can be taken with just before (accusative masculine singular), “every man as he comes into the world.” It can also be construed with (nominative neuter singular). This idea occurs in John 3:19; John 11:27; John 12:46. In the two last passages the phrase is used of the Messiah which makes it probable here. But even so the light presented in John 11:27; John 12:46 is that of the Incarnate Messiah, not the Pre-incarnate Logos. Here rather than occurs in the sense of the orderly universe as often in this Gospel. See Eph 1:4.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

THE LOGOS, JESUS CHRIST, THE TRUE LIGHT, V. 9, 10

1) “That was the true Light,” (en to phos alethinon) “he was (existed as) the true light,” the genuine light, one of whom prophecy spoke and of whom John witnesses, Isa 42:6; Isa 49:6; Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5; Joh 12:46. In three ways Jesus is presented as The Light: 1 ) In salvation, brought to the Gentiles, heathen, all unbelievers, Luk 2:3-21; Act 13:47-48; Act 13:2) In His kingly reign over the Gentiles, as the “Root of Jesse,” in the millennial age, Rom 15:11-12; Rom 15:3) He brought together, instituted, or organized a witnessing agency, (the church) made up of Jews and Gentiles, who shall reign with Him in administrative positions of honor and service in His millennial kingdom age, Luk 12:35-38; Luk 12:42-44; Luk 22:28-30; Rev 3:21.

2) “Which lighteth every man,” (ho photizei panta anthropon) “Which enlightens every man,” Jew and Gentile, all races, without distinction, regarding their spiritual needs and His love and provision for their every need in salvation and Divine service, to Him and to their fellow-man. The redeemed, and even the saints of His church, are only light reflectors of Him who is the True Light, John 8; John 12; Mat 5:14-16.

3) “That cometh into the world.” (erchomenon eis ton kosmon) “Who comes (to exist- into the world,” the created universe. His light (Spiritual light and provision) is as universal as spiritual darkness which shrouds the world in the wicked one, Joh 5:19; 2Co 4:3-5; Luk 19:13; Joh 3:16-19.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

9. The true light was. The Evangelist did not intend to contrast the true light with the false, but to distinguish Christ from all others, that none might imagine that what is called light belongs to him in common with angels or men. The distinction is, that whatever is luminous in heaven and in earth borrows its splendor from some other object; but Christ is the light, shining from itself and by itself, and enlightening the whole world by its radiance; so that no other source or cause of splendor is anywhere to be found. He gave the name of the true light, therefore, to that which has by nature the power of giving light

Which enlighteneth every man. The Evangelist insists chiefly on this point, in order to show, from the effect which every one of us perceives in him, that Christ is the light. He might have reasoned more ingeniously, that Christ, as the eternal light, has a splendor which is natural, and not brought from any other quarter; but instead of doing so, he sends us back to the experience which we all possess. For as Christ makes us all partakers of his brightness, it must be acknowledged that to him alone belongs strictly this honor of being called light

This passage is commonly explained in two ways. Some restrict the phrase, every man, to those who, having been renewed by the Spirit of God, become partakers of the life-giving light. Augustine employs the comparison of a schoolmaster who, if he happen to be the only person who has a school in the town, will be called the teacher of all, though there be many persons that do not go to his school. They therefore understand the phrase in a comparative sense, that all are enlightened by Christ, because no man can boast of having obtained the light of life in any other way than by his grace. But since the Evangelist employs the general phrase, every man that cometh into the world, I am more inclined to adopt the other meaning, which is, that from this light the rays are diffused over all mankind, as I have already said. For we know that men have this peculiar excellence which raises them above other animals, that they are endued with reason and intelligence, and that they carry the distinction between right and wrong engraven on their conscience. There is no man, therefore, whom some perception of the eternal light does not reach.

But as there are fanatics who rashly strain and torture this passage, so as to infer from it that the grace of illumination is equally offered to all, let us remember that the only subject here treated is the common light of nature, which is far inferior to faith; for never will any man, by all the acuteness and sagacity of his own mind, penetrate into the kingdom of God. It is the Spirit of God alone who opens the gate of heaven to the elect. Next, let us remember that the light of reason which God implanted in men has been so obscured by sin, that amidst the thick darkness, and shocking ignorance, and gulf of errors, there are hardly a few shining sparks that are not utterly extinguished.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(9) That was the true Light.The right rendering of this verse is uncertain. It would, probably, give a better sense to translate it, The true Light which lighteth every man was coming into the world, i.e., was manifesting itself at the time when John was bearing witness and men were mistaking the lamp for the light. (Comp. Joh. 5:35, Note.)

The true Light was not true as opposed to false, but true as answering to the perfect ideal, and as opposed to all more or less imperfect representations. The meaning of the Greek is quite clear. The difficulty arises from the fact that in English there is but one word to represent the two ideas. The word for the fuller meaning of ideally true is not confined to St. John, but is naturally of very frequent recurrence in his writings. The adjective is used nine times in this Gospel, and not at all in the other three. A comparison of the passages will show how important it is to get a right conception of what the word means, and will help to give it. (See Joh. 4:23; Joh. 4:37; Joh. 6:32; Joh. 7:28; Joh. 8:16; Joh. 15:1; Joh. 17:3; Joh. 19:35.) But, as ideally true, the Light was not subject to the changing conditions of time and space, but was and is true for all humanity, and lighteth every man.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

9-14. Having secured us from confounding him with another being, the Evangelist now traces the Logos as entering, operating, and dwelling in our living world.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

9. The best commentators render this verse,

That was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlighteneth every man. The true Light In opposition to John, whom some supposed to be the true light; and in opposition to every false light.

Coming into the world For the Evangelist now traces, as before said, the Logos as coming by the incarnation into the living human world.

Every man Every child of Adam. Every human being is endowed by the Logos with a preparatory light, so that he need not be in that darkness which comprehends not the light. (See note on Joh 1:5.)

