Jesus was unrecognized by the world

JESUS WAS UNRECOGNIZED BY THE WORLD
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was
made through Him, and the world did not know Him
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Christ RejectedAnd Accepted
John 1:10-13
J.R. Thomson
It is related by an ancient historian that an Easterntribe were so afflicted by
the blazing and intolerable heat of the sun, that they were accustomed, when
the greatluminary arose in the morning, to assailhim with their united and
vehement curses. It is hard to believe that, the benefits of sunlight being so
obvious as they are, any should be found other than glad and grateful for the
shining of the orb of day. "The light is sweet, and a pleasantthing it is for the
eyes to behold the sun." The rising of the Sun of Righteousness, however, was,
we know, hailed in very different manners by different classesofmen; as in
these verses is very strikingly pointed out by the inspired evangelist. The same
diversity obtains to this day among the hearers of the gospelof Christ. There
are still those who reject and those who receive the Saviour.
I. CHRIST REJECTED.

1. By whom? The evangelistspeaks, firstgenerally, and then specially, upon
this point.
(1) The world at large is said to have refused the offeredblessing - to have
been insensible to the character, and incredulous as to the claims, of
Immanuel. This is the more surprising because the world is full of witnessesto
the Divine Word; because it was actuallymade by him; because his natural
attributes are displayed in the physical universe, his moral purposes in
providence, his righteous law in conscience.
(2) More particularly it is said that his own people, i.e. the Jewishnation,
disclaimed their Messiah. This is the more surprising because the Hebrew
race was, as it were, a Church, basedupon the expectationof his coming;
because they possessedprophecies regarding him; because theywere familiar
with sacrifices,types, and institutions, all of which in some waywitnessedto
him. Especiallyit is surprising when we remember that the Jews were
entrusted with the oracles ofGod, which might have prepared them to receive
the perfectDivine revelation.
2. In what way?
(1) They "knew him not." Some - both Jews and Gentiles - never paid any
attention to Jesus, to his discourses, his mighty works, his holy and benevolent
character. Some simply indulged an idle curiosity, in gazing upon his works or
listening to his discourses. And others, less inattentive, yet never really
comprehended the spiritual purpose of his mission, the spiritual significance
of his teaching.

(2) They "receivedhim not;" e.g. the inhabitants of Nazareth thrust him out
of their city! The Gergasenesbesoughthim to depart from their borders! A
certain village in Samaria refusedto receive him! Chorazin and Bethsaida
were upbraided by him because oftheir unbelief and their rejectionof his
claims! Over JerusalemJesus wept, on accountof the inattention of the people
of the metropolis to his solemn warnings and gracious entreaties!
3. Forwhat reasons?
(1) His humility was an offence to their worldliness and pride.
(2) His holy characterwas a rebuke to their sin.
(3) His spiritual teaching was a rebuke to their formality.
(4) His life of benevolence was a rebuke to their selfishness andhaughtiness.
4. With what results?
(1) Their guilt was aggravatedby their rejectionof his mission.
(2) They were speedily deprived of the privileges they despisedand abused.
(3) The impenitent incurred spiritual disasterand ruin.

II. CHRIST ACCEPTED. Johnstates first, what must have been the general
impression during our Lord's ministry, that Jews and Gentiles alike rejected
him. Indeed, his unjust, cruel, and violent death was sufficient proof of this.
But there was another side to this picture.
1. Observe by whom the Son of God was gratefully and cordially received.
This very chapter witnessesto the powerof the Lord Jesus overindividual
souls;for it tells of the adhesionof Andrew and Simon, of Philip and
Nathanael. The Gospels relate the call of the twelve and of the seventy. They
afford us a passing glimpse into the soul history of such men as Nicodemus
and Joseph, ofsuch families as that of Lazarus at Bethany. And they exhibit
Christ's attractive power over very different characters,suchas Zacchaeus
and the penitent thief upon the cross. After the Ascension, Christ's converts
were reckoned, not by individuals, but by thousands. And throughout the
Christian centuries, men from every clime and of every race have been led by
the Spirit to receive Jesus as the Son of God.
2. Observe the description given of their receptionof Christ. They "believed
on his Name." The "Name" is full of significance. Whetherwe examine the
name "Jesus,"or"Christ," or "Immanuel," the Name sets before us the
objectof our faith. Those who receive the Saviourwho is thus designated,
believe what prophecy foretold of him and what he declaredconcerning his
own person, character, and work. They trust in him as in an all-sufficient
Mediator, and obey him as their Lord.
3. Observe the privilege accruing to those who receive Christ