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Joh 1:9. That was the true light, “The true light of which he spake, was Christ, even that Sun of righteousness and source of truth, which coming into the world, enlighteneth every man; dispersing his beams, as it were, from one end of the heavens to the other, to the Gentile world, which was in midnight darkness, as well as to the Jews, who enjoyed but a kind of twilight.” See Joh 3:19; Joh 12:46. Hensius would read the 8th, 9th, and 10th verses, thus: He, John, was not that light, but he was, (that is, he existed or came, taking the at the beginning of the 9th verse,) that he might bear witness to that light:ver. 9. The true light which, &c. Joh 1:10. Was in the world, &c. Some read Joh 1:9. The true Light, who came into the world, to enlighten every man, &c. Joh 1:10. And the world had been made by him, but, &c. To these interpretations it has been objected, that where Christ is said to have come into the world, that expression seems to refer to the manifestation of him to the world, or his appearance in the flesh. Now this appearance of Christ seems to be expressed by St. John, in the two next verses, by the past tense; He was in the world, He came unto his own: whereas the use of the present tense, in the verse before us, rather leads us to think of that spiritual illumination which Christ still imparts,though no longer manifest in the flesh,to all who will receive him; according to that of St. Paul, Eph 5:14. To which may be added, that as the original word , rendered cometh, immediately follows the word , man, it seems rather more natural to construe it with that word, than with a word more remote. It may be added further, that this construction is more suitable to St. John’s particular design, which was to oppose the doctrine of Cerinthus, who asserted, (article 1.) that the most high God was entirely unknown before the appearance of Christ; in opposition to which the evangelist asserts, that men had received such lights on this head, under the various dispensations through which they passed, as rendered them inexcusable if they remained ignorant. And though this heretic had pretended, (article 7.) that his Demiurgus was the peculiar God and protector of the Israelites; yet is it here shown, that the true Christ had pity and affection for the rest of mankind; and that the light to be diffused by him, was not to be confined to the narrow circle of the Jewish commonwealth, but, like that of the sun, communicated to every man that cometh into the world.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Joh 1:9 . For the correct apprehension of this verse, we must observe, (1) that has the main emphasis, and therefore is placed at the beginning: (2) that . cannot be the predicate, but must be the subject, because in Joh 1:8 another was the subject; consequently without a , or some such word, there are no grounds for supposing a subject not expressed: (3) that . (with Origen, Syr., Copt., Euseb., Chrys., Cyril., Epiph., Nonnus, Theophyl., Euth. Zig., It., Vulg., Augustine, Erasmus, Luther, Beza, Calvin, Aret., and most of the early expositors [81] ) can only be connected with , not with ; because when John was bearing witness the Logos was already in the world (Joh 1:26 ), not simply then came into the world, or was about to come, or had to come. We should thus be obliged arbitrarily to restrict . . . to His entrance upon His public ministry , as Grotius already did (from whom Calovius differs), and because the order of the words does not suggest the connecting of with .; rather would the prominence given to , and its wide separation from ., be without any reason. Hence the connection by the early church of . with . . is by no means to be regarded, with Hilgenfeld, as obsolete, but is to be retained, to be explained, however, thus: “The true Light was existing, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” . This, together with the following onwards to , serves, by preparing the way, to strengthen the portentous and melancholy antithesis, . . The usual objection that . . ., when referred to ., is a superfluous by-clause, is inept. There is such a thing as a solemn redundance, and that we have here, an epic fulness of words . Hence we must reject (1) the usual interpretation by the older writers (before Grotius), with whom even Kaeuffer sides: “ He (or even that , namely to ) was the true Light which lighteth all men who come into this world ” (Luther), against which we have already remarked under (1) and (2) above; again, (2) the construction which connects . with as an accompanying definition (so probably Theod. Mopsu.; some in Augustine, de pecc. mer. et rem . i. 25; Castalio, Vatablus, Grotius; Schott, Opusc . I. p. 14; Maier): “He was the true Light, which was at that time to come into the world; ” [82] also, (3) the connecting of with , so as to interpret it either in a purely historical sense (Bleek, Kstlin, B. Crusius, Lange, Hengstenberg: “He came” , with reference to Mal 3:1 ; and so already Bengel); or relatively, as De Wette, Lcke: “when John had appeared to bear witness of Him, even then came the true Light into the world,” comp. Hauff in the Stud. u. Krit . 1846, p. 575; or as future, of Him who was soon to appear: venturum erat (Rinck, Tholuck), according to Luthardt (comp. Baeuml.): “it had been determined of God that He should come;” or more exactly, of an unfulfilled state of things, still present at that present time: “It was coming” (Hilgenfeld, Lehrbegr . p. 51 [83] ); and according to Ewald, who attaches it to Joh 1:4-5 : “It was at that time always coming into the world , so that every human being, if he had so wished, might have let himself be guided by Him;” comp. Keim: “He was continually coming into the world.” As to details, we have further to remark: ] aderat , as in Joh 7:39 and often; its more minute definition follows in Joh 1:10 : . The Light was already there (in Jesus) when John bore witness of Him, Joh 1:26 . The reference of Joh 1:9-13 to the working of the Logos before His incarnation (Tholuck, Olshausen, Baur, also Lange, Leben J . III. p. 1806 ff.) entirely breaks down before Joh 1:11-13 , as well as before the comparison of the Baptist with the Logos, which presupposes the personal manifestation of the latter (comp. also Joh 1:15 ); and therefore Baur erroneously denies that there is any distinction made in the Prologue between the working of the Logos before Christ and in Christ. Comp. Bleek in the Stud u. Krit . 1833, p. 414 ff.

] Because it was neither John nor any other, but the true, genuine , archetypal Light, which corresponds to the idea the idea of the light realized . [84] Comp. Joh 4:23 ; Joh 4:37 , Joh 6:32 , Joh 7:28 , Joh 15:1 . See, generally, Schott, Opusc . I. p. 7 ff.; Frommann, Lehrbegr . p. 130 ff.; Kluge in the Jahrb. f. D. Th . 1866, p. 333 ff.; also Hoelemann, l.c ., p. 63, who, however, supposes an antithesis, which is without any support from the connection, to the cosmic light (Gen 1 ).

.] a characteristic of the true light; it illumines every one . This remains true, even though, as a matter of fact, the illumination is not received by many (see on Rom 2:4 ), so that every one does not really become what he could become, a child of light, , Eph 5:8 . The relation, as a matter of experience , resolves itself into this: “quisquis illuminatur, ab hac luce illuminatur,” Bengel; comp. Luthardt. It is not this, however, that is expressed, but the essential relation as it exists on the part of the Logos. [85] Bengel well says: “numerus singularis magnam hic vim habet.” Comp. Col 1:15 ; Rom 3:4 .

. ] every man coming into the world; rightly without the article; comp. 2Jn 1:7 . The addition of the predicative clause gives emphatic prominence to the conception of . There is no need to compare it with the Rabbinic (see Lightfoot and Schoettgen). Comp. Joh 16:21 , and see on Joh 18:37 .

[81] So of late Paulus also, and Klee, Kaeuffer in the Schs. Stud . 1844, p. 116, Hoelemann, and Godet.

[82] The interpretation of Schoettgen, Semler, Morus, Rosenmller, as if instead of . we had , is quite erroneous. Luther’s explanation down to 1527 was better: “through His advent into this world.”

[83] That is, during the time before His baptism; the man Jesus (according to the Valentinian Gnosis) did not become the organ of the Logos until His baptism, and accordingly through that rite the Logos first came into the world. The birth of Jesus was only introductory to that coming. Brckner, while rejecting this importation of Gnosticism, agrees in other respects with Hilgenfeld. Philippi ( der Eingang d. Joh. Ev . p. 89): “He was to come, according to the promises of the O. T.; ” and ver. 10 : “These promises had now received their fulfilment.”

[84] In the classics, see Plato, Pol . i. p. 347 D ( ), vi. p. 499 C; Xen. Anab . i. 9. 17; Oec . x. 3; Dem. 113. 27, 1248. 22; Theocrit. 16 ( Anthol .); Pindar, Ol . ii. 201; Polyb. i. 6. 6, et al . Rck., Abendm . p. 266, erroneously says, “the word seldom occurs in the classics.” It is especially common in Plato, and among later writers in Polybius.

[85] Luther: “Of what avail is it that the clear sun shines and lightens, if I shut my eyes and will not see his light, or creep away from it beneath the earth?” Comp. also Delitzsch, Psychol . p. 348 [E. T. p. 410].

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1595
CHRIST THE ONLY TRUE LIGHT

Joh 1:9. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

AS in the material world there is but one source of light to all the heavenly bodies; so in the spiritual world there is one Sun of Righteousness, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. There are other lights: John himself was a burning and a shining light. But he, and all the rest, shined with a borrowed lustre. Christ is the only true source both of light and life; as St. John has told us; and as I propose in the present discourse to shew.

I.

He was the only true light previous to his incarnation

As being the Creator of all things, it was He who said, Let there be light, and there was light. As the Former both of angels and men, he gave to each their intellectual and moral powers. Men, the lower order of beings, he endued with reason and conscience; distinguishing them by these faculties from the brute creation, which possess only that which we call instinct. When man had fallen, and lost, to a considerable degree, the faculties with which he had been invested, the Lord Jesus, agreeably to the covenant he had entered into with the Father, undertook to restore to man such a measure of light as his necessities required. This he did,

1.

By the republication of his law

[It was the Son of God who led his people out of Egypt through the wilderness: for that people, by their murmurings, we are told, tempted Christ [Note: 1Co 10:9.]. The law, therefore, both moral and ceremonial, we suppose to have been given by him. At all events, we are sure that they were, each of them in its place, rays emanating from him; he being the end of both [Note: Rom 10:4.], the end to which each looked, and the end by which both were fulfilled. The moral was a schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith [Note: Gal 3:23-24.]: and the ceremonial shadowed him forth, in all his offices [Note: Col 2:17.].]

2.

By a long train of prophecies

[It was by the Spirit of Christ that all the prophets spoke, from the very beginning [Note: 1Pe 1:12.]. And thus, with progressive clearness, was the mind of God revealed, relative to the restoration of fallen man. Whatever was made known respecting the Father and his eternal councils, it was all declared by the Lord Jesus Christ [Note: ver. 18.]. No information on these inscrutable subjects ever proceeded from any other quarter: all the light that was in the world emanated from Christ alone; and was confined to his chosen people. All the rest of the world were left in the grossest darkness that can be imagined [Note: Isa 60:2.].]

Moreover,

II.

He was the only true light, also, during his sojourning on earth

[So he himself repeatedly and strongly affirms [Note: Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5; Joh 12:46.] He explained the law, which had been obscured and corrupted by the false glosses of the Scribes and Pharisees [Note: Mat 5:21-22; Mat 5:27-28.] and made himself known, in the plainest terms, as the only Saviour of the world: I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me [Note: Joh 14:6.]. Nor was he less a light by his example, shewing, in the whole of his deportment, how men ought to walk and to please God, even by following his steps [Note: 1Pe 2:21.], and walking as he walked [Note: 1Jn 2:6.]. Hence he cautioned the people of that day: Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light [Note: Joh 12:35-36.].]

I add, that,

III.

He is the only true light at this day

[God, in covenant, gave him to be a light to the Gentiles; to bring the blind by a way that they knew not, and to lead them in paths which they had not known; to make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight [Note: Isa 42:6-7; Isa 42:16.]. And all this he does at this moment, even as St. Paul has testified respecting him [Note: Act 26:23.]. What other source of light has any man but the written word, which our blessed Lord has inspired? or what other teacher has any man but his Holy Spirit, which Christ has promised, to guide us into all truth? The heathen philosophers, so far from adding one ray of light to the Scriptures of truth, have only darkened counsel by words without knowledge. The truth of God has been foolishness to them; and their wisdom has been altogether foolishness in the sight of God. Indeed, as the blind cannot see even the meridian sun, so neither can the natural man, by any faculties of his own, discern the things of the Spirit [Note: 1Co 2:14.]. The eyes of our understanding must be opened by the Spirit of God, before we can be fully brought out of darkness into the marvellous light of his Gospel [Note: Eph 1:18.]. As the Day-spring from on high hath visited the world, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide their feet into the way of peace [Note: Luk 1:78-79.]; so must the Day-star arise in our hearts, before we shall have any just discernment of the things which have been freely given to us of God [Note: 1Co 2:9-12.].]

Inquire then, I pray you,
1.

What light you have received from the Lord Jesus Christ

[I ask not what proficiency you have attained in worldly knowledge; for that, however excellent, can never save the soul. But I ask, Has God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, shined in your heart, to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [Note: 2Co 4:6.]? This is saving knowledge: this alone can save you [Note: Joh 17:3.]. And this can be obtained from none but the Lord Jesus Christ, whose office it is to open the blind eyes [Note: Isa 35:5-6. Mat 11:5.], and to make you wise unto salvation by faith in him. To every one amongst you, then, I say, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light [Note: Eph 5:14.].]

2.

How far you are reflecting around you the light you have received

[This is done by all the planets, moving in their orbits: and this must be done by all who profess to receive their light from Christ. All must be as stars in his hands [Note: Rev 1:16.]: all must reflect his virtues [Note: 1Pe 2:9. the Greek and 2Co 3:3.]: and, though it must of necessity be, that one star should differ from another star in glory, yet must all shine as lights in a dark world [Note: Php 2:15-16.]; and, in all who are truly and savingly enlightened, their light will shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day [Note: Pro 4:18.]. Let it he seen then, my brethren, by your life and conversation, whose you are, and whom you serve. Let Christ be your pattern in all things: endeavour to walk in the light, as he is in the light [Note: 1Jn 1:7.]: so shall you be found children of the light and of the day [Note: 1Th 5:4-5.]: and Christ shall be glorified in you, both in this world and in the world to come [Note: 2Th 1:12.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

The sense of this verse, which in itself, under divine teaching, is as plain as any portion of the word of God, by the perversion or ignorance of men, is brought forward to strengthen the opinion of those who profess that all men are endued with an inward light, which, they say, is sufficient for all the purposes of religion. And this they advance in direct opposition to what the Lord Jesus himself hath said, that the light which is in a man may be altogether darkness. And in consequence hath left upon record this solemn precept, Take heed therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness! Mat 6:23 ; Luk 11:35 . But John’s account of Christ in this verse is both plain and obvious. If we accept the words as referring to mere natural light, nothing can be more true than that Christ, as the Great Creator and Author of nature, lighteth every man that cometh into the world with all the understanding which in nature that man hath. And if we refer the expression to the light of grace, equally certain it is, that every man that cometh into the world who is enlightened by grace, must derive it wholly from Christ. So that Christ is the Author and Giver of both. And it is clearly in this sense the Apostle meant it. For it should be observed, that the Evangelist is here advancing the glory of Christ, and not of the glory of man.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Ver. 9. Which lighteth every man, &c. ] Or, that coming into the world, lighteth every man; all, with the light of reason,Job 35:11Job 35:11 ; his own, with a supernal and supernatural light (to know heavenly things is to ascend into heaven, Pro 30:3-4 ), an affecting, transforming light, 2Co 3:18 , such as maketh a man to be a child of light, Eph 5:8 ; “partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light,”Col 1:12Col 1:12 . Any created understanding at most is but (as Aeschylus saith of fire stolen by Prometheus) , a beam of that light essential.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

9. ] The word (see reff.) in this connexion imports original, ‘archetypal,’ and is used of the true genuine sources and patterns of those things which we find here below only in fragmentary imitations and derivations. Such an original was the Light here spoken of; but John was only a derived light, not lumen illuminans , but lumen illuminatum .

The construction of this verse has been much disputed. Is . . to be taken with (as lat [13] syrr cop [14] Orig Exo 2Exo 2 Epiph Chr Cyr Thl Euthym and most of the ancient Commentators and E. V.), or does it belong to . ?

[13] The Latin versions: an abbreviated way of writing ‘vulg lat- a b c ’ &c.

[14] The Coptic or Memphitic Egyptian version. Fourth century?

The former construction can only be defended by a Rabbinical usage, by which means ‘all men’ (Schttgen, i. 223). But it is very questionable whether John ever speaks thus. Certainly he does not, in any of the passages commonly cited to defend this rendering, ch. Joh 18:37 (which is spoken by Christ of Himself and His Mission); Joh 16:21 ; Joh 16:28 ; Joh 12:46 . And even if he had thus spoken, how harsh and how unmeaning is the sentence; whether with Euthym [15] we lay an emphasis on , or with E. V. &c. supply before it. If this latter had been intended, surely it would have been more distinctly expressed; and even when it is supplied, we have in this verse only a less forcible repetition of Joh 1:4 .

[15] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116

It seems then that we must join . . . with . . .

But even then, three ways of rendering are apparently open to us.

The first of these, which is that of Socinus, takes . . . . as meaning, ‘ at its coming into the world .’ This however besides the sense being inconsistent with Joh 1:4 leaves the opening clause without a demonstrative pronoun, as before. Then, secondly, might seem to be used in the sense in which we frequently have , as a quasi-future, ‘who was, or is, to come:’ see Mat 11:3 ; Mar 10:30 alli [16] . fr.: ch. Joh 6:14 ; Joh 11:27 , in which last two places it is joined, as here, with . But if this be adopted (which even constructionally is very doubtful), the only sense will be that the true light, &c. was to come; i.e. had not yet come; which manifestly is not correct; for it had come , when John gave his witness; and the whole of these Joh 1:6-13 relate to the time when He had appeared , and come to His own.

[16] alli = some cursive mss.

We are driven then to the only legitimate rendering, which is to take as equivalent to an imperfect came: this usage being frequent in the N.T., see reff.: i.e. at the time when John bore this witness, the true light which lighteth every man, came was in process of manifesting Himself, into the world.