(1) They partake a spiritual and Divine birth. The new relation begins a new
spiritual life. This is further explained in our Lord's conversationwith
Nicodemus, where Jesus refers this spiritual birth to the Holy Spirit himself.
(2) They become children of God, taking by "right" a place in the Divine
family. This exalted and happy position involves participation in Divine
favour and love, in the moral image of the heavenly Father, in all the society
and the immunities of this glorious kindred, in the eternalinheritance and
home. APPLICATION. Our treatment of the Lord Christ makes the decisive
turning point in our spiritual history. Those who are once brought into
contactwith him, by hearing his gospel, are by that fact placedin a new and
solemn position of responsibility. To rejecthim is to rejectpardon,
righteousness, andlife. To accepthim is to enter the Divine family, to enjoy
the Divine favour, to live the Divine, the spiritual, the immortal life. - T.
Biblical Illustrator
He was in the world.

John 1:10-11
The treatment of Christ by men
A. Beith, D. D.
I. By the WORLD.
1. They were in a condition in which they might have known much of Him. He
made the world and preservedit and was in it. Yet there was no proper
recognitionof Him.
2. This ignorance ofChrist was the sin of the world, and it is its sin now, a sin
for which there is no excuse. In addition to creationand providence we have
revelation.
II. By His own.
1. Who are His own. In a sense(1)All mankind by the right of creation;(2) The
convertedby the right of redemption and adoption;(3) As distinguished from
both these, the Visible Church. That its members are His ownarises from
their possessionofadvantages peculiarlydistinctive — the oracles ofGod —
the ordinances of the kingdom. They are in covenant. Christ is under
engagementto grant to them eternal life: they are under engagementto seek
that gift and acceptit.(a) Virtually such was the covenantat Sinai. Christ
engagedto bring His own to Canaan, through their obedience to the law by
which they were to live. They engagedto go up and possesstheir inheritance
in reliance on Him. The covenantwas typical as well as temporal, and typified
a spiritual salvation.(b) Israelviolated this covenant, by the rebellion in the
wilderness, and by slownessofheart to understand its moral meanings.(c)
This covenanthas passedaway, the substance of its shadows having come, but
thousands like Israel are false and perfidious to the new and better covenant:
they have the professionwithout the powerof godliness.

2. He came to His own.(1) This was unsolicited by them, the kindness and
considerationwere all His.(2) He came to them in the wilderness and at
various periods of their history, but they rejectedHim.
3. He came as the Incarnate Word, and they receivedHim not. Is this also true
of the Visible Church to-day? The unconverted hearers of the gospelare more
guilty than the Jews, andwill therefore he visited with a heavier
condemnation.
(A. Beith, D. D.)
The rejectionof the Light
T. Whitelaw, D. D.
I. GENERALLY AND PRIOR TO THE INCARNATION BY THE WORLD.
The world knew Him not, which was —
1. Inexcusable (Romans 1:20).
2. Unnatural, since those who lived and moved and had their being in Him
should have knownHim who made them (Psalm 103:22).
3. Heinous. The non-recognitionless intellectual than moral, arising not from
failure to discern, but from want of inward affinity to the light (John 3:19;
Ephesians 4:18; Job24:13).

4. Prophetic, since it foreshadowedChrist's receptionby Israel with the
outlook towards which it is here introduced.
II. PARTICULARLY AND DURING THE PERIOD OF HIS
INCARNATION BY HIS OWN, i.e, by the Jews, whoserejectionofHim,
besides sharing the criminality incurred by the world, displayed —
1. Monstrous ingratitude. He selectedthem for no peculiar excellence ontheir
part, and vouchsafedcenturies of gracious teaching and discipline to prepare
them to recognize and embrace Him.
2. Shamefacedrobbery. Christ presentedHimself as the Heir claiming His
inheritance (Matthew 21:38); as a Master(Matthew 25:14) only to find His
possessionsforcibly withheld from Him, and Himself castforth and killed.
3. Incorrigible wickedness. Theycould not discern the signs of Messiahshipin
Him.
4. Dire infatuation, for in rejecting Him they thrust from themselves the
kingdom of God, and missedthe true vocationof their race.
(T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
Christ rejectedby the world
G. J. Brown, M. A.