Tholuck objects to this construction that is too far from : but Lcke answers, that and are nearly as far separated in Mar 2:18 .

. . is a further expansion of .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Joh 1:9 . . stands first in contrast to the of Joh 1:8 . The light was not : the light was In this verse the light is also further contrasted with John. The Baptist was himself a light (Joh 1:35 ) but not to . This designation occurs nine times in John, never in the Synoptists. It means that which corresponds to the ideal; true not as opposed to false, but to symbolical or imperfect. The light is further characterised as . This is the text on which the Quakers found for their doctrine that every man has a day of visitation and that to every man God gives sufficient grace. Barclay in his Apology says: “This place doth so clearly favour us that by some it is called ‘the Quakers’ text,’ for it doth evidently demonstrate our assertion”. It was also much used by the Greek Fathers, who believed that the Logos guided the heathen in their philosophical researches (see Justin’s Dial. , ii., etc., and Clement, passim ). has been variously construed, with , with , or with . (1) The first construction is favoured by Chrysostom, Euthymius, the Vulgate, and A. V [25] , “ that was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world”; or with Meyer, “the true light which lightens every man coming into the world was present” ( = aderat). To the objection that . is thus redundant, Meyer replies that there is such a thing as a solemn redundance, and that we have here an “epic fulness of words”. But the “epic fulness” is here out of place, emphasising . Besides, in this Gospel, “coming into the world” is not used of human birth , but of appearance in one’s place among men. And still further of this verse is obviously in contrast with the of the next, and the subject of both clauses must be the same. (2) The second construction, with , was advocated by Grotius (“valde mihi se probat expositio quae apud Cyrillum et Augustinum exstat, ut hoc referatur ad ,” cf. Joh 3:19 , Joh 12:46 , Joh 18:37 ), and has been adopted by Godet, who renders thus: “(That light) was the true light which lighteth every man, by coming (itself) into the world”. If this were John’s meaning, it is difficult to see why he did not insert as in the second verse or . (3) The third construction, with , has much to recommend it, and has been adopted by Westcott, Holtzmann, and others. The R. V [26] margin renders as if were the periphrastic imperfect commonly used in N. T., “the true light which enlighteneth every man was coming into the world,” i.e. , at the time when the Baptist was witnessing, the true light was dawning on the world. Westcott, however, thinks it best to take it “more literally and yet more generally as describing a coming which was progressive, slowly accomplished, combined with a permanent being, so that both the verb ( was ) and the participle ( coming ) have their full force and do not form a periphrasis for an imperfect”. And he translates: “There was the light, the true light which lighteth every man; that light was, and yet more, that light was coming into the world”.

[25] Authorised Version.

[26] Revised Version.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

John

THE WORD IN ETERNITY, IN THE WORLD, AND IN THE FLESH

Joh 1:1 – Joh 1:14 .

The other Gospels begin with Bethlehem; John begins with ‘the bosom of the Father.’ Luke dates his narrative by Roman emperors and Jewish high-priests; John dates his ‘in the beginning.’ To attempt adequate exposition of these verses in our narrow limits is absurd; we can only note the salient points of this, the profoundest page in the New Testament.

The threefold utterance in Joh 1:1 carries us into the depths of eternity, before time or creatures were. Genesis and John both start from ‘the beginning,’ but, while Genesis works downwards from that point and tells what followed, John works upwards and tells what preceded-if we may use that term in speaking of what lies beyond time. Time and creatures came into being, and, when they began, the Word ‘was.’ Surely no form of speech could more emphatically declare absolute, uncreated being, outside the limits of time. Clearly, too, no interpretation of these words fathoms their depth, or makes worthy sense, which does not recognise that the Word is a person. The second clause of Joh 1:1 asserts the eternal communion of the Word with God. The preposition employed means accurately ‘towards,’ and expresses the thought that in the Word there was motion or tendency towards, and not merely association with, God. It points to reciprocal, conscious communion, and the active going out of love in the direction of God. The last clause asserts the community of essence, which is not inconsistent with distinction of persons, and makes the communion of active Love possible; for none could, in the depths of eternity, dwell with and perfectly love and be loved by God, except one who Himself was God.

Joh 1:1 stands apart as revealing the pretemporal and essential nature of the Word. In it the deep ocean of the divine nature is partially disclosed, though no created eye can either plunge to discern its depths or travel beyond our horizon to its boundless, shoreless extent. The remainder of the passage deals with the majestic march of the self-revealing Word through creation, and illumination of humanity, up to the climax in the Incarnation.

John repeats the substance of Joh 1:1 – Joh 1:2 , apparently in order to identify the Agent of creation with the august person whom he has disclosed as filling eternity. By Him creation was effected, and, because He was what Joh 1:1 has declared Him to be, therefore was it effected by Him. Observe the three steps marked in three consecutive verses. ‘All things were made by Him’; literally ‘became,’ where the emergence into existence of created things is strongly contrasted with the divine ‘was’ of Joh 1:1 . ‘Through Him’ declares that the Word is the agent of creation; ‘without Him’ literally, ‘apart from Him’ declares that created things continue in existence because He communicates it to them. Man is the highest of these ‘all things,’ and Joh 1:4 sets forth the relation of the Word to Him, declaring that ‘life,’ in all the width and height of its possible meanings, inheres in Him, and is communicated by Him, with its distinguishing accompaniment, in human nature, of light, whether of reason or of conscience.

So far, John has been speaking as from the upper or divine side, but in Joh 1:5 he speaks from the under or human, and shows us how the self-revelation of the Word has, by some mysterious necessity, been conflict. The ‘darkness’ was not made by Him, but it is there, and the beams of the light have to contend with it. Something alien must have come in, some catastrophe have happened, that the light should have to stream into a region of darkness.

John takes ‘the Fall’ for granted, and in Joh 1:5 describes the whole condition of things, both within and beyond the region of special revelation. The shining of the light is continuous, but the darkness is obstinate. It is the tragedy and crime of the world that the darkness will not have the light. It is the long-suffering mercy of God that the light repelled is not extinguished, but shines meekly on.

Joh 1:6 – Joh 1:13 deal with the historical appearance of the Word. The Forerunner is introduced, as in the other Gospels; and, significantly enough, this Evangelist calls him only ‘John,’-omitting ‘the Baptist,’ as was very natural to him, the other John, who would feel less need for distinguishing the two than others did. The subordinate office of a witness to the light is declared positively and negatively, and the dignity of such a function is implied. To witness to the light, and to be the means of leading men to believe, was honour for any man.

The limited office of the Forerunner serves as contrast to the transcendent lustre of the true Light. The meaning of Joh 1:9 may be doubtful, but Joh 1:10 – Joh 1:11 clearly refer to the historical manifestation of the Word, and probably Joh 1:9 does so too. Possibly, however, it rather points to the inner revelation by the Word, which is the ‘light of men.’ In that case the phrase ‘that cometh into the world’ would refer to ‘every man,’ whereas it is more natural in this context to refer it to ‘the light,’ and to see in the verse a reference to the illumination of humanity consequent on the appearance of Jesus Christ. The use of ‘world’ and ‘came’ in Joh 1:10 – Joh 1:11 points in that direction. Joh 1:9 represents the Word as ‘coming’; Joh 1:10 regards Him as come-’He was in the world.’

Note the three clauses, so like, and yet so unlike the august three in Joh 1:1 . Note the sad issue of the coming-’The world knew Him not.’ In that ‘world’ there was one place where He might have looked for recognition, one set of people who might have been expected to hail Him; but not only the wide world was blind ‘knew not’ , but the narrower circle of ‘His own’ fought against what they knew to be light ‘received not’ .

But the rejection was not universal, and John proceeds to develop the blessed consequences of receiving the light. For the first time he speaks the great word ‘believe.’ The act of faith is the condition or means of ‘receiving.’ It is the opening of the mental eye for the light to pour in. We possess Jesus in the measure of our faith. The object of faith is ‘His name,’ which means, not this or that collocation of letters by which He is designated, but His whole self-revelation. The result of such faith is ‘the right to become children of God,’ for through faith in the only-begotten Son we receive the communication of a divine life which makes us, too, sons. That new life, with its consequence of sonship, does not belong to human nature as received from parents, but is a gift of God mediated through faith in the Light who is the Word.

Joh 1:14 is not mere repetition of the preceding, but advances beyond it in that it declares the wonder of the way by which that divine Word did enter into the world. John here, as it were, draws back the curtain, and shows us the transcendent miracle of divine love, for which he has been preparing in all the preceding. Note that he has not named ‘the Word’ since Joh 1:1 , but here he again uses the majestic expression to bring out strongly the contrast between the ante-temporal glory and the historical lowliness. These four words, ‘The Word became flesh,’ are the foundation of all our knowledge of God, of man, of the relations between them, the foundation of all our hopes, the guarantee of all our peace, the pledge of all blessedness. ‘He tabernacled among us.’ As the divine glory of old dwelt between the cherubim, so Jesus is among men the true Temple, wherein we see a truer glory than that radiant light which filled the closed chamber of the holy of holies. Rapturous remembrances rose before the Apostle as he wrote, ‘We beheld His glory’; and he has told us what he has beheld and seen with his eyes, that we also may have fellowship with him in beholding. The glory that shone from the Incarnate Word was no menacing or dazzling light. He and it were ‘full of grace and truth,’ perfect Love bending to inferiors and sinners, with hands full of gifts and a heart full of tenderness and the revelation of reality, both as regards God and man. His grace bestows all that our lowness needs, His truth teaches all that our ignorance requires. All our gifts and all our knowledge come from the Incarnate Word, in whom believing we are the children of God.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

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).

SPECIAL TOPIC: KNOW (USING MOSTLY DEUTERONOMY AS A PARADIGM)

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” (ekklsia) 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).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

That, &c. Render: [He] was the true (or very) Light, that which, coming into the world, lighteneth every man (without distinction). We should connect this “coming” with “the Light “(with Revised Version): because “coming into the world” is continually associated with the Lord. See Joh 3:19; Joh 6:14; Joh 9:39; Joh 11:27; Joh 12:46; Joh 16:28; Joh 18:37. Note esp. Joh 3:19 and Joh 12:46. Many lamps found in the tombs at Gezer (1Ki 9:15-17) have inscribed on them “The light of Messiah shines for all”.

true = very. Greek alethinos. App-175. A characteristic word of this Gospel. See note on p. 1511.

every man: i, e. without distinction, as the sun shines on all (Mat 5:45, &c.) Greek. panta anthropon. Not collectively, but individually and personally. For centuries Israel only had this light, and Gentiles were the exception. Henceforth there was to be no dis tinction. Gentiles were to be blessed with Abraham’s seed in the days of Messiah. Compare Gen 12:3. Rom 15:8-12.

into. Greek. eis. App-104.

world. Greek. kosmos. App-129. A characteristic word in this Gospel. See note on p. 1511.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

9.] The word (see reff.) in this connexion imports original, archetypal, and is used of the true genuine sources and patterns of those things which we find here below only in fragmentary imitations and derivations. Such an original was the Light here spoken of;-but John was only a derived light,-not lumen illuminans, but lumen illuminatum.

The construction of this verse has been much disputed. Is . . to be taken with (as lat[13] syrr cop[14] Orig Eus2 Epiph Chr Cyr Thl Euthym and most of the ancient Commentators and E. V.), or does it belong to .?

[13] The Latin versions: an abbreviated way of writing vulg lat-a b c &c.

[14] The Coptic or Memphitic Egyptian version. Fourth century?

The former construction can only be defended by a Rabbinical usage, by which means all men (Schttgen, i. 223). But it is very questionable whether John ever speaks thus. Certainly he does not, in any of the passages commonly cited to defend this rendering, ch. Joh 18:37 (which is spoken by Christ of Himself and His Mission); Joh 16:21; Joh 16:28; Joh 12:46. And even if he had thus spoken, how harsh and how unmeaning is the sentence; whether with Euthym[15] we lay an emphasis on , or with E. V. &c. supply before it. If this latter had been intended, surely it would have been more distinctly expressed; and even when it is supplied, we have in this verse only a less forcible repetition of Joh 1:4.

[15] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116

It seems then that we must join . . . with . . .

But even then, three ways of rendering are apparently open to us.

The first of these, which is that of Socinus, takes . … as meaning, at its coming into the world. This however-besides the sense being inconsistent with Joh 1:4-leaves the opening clause without a demonstrative pronoun, as before. Then, secondly, might seem to be used in the sense in which we frequently have , as a quasi-future, who was, or is, to come: see Mat 11:3; Mar 10:30 alli[16]. fr.: ch. Joh 6:14; Joh 11:27, in which last two places it is joined, as here, with . But if this be adopted (which even constructionally is very doubtful), the only sense will be that the true light, &c. was to come; i.e. had not yet come; which manifestly is not correct;-for it had come, when John gave his witness; and the whole of these Joh 1:6-13 relate to the time when He had appeared, and come to His own.

[16] alli = some cursive mss.

We are driven then to the only legitimate rendering, which is to take as equivalent to an imperfect came:-this usage being frequent in the N.T., see reff.:-i.e. at the time when John bore this witness, the true light which lighteth every man, came-was in process of manifesting Himself,-into the world.

Tholuck objects to this construction that is too far from :-but Lcke answers, that and are nearly as far separated in Mar 2:18.

. . is a further expansion of .

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 1:9. , was) The Light itself, moreover, was that true light, which enlighteneth. The Effect shows the Subject, to whom the name of Light is most applicable [whose attributes entitle Him best to the name.]- , the true) There follows immediately the declaration, which enlighteneth, etc. This forms an antithesis to John, [who was only] a lamp, a witness. Comp. concerning the Truth, Joh 1:14; Joh 1:17.- , which enlighteneth) It is proved by the effect, that this is the true light. It enlightens, the Present, in relation to the time, in which He came, as opposed to the former time, Joh 1:5.-, every one) every one, and wholly, so far as a man doth not withdraw himself from His influence: whosoever is enlightened at all, is enlightened by this Light. The singular number here has great force. Comp. Col 1:28 [Warning every man and teaching every man, and that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus] Rom 3:4 [Let God be true, but every man a liar]. Not even one is excluded.-, man) Who by himself [when left to himself] is in darkness: every man has a more august sound, than all men, Joh 1:7. John was but a man, Joh 1:6. The Light, so far as it is light, is contradistinguished from man.- , coming into the world) , coming is nominative, and depends on , was. A striking antithesis is thus presented: [] was made, [] sent, Joh 1:6, and [] was, [] coming [in this verse]: in which last word the Participle present, as often, has the force of an imperfect. Comp. , ch. Joh 9:25 [ , , whereas I was blind, now I see] Notes: and elsewhere. Among the Hebrews it is a frequent periphrasis for a man. , coming [a comer] into the world: but in the New Testament, and especially in this book, this phrase is used of Christ alone, and in an exalted sense. For He was, even before that He came. Thus evidently the phrase is applied ch. Joh 3:19, Light is come into the world: ch. Joh 12:46, I am come a light into the world. Presently after this Joh 1:9, succeeds the mention of the world and of His coming, repeated, Joh 1:10-11. The Son is also said to be sent by the Father, but not in the same way, as John is said to have been sent. Moreover the Son came, being sent and given, Mat 21:37 Last of all He sent unto them His Son; Joh 3:16, God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; ch. Joh 11:27, Martha, Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world; Rom 8:3; Rom 8:32, God sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh-He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all; 1Jn 3:8, For this purpose the Son of God was manifested; Joh 4:9, God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Therefore it was not at last after His mission [it was not then first], that He was made Son, but evidently before His being born of a woman; Gal 4:4, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 1:9

Joh 1:9

There was the true light,-Jesus was the only source of the light, and all who came into the world if lightened at all, must receive this light from him.

even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world.-[Whether to connect the last clause, coming into the world, with the true light, or with every man, has been a hotly disputed question among commentators. We do not think there is any reference here to an innate light belonging to every man from birth, nor to an enlightening of men before the coming of Christ, under the old dispensation, or in the various heathen religions. The apostle has to do only with the present dispensation. The true light was coming into the world, which lights every man (who receives it), that is, teaches him spiritual truth and duty, else he is not enlightened. He is the exclusive light giver.]