His own world rejectedHim, as a rebel country might rejecta lawful and
beneficent king. The very work of His hands, that which was indebted to Him
for its very being, refused to recognize Him.
(G. J. Brown, M. A.)
The world
Corrupted mankind are calledthe world, because theylove the world more
than their Creator. Through love, we make something our dwelling-place;and
therefore what we have made by our love to be our dwelling-place, from that
we have deserved to be called.
( Augustine.)
The world knew Him not
The non-recognitionof Christ
H. W. Beecher., T. Guthrie, D. D.
When Ulysses returned with fond anticipations to his home at Ithaca, his
family did not recognize him. Even the wife of his bosomdenied her husband
— so changedwas he by an absence oftwenty years, and the hardships of a
protracted war. In this painful condition of affairs he called for a bow which
he had left at home. With characteristic sagacityhe saw how a bow so stout
and tough that none but himself could draw it, might be made to bear witness
on his behalf. He seizedit. To their surprise and joy, like a greenwand lopped
from a willow tree, it yields to his arms, it bends till the string touches his ear.
His wife, now sure that he is her long lostand lamented husband, throws
herself into his fond embraces, and his household confess him to be the true
Ulysses. If I may compare small things with great, our Lord gave such proof
of His Divinity when He, too, stood a strangerin His own house, despisedand
rejectedof men. He bent the stubborn laws of nature to His will. He proved
Himself Creatorby His mastery over creation.

(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
Genius unrecognized
H. O. Mackey.
When Verdi the celebratedmusician first made application for admissionas a
student at the Conservatoire Musicale atMilan, he was rejectedby the
director, Francesco Basily, on the ground that "he could make nothing of the
new comer, who showedno disposition for music!" How this early verdict was
reversedis a matter of notorious history.
(H. O. Mackey.)
Recognition
Matthews.
Some literary reputations are like fairies, in that they cannot cross running
water. Others, again, are like the mystic genii of the "Arabian Nights" which
loom highest when seenafar. Poe, e.g., is more appreciatedin England than at
home; and Cooperis given a higher rank by French than by American critics.
(Matthews.)
Judgment by contemporaries
E. C. Stedman.
Contemporary judgment is leastof all judicial. The young forestallnovelty
itself. The old mistrust or look backwardwith a sense ofloss. It is hard for
either to apply tests that are above fashion; we adopt, as lightly as formerly
we contemned, a fashion that at lastwe avow we rightly interpret.
(E. C. Stedman.)

God present but unknown
E. C. Stedman.
"I have swept the heavens with my telescopeand have found no God."
(E. C. Stedman.)
God unrecognizedin His own world
Christian Age.
Sir Isaac Newtonhadamong his acquaintances a philosopher who was an
atheist. It is wellknown that the illustrious man, who takes the first rank as a
mathematician, natural philosopher, and astronomer, was at the same time a
Christian. He had in his study a celestialglobe, on which was an excellent
representationof the constellations andthe stars which compose them. His
atheist friend, having come to visit him one day, was struck with the beauty of
tiffs globe. He approachedit, examined it, and, admiring the work, he turned
to Newtonand said to him, "Who made it?" "No one!" replied the celebrated
philosopher. The atheistunderstood, and was silent.
(Christian Age.)
Christ is often near but unknown
H. W. Beecher.
Every faculty of the soul, if it would but open its door, might see Christ
standing over againstit, and silently asking by His smile, "ShallI come in
unto thee?" But men open the door and look down, not up, and thus see Him
not. So it is that men sighon, not knowing what the soul wants, but only that it
needs something. Our yearnings are home-sicknessesforheaven; our sighings
are for God, just as children that cry themselves asleepawayfrom home, and
sob in their slumber, know not that they sob for their parents. The soul's

inarticulate meanings are the affections yearning for the Infinite, and having
no one to tell them what it is that ails them.
(H. W. Beecher.)
He came to His own
Christ's coming and rejection
J. Benson.
I. IN WHAT SENSE HE CAME TO HIS OWN, AND HIS OWN RECEIVED
HIM NOT. He came as the long-expectedMessiah(Haggai2:7; John 4:26),
answering all the characters givenHim as such in the Old Testament.
1. He came as Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah9:6; Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah40:9, 10).
His testimony to this effectwas confirmed by exercising the authority of God
—
(1)by forgiving sins (Matthew 9:2);
(2)by healing the sick (Matthew 8:3);
(3)by raising the dead (Mark 5:41; John 11:43),
(4)by calming the storm (Mark 4:39).Butso far were His own from receiving
Him that they accountedHim a "sinner" (John 9:24), a "deceiver" (Matthew
27:63), "mad" and possessedofthe "devil" (John 10:20).