If God is the fountain and source of all light [and he surely is] only he who looks to God can find true light. Man is prone to look to himself for light; but in man is no light, save as he receives it from God.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

the true: Joh 1:4, Joh 6:32, Joh 14:6, Joh 15:1, Isa 49:6, Mat 6:23, 1Jo 1:8, 1Jo 2:8, 1Jo 5:20

every: Joh 1:7, Joh 7:12, Joh 12:46, Isa 8:20, 1Th 5:4-7

Reciprocal: Gen 1:3 – Let Exo 25:37 – give Exo 40:24 – General Lev 24:2 – the lamps Num 8:2 – General 2Sa 21:17 – quench Job 25:3 – upon whom Job 38:19 – the way Psa 27:1 – light Psa 36:9 – in thy Psa 84:11 – a sun Pro 8:14 – Counsel Isa 60:1 – General Eze 21:27 – until Dan 2:22 – and the Luk 1:79 – give Joh 3:19 – this Joh 3:26 – and all Joh 6:55 – meat Act 3:2 – lame Rom 1:19 – for God Eph 5:8 – but 2Ti 1:10 – and hath Tit 2:11 – hath appeared Jam 1:17 – from the 1Jo 1:5 – that God Rev 21:23 – the Lamb

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

9

The spiritual light that Christ had to offer was for the whole mass of mankind, not just for the Jews or any other special group. The word world is from KOSMOS, and with the exception of chapter 9:32, every occurrence of the word “world” in this book is from that Greek word. It has a wide range of meanings, but the one that Thayer gives for its most general application is, “The inhabitants of the earth.”

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

[Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.] All the men that are in the world. “Doth not the sun rise upon all that come into the world?” “All that come into the word are not able to make one fly.” “In the beginning of the year, all that come into the world present themselves before the Lord.” There are numberless examples of this kind. The sense of the place is, that Christ, shining forth in the light of the gospel, is a light that lightens all the world. The light of the law shone only upon the Jews; but this light spreads wider, even over the face of the whole earth.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Joh 1:9. There was the true Light, which lighteth every man, coming into the world. This almost literal rendering of the Greek will show how it is that these simple words have been so variously explained. As in the English, so in the Greek, the word coming might be joined either with ‘light or with ‘man. The punctuation we have adopted (it will be remembered that in ancient manuscripts of the original there is little or no punctuation) will show that, in our view, the last clause is to be joined, not with the second, but with the first clause of the verse. What has been said above of the general structure of the Prologue has shown that, as yet, the full presence of the Word personally come is not before us. The manifestation is in its initial stage, not yet complete. To this thought the word coming exactly corresponds. But still more important in guiding to the right interpretation of the verse is the Evangelists use of the last phrase elsewhere. The expression come into the world occurs in as many as seven other passages of this Gospel (chap. Joh 1:19, Joh 6:14, Joh 9:39, Joh 11:27, Joh 12:46, Joh 16:28, Joh 18:37). In every one of these passages the words relate to the Lord Himself: sometimes they are used by the multitude (Joh 6:14), or by a disciple (Joh 11:27), as a designation of the Messiah, He that should come; sometimes they are the words of Jesus or of the Evangelist, in passages which speak of the purpose of His coming. In chaps, Joh 3:19 and Joh 12:46 the phrase stands in close connection with the figure which is now before us. The latter verse (chap. Joh 12:46) is especially noteworthy; for Jesus Himself says, I am come a light into the world. If, then, we would allow the Evangelist to be his own interpreter, we seem bound to believe that he here speaks of the light as coming into the world. If the words are joined with man, they add little or nothing to the thought. Every man is really as full and inclusive an expression as every man that cometh into the world. Familiarity with the common rendering may prevent the reader from at once perceiving that this is true; but we are persuaded that reflection will show that by the change much is gained, nothing lost. In the previous verse we have read that John was not the Light. When he arose as a witness, the true Light was in existence; it had been shining in the darkness; it was now coming into the world,about to manifest itself with a clearness and in a manner hitherto unknown.

Two more of the special terms of the Gospel meet us here, true and world. It is unfortunate that two different words must be represented by the same English word, true. The one (used in chaps, Joh 3:33, Joh 5:31, and eleven other verses of the Gospel) denotes truth in contrast with falsehood; the other, which we have before us here, expresses the real as contrasted with the phenomenal, that which is perfect and substantial as opposed to what is imperfect and shadowy, or that which is fully accomplished in contrast with the type which prefigured it. This word is, in the New Testament, almost confined to the writings of John. Of twenty-eight passages in which it occurs, nine are found in this Gospel, four in the First Epistle, ten in the Revelation. Three of the remaining five passages are (as might almost have been foreseen) in the Epistle to the Hebrews. The other examples of the word in this Gospel will be found in chaps, Joh 4:23; Joh 4:37, Joh 5:32, Joh 7:28, Joh 8:16, Joh 15:1, Joh 17:3, Joh 19:35, and in most of these the reader will easily trace the idea. The true worshippers are those whose worship is real, not imperfect and undeserving of the name; the bread which came down from heaven is the true bread, that of which the manna was a type, that which ministers real and abiding nourishment. So here we read of the archetypal source of light, the light which alone is real and perfect.This true Light was coming into the world. Originally signifying the universe created and ordered by the hand of God, the world came successively to mean the world of men, and the world of men as opposed to God. In this Gospel especially, we read of the world as an antagonistic power, unbelieving, evil in its works, hating and persecuting Jesus and His people,a power over which He will be victorious, and which shall be convicted of sin and judged; but we also read of Gods love to the world (chap. Joh 3:16), and of the gift of His Son that the world may be saved through Him. If the thought of evil and alienation is brought out in the following verse, it is most important to observe that this verse speaks of the illumination of every man. No man belongs to the world that is given up to darkness and impenitence, unless he, through resistance and choice of evil, have made the light that was in him to become darkness (comp. Eph 4:18).We cannot doubt that in the words every man there is an allusion to John (a man sent from God) as himself illumined by this Light.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

[See also the “General Considerations on the Prologue” in the comments of Joh 1:18.]

Ver. 9. The true light, which enlightens every man, came into the world.

I think I must positively decide for this interpretation, making the participle , coming, the predicate of the verb , was: was coming, for:came. This analytic form implies an idea of continuance. At the moment when John bore witness of the light, it was in course of coming; it was properly coming; thus Bengel, Lucke, de Wette, Weiss, Westcott. This verse, thus understood, leaves to the expression to come into the world the ordinary, and in some sort technical, sense which it has in John (Joh 3:19; Joh 6:14; Joh 9:39; Joh 18:37, etc.). Some interpreters, while adopting the same construction, refer this term:came into the world to the long coming of the Logos through the ages, by means of His revelations during the whole course of the Old Covenant (Keim, Westcott). But this sense would lead, as we shall see, to a tautology with the first proposition of the following verse. Other meanings given to by Tholuck: He was going to come, and by Luthardt, He was to come, are hardly natural. Meyer, with some ancient and modern interpreters (Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, Calvin, Beza, etc.), adopts an entirely different construction; he joins the with the substantive : which enlightens every man coming into the world. In this case , the light, is taken as the subject of , which is translated in the sense of aderat was present. The true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world, was present; or is made the predicate of , by giving to this verb as its subject a to be supplied from the preceding verse: This light (to which John bore witness, Joh 1:8) was the true light which enlightens every man coming into the world. The uselessness of this appended phrase, which is self-evident, has been often alleged against this connection of , coming, with the substantiveevery man; but wrongly, as I showed in my first edition, where I adopted this explanation. For these words thus understood would signify that the light of the Logos is a divine gift which every man brings with him when he is born,that the matter in question is, accordingly, an innate light. This idea, however, is not lost in the other construction; it is still found in the words: which enlightens every man. The two constructions of , either in the sense of was present, or by supplying with it a subject derived from the preceding verse, are not very natural. Finally, the logical connection with Joh 1:8 is closer with the first meaning: John came to testify of the light (Joh 1:8): for at that very moment it was on the point of appearing in the world (Joh 1:9). In my second edition, I attempted a third, or even a fourth construction, by attaching the participle , not to , nor to , but to , to enlighten, making it a sort of Latin gerundive: which enlightens every man by coming (itself) into the world. But this use of the participle can scarcely be justified by sufficient examples.

The word , veritable, appears here for the first time. It is one of the characteristic terms of John’s style. Of twenty-eight passages in which we meet with it in the N.T., twenty-three belong to John, nine in the Gospel, four in the first Epistle, and ten in the Apocalypse (Milligan). It is also used in the classics. It designates the fact as the adequate realization of the idea. It contrasts, therefore, not the true with the false, but the normal appearance with the imperfect realization. The light of which John speaks, consequently, is characterized by it as the essential light, in opposition to every light of an inferior order. The expression: which enlightens every man, if applied to the Gospel revelation, would designate the universalistic character of the Gospel; the present enlightens would be that of the idea. It is more natural, however, to find here again the notion which was expressed in Joh 1:4 : the Logos, as the internal light, enlightening every man, illuminating him by the sublime intuitions of the good, the beautiful and the true. The term every man gives again a formal contradiction to the assertion of Baur’s school which makes John a dualistic philosopher.

The Logos when coming into the world did not arrive there as a stranger. By profound and intimate relations with humanity, He had prepared for His advent here on earth, and seemed to be assured of a favorable reception:

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

CHAPTER 27

THE LEAVEN

Mat 13:33. He spake another parable to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like unto leaven, which a woman having taken, hid in three measures of meal, until all were leavened. Leaven is zume, which has no meaning but fermentation, corruption. . . .We have no right to depart from the lexical meaning and the uniform Biblical signification of a word. The point of illustration is its progressive and general dissemination throughout the entire lump in which it is deposited. You must not think that the parables all symbolize the kingdom in all its phases. This is not true.

Hence the number of them, some illustrating one phase, and some another. Of course our fallen Mother Eve is the woman here alluded to, in her common maternity of the whole human race. You must remember humanity took on three distinct varieties in the house of Noah-Shem, the red man, who inherited and populated Asia; Ham, the black man, who received Africa in the distribution of Father Noahs universal patrimony; and Japheth, the white man, Europe, which has spread out and taken in America. How do you know that the tri-color distinction there originated?

Shem is a Hebrew word, which means red; Ham, black; and Japheth, white. You see how the leaven i.e., depravity by the mother of humanity, was deposited in these three measures of antediluvian meal, which, in Noahs ark, survived the flood, and O, how it has spread to the ends of the earth! The gospel kingdom is like this leaven in the sense in which God is like the unjust judge (Luke 18), where the similitude is simply at the point of independency; this leaven of heavenly grace, being more contagious than small-pox, going to the ends of the earth, beautifying the elect and revealing the non-elect, and thus preparing the world for the coming of the Lord. Jesus spoke all of these things to the multitudes in parables, and without a parable He was not accustomed to speak to them; in order that the word, having been spoken by the prophet, may be fulfilled, I will open my mouth in parables; I will reveal things which have been hidden from the foundation of the world. (Psa 78:2.) The Old Testament is the gospel in symbolism i.e., blackboard exercises, spread out extensively and elucidated minutely, accommodatory to an uncultured, semibarbaric people, such as Israel, degraded by two hundred and fifteen years in Egyptian slavery. The Gospels of our Lord are in parables, occupying a much higher grade than the Mosaic typology, an intermediate between the rudimentary teaching of the Old Testament and the clear, straight, positive, and unequivocal, doctrinal, experimental, and practical deliverances of the Holy Ghost in the Acts, Epistles, and Revelation.

Then leaving the multitudes, Jesus came into the house. It is highly probable this was Peters house in Capernaum, headquarters of the Great Prophet and his apostles. His disciples came unto Him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. Responding, He said to them, The one sowing the good seed is the Son of man, and the field is the world, and these children of the kingdom are the good seed. He is the True Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (Joh 1:9.)

The omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient Excarnate Christ has been in this world from the beginning, sowing the good seed of the kingdom; His children, the elect, always having been here from the days of Abel. The tares are the sons of the wicked one; the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned with fire, so it shall be in the end of this age. The Son of man will send forth His angels, and he will gather out from His kingdom all things which offend and cause iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Here you see that these tares i.e., the hypocrites are the devils sort of Christians. They are everywhere in the Churches. We are just to let them alone till the end of the age, when the great tribulation will come upon the world, God hackling out of all nations the unsavable material (Dan 7:9), when the world will be divested of hypocrites, and infidels, and all others who have grieved away the Holy Spirit and sealed their doom in endless woe. On the resurrection morn, O how brightly will the risen and transfigured saints shine in the kingdom of God! When Satan shall be bound and cast into the bottomless pit (Revelation 20), and the reprobates all taken out of the world, thus Satan and his armies retreating before the King of kings and Lord of lords, descending in His glory, accompanied by the mighty host of His bridehood, to girdle the globe with the splendors of the Millennial Theocracy.

THE HIDDEN TREASURE

Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like unto a treasure which has been hidden in the field, which a man, having found, concealed, and from his joy goes and sells all things, so many as he has, and purchases that field. The field here is the Church, which God has made the depository of redeeming grace. I was a member of the visible Church before I was converted, and during my regenerated life an enthusiastic amateur of it. It is the province of the Church to get souls converted to God. The man in this parable is a Church member, perhaps born and reared in it, ignorant of experimental salvation. Somehow he gets an inkling that there is something wonderful and glorious in the Church. Then he turns over all of his resources, soul, mind, body, and estate, and buys this field; i.e., he takes the Church for his portion, becoming truly devoted and exceedingly zealous. Very soon he is enabled to appreciate this treasure, which had been hidden in the field until he recently found out that it was there. O how grateful to the Church, and how enthusiastic and enterprising in her behalf!

THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like unto a mercantile man, seeking goodly pearls, who, having found one pearl of great price, having gone, sold all things which he had, and purchased it. Here is another selling out and new embarkation in mercantile enterprise. You must remember that these two are mercantile parables, the salient facts consisting in buying and selling. In the former parable the man had no treasure i.e., he was destitute of a heavenly investment of any kind; so he sold out his carnal chattels and bought the field i.e., the Church for the sake of the treasure hidden in it, only discernible by spiritually-illuminated eyes. Hence they could live and die all around it, and walk over it, and not know it was there. Now we see the man is a merchant i.e., a Christian in the phraseology of the parables. By some means he ascertains that there is on hand a pearl of great price i.e., of infinite value its beauty and brilliancy eclipsing all others. Now he goes and sells out all he has; and you must remember that now be has an infinitely better stock in trade than he had before he bought the field, and found in it the first blessing; but he makes a complete invoice of all, not only his earthly possessions, but the Church, the membership, the choir, the big pipe-organ, the Official Board, the pastor, presiding elder, bishop, and all the Conferences; the Creed, rites, and ceremonies, putting all on the altar, without any reservation, for time and eternity:

Here I give my all to Thee Friends, and time, and earthly store; Soul and body, Thine to be;

Wholly Thine, for evermore.

The final issue is, that he purchases the pearl of great price, entire sanctification, which a man does not get through the normal administration of the Church, but, forsaking all, must go to God alone, and sink away into Him.

THE DRAG-NET

Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like unto the net, having been cast into the sea, and gathering from every kind. This illustrates the kingdom after the similitude of the visible Church. Which, when it may be filled, drawing it up on the shore, and sitting down, they gathered the good into baskets, but threw the bad away. We are on the constant outlook for our Lord to appear, and take His saints with Him to glory, and turning over to Satan his due, and leaving them for the great tribulation, exposed to the doom of the ungodly. So it will be in the end of the age; i.e., the end of the gospel age, in which we live. The angels will come forth and separate the wicked from the midst of the righteous; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The gathering of the good into baskets is the rapture. (Mat 24:31.) Now we see the angels, girdling the globe with the splendor of their pinions.

A fiery stream issued, and came from before Him; thousands and thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. (Dan 7:10.)

This is the pre-millennial judgment by the Ancient of Days, dethroning all the kings of the earth, preparatory to the glorious coronation of His Son King of kings and Lord of lords. Here you see the Ancient of Days is attended by this innumerable host of angels, who are evidently His subordinates in the administration of the retributive judgments against the wicked, thus hackling them out of the world preparatory to the glorious millennial reign.

DISCIPLESHIP

Jesus says to them, Do you understand all these things? They say to Him, Yea, Lord. And He said to them, Therefore, every scribe, having been discipled into the kingdom of the heavens, is like unto a man who is a landlord, who bringeth out of his treasure things new and old.

Instructed into the kingdom, E.V., is not a literal translation of matheteutheis, which is the passive aorist participle from nathetes, a disciple. Hence it simply means being discipled; i.e., being made a disciple. The Commission reads, Go, disciple all nations. Hence the only way to become a member of the kingdom of heaven, or kingdom of God, which are precisely synonymous, is to become a disciple of Christ, which requires a genuine regeneration, wrought by the Holy Spirit, leading on to entire sanctification, which is indispensable to the successful perpetuity of that discipleship. This is true of the scribe i.e., the preacher and every other human being. Now what is the characteristic of every one who has become a member of the Lords kingdom? He has a treasure in his heart which a world of gold can not purchase. Out of his treasure he bringeth forth things both new and old. Now what of the new? Do you not know that the work of the Holy Ghost is always new? Instead of getting old, stale, and dingy, a genuine experience shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. So his experience, regeneration and sanctification, is always new. What is old? Why the blessed truth of God. While a spiritual experience is always new, kept bright and sweet by the indwelling Holy Spirit, the doctrine of the Bible is always old, every new doctrine being false. Hence Solomon said, There is nothing new under the sun. And it came to pass, when Jesus finished these parables, He departed thence; i.e., He went away out of Capernaum to embark on the sea.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Joh 1:9-13. The Work of the Light before the Incarnation.But in truth the light, which lighteth every man, was always coming into the world. Possibly Joh 1:9 means that when John was witnessing, the true light was on the point of coming and was actually in the world, which He had created, though men knew Him not. But this interpretation is less natural. He was always in the world that He had made, though it was ignorant of its Maker. His coming was to His own possession. But His own failed to recognise Him. In speaking of this failure the writer is thinking chiefly but perhaps not exclusively of Jews. But the failure had its exceptions. And those who in all nations received Him, gained the higher life of the spirit, which is entered upon by a birth from God, with which fleshly motives and physical descent have nothing to do. The use made by Gnostics of this verse to support their theories of the spiritual seed may have led to the substitution of the singular who was born, which made the words refer to Christ. The context clearly demands the plural who were born, so that the words describe the method of the spiritual rebirth of those who received the Logos. [In view of the importance of the passage, it ought, perhaps, to be said that there is strong evidence for the singular (Tertullian, Irenus, the Codex Veronensis of the Old Latin VS, probably Methodius, possibly Justin Martyr). The singular leads up well to Joh 1:14, and the connexion with what precedes is good, the sonship of Christians rests on His sonship. In particular the very emphatic threefold negative statement of Joh 1:13 seems to be directed against some who affirmed the contrary, and such a denial was far more likely to be of Christs supernatural conception than of the Divine begetting of Christians in the spiritual sense. The singular is found, however, in no Gr. MS.; it may have originated in Latin through the ambiguity of the Latin relative pronoun (qui); and it may have been introduced to affirm the supernatural conception. Harnack has recently (July 1915) in a lengthy discussion, Zur Text-kritik und Christologie der Schriften des Johannes, concluded on several grounds that the plural cannot be accepted, and that the passage referred originally to the virgin conception. But he considers that this also is not in place in this context. He thinks that the verse was added in the margin as a comment on the words And the Word became flesh at a very early time and in the Johannine circle. It ran He was begotten, etc., the relative pronoun being absent as in Codex D, the Vercellensis (Latin), and perhaps in Tertullian. When the words had been taken into the text the relative was inserted by some.A. S. P.] For the work of the Logos among men before the Incarnation cf. Joh 12:40 (Isaiah) and perhaps Joh 8:56 (Abraham). The interpretation which finds in these verses an anticipated account of the work of the Incarnate Logos, which is out of place before the culminating declaration of Joh 1:14, is less natural.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 9

Every man that cometh into the world; that is, Jews as well as Gentiles. The meaning is, that the salvation which Christ came to bring, was not to be restricted to any people or class, but was offered freely to all.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

1:9 {5} [That] was {p} the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

(5) When the Son of God saw that men did not acknowledge him by his works, although they were endued with understanding

(which he had given to all of them), he exhibited himself unto his people to be seen by them with their physical eyes: yet not even then did they acknowledge him or receive him.

(p) Who alone and properly deserves to be called the light, for he shines by his own accord and borrows light from no one.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

C. The appearance of the Light 1:9-13

The first section of the prologue (Joh 1:1-5) presents the preincarnate Word. The second section (Joh 1:6-8) identifies the forerunner of the Word’s earthly ministry. This third section introduces the ministry of the Incarnate Word.

"Two points receive special emphasis: one is the astonishing fact that the Word of God, true God as he is, took upon him human nature, and the other is the even more astonishing fact that when he did this, people would have nothing to do with him." [Note: Morris, pp. 82-83.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

There are two possible interpretations of this verse. One is that the true Light enlightens every person who comes into the world (Gr. masculine participle erchomenon, AV, and NASB and NIV margins). The other is that the true Light comes into the world and enlightens everyone (Gr. neuter participle erchomenon, NASB and NIV). The second option seems preferable since the Incarnation is so much in view in the context. The point is that Jesus as the Light affects everyone. Everyone lives under the spotlight of God’s illuminating revelation in Jesus Christ since the Incarnation (cf. 1 John 1). His light clarifies the sinfulness and spiritual need of human beings. Those who respond to this convicting revelation positively experience salvation. Those who reject it and turn from the light will end up in outer darkness. They will experience eternal damnation.

The Quakers prefer the first of the two interpretations above. They use this verse to support their doctrine of the "inner light." They believe that God has placed some revelation in the heart of every person. A person can elicit that revelation by meditation. This is not general but special revelation. Their view is very close to the belief of some charismatic Christians that God gives new revelation today. Non-charismatics see no basis in Scripture for this view. We believe that while God now illuminates the revelation that He has previously given He does not give new revelation now, though He does give guidance and illumination.

The word "true" is one that John used repeatedly in this Gospel. "True" (Gr. alethinon) here refers to what is the ultimate form of the genuine article, the real as opposed to the counterfeit. John did not mean that Jesus was "truthful" (Gr. alethes). Jesus was not only a genuine revelation from God, but He was also the ultimate revelation (cf. Joh 4:23; Joh 6:32; Joh 15:1; Joh 17:3; Heb 1:1-2).

John usually used the word "world" (Gr. kosmos) in a negative sense in this Gospel (cf. Joh 1:10; Joh 7:7; Joh 14:17; Joh 14:22; Joh 14:27; Joh 14:30; Joh 15:18-19; Joh 16:8; Joh 16:20; Joh 16:33; Joh 17:6; Joh 17:9; Joh 17:14). It does not refer to this planet as a planet but to the inhabited earth fallen in sin and in rebellion against God. It is the world of humanity darkened by sin.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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