2. He came as the Prophet like unto Moses (Deuteronomy18:15), whom He
resembled in many things. But they rejectedHim because His doctrine
contradictedtheir prejudices, censuredtheir vices, and laid a restraint on
their dominant lusts.
3. He came as High Priestand MediatorbetweenGod and man, typified by
Aaron; but they, depending on being Abraham's seed, on circumcision, the
priesthood, and expiations of their law, receivedHim not.
4. He came as Redeemerand Saviour (Isaiah 59:20;Isaiah42:6, 7), but not
seeing their want of redemption (chap. John 8:33), and having no desire for
spiritual blessings, they receivedHim not.
5. He came as King (Psalm2:6; Jeremiah23:5, 6; Zechariah 9:9), to rescue
them from their enemies, and governthem with goodlaws. But as His
kingdom was not of this world they rejectedHim (John 19:13, 15; John 18:40,
Luke 19:14).
II. IN WHAT SENSE IT IS NECESSARYTHAT WE SHOULD RECEIVE
HIM We receive His name, and therefore receive Him by profession;the
Scriptures, as declaring His will; His ordinances:but do we receive Him in all
the offices and characters He sustains?
1. Acknowledging Him as a Divine Teacher, do we learn and practise His
precepts?
2. Acknowledging that He is Mediator, do we rely on His atonement and
intercession?

3. Confessing Him to be all-sufficient Redeemer, do we glorify Him in our
body and spirit, which are His?
4. Do we in reality as wellas in professionreceive Him as our King? It is
implied in these questions that we received
(1)His doctrine as the rule of our faith, experience, and practice;
(2)His merits as the ground of our confidence;
(3)His Spirit, without which we are none of His;
(4)His example as our pattern;
(5)His exaltation as the ultimate objectof our desire.
III. THE GREAT PRIVILEGE THEY ATTAIN WHO RECEIVE HIM
1. They are unspeakably near to Him as made sons of Godby regeneration
(John 5:1).
2. They are dear to Him above all others. They are favoured with accessto
Him, takenunder His protection, and assuredof a greatreward.

(J. Benson.)
Christ's coming to His own
F. H. Dunwell, B. A.
The Jewishnation was "His own," by choice (Deuteronomy7:6); by purchase
(Exodus 19:4, 5); by covenant (Deuteronomy 26:18);and by kindred
(Hebrews 2:16).
(F. H. Dunwell, B. A.)
Christ rejectedby His own people
J. Parker, D. D.
He came unto His own things, and His own people receivedHim not. He was
as a householdercoming to his own house and being kept out by his own
servants. What is the earth but one greatapartment in the house of God! Its
furniture (its hills and valleys, and rivers, fruits and flowers, and harvest
fields) is Jesus Christ's, for, apart from Him, was not anything made that was
made: yet when He came to His own house His ownershipwas denied by the
servants who had been put into temporary possessionby His own powerand
grace.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
The Advent
Bp. Huntington.
The coming of Christ had —
I. AN OBJECT.

1. Men had lost sight of God. Some had lost it. Others had never had it. All
were destitute of it except a small class ofHebrew believers. Three kinds of sin
had blinded, corrupted, usurped the human soul.
(1)Self-admiration,whichmakes a rebel of the intellect;
(2)Self-will of the conscience;
(3)Self-indulgence of the passions.Curiositywas allthat was left as the highest
aim in science;war, in enterprise;and a sensuous enthusiasmfor the beautiful
in art. Alexandria, Rome, and Athens represented these three ambitions.
2. In losing God, man had losthimself. Faith in God and the dignity of man
went down together. With Divine worship fell human rights and liberties.
Seneca stoodforthe world's idea of learning; Caesar, forits idea of politics;
Corinth, for its idea of pleasure.
3. The object of the Advent, therefore, was to restore to man his God and
Father, and himself.
II. A METHOD. Notby creating a religious capacity, but by quickening men
with trust and love.
1. Notfirst by a book:that would have reachednot one in ten thousand, nor
him in his heart.

2. Notchiefly by oral instructions, which have to be certified to the
understanding before they can inspire faith.
3. Notby a mere creature-image ofDeity, for that would have been only
adding another to the old Pantheonof idolatries.
4. This infinite goodness, this One Spirit of God, must come in a life. Christ
must be the Son of the Father;must touch humanity and enter into it; must
wearits flesh; must lift its load; must partake its experience;must be tempted
with it; must be seen, nay, felt, suffering for it. This will complete the
manifestation. This will be, not an education, not an inspiration, not a human
self-elevation, which neither history nor logic hints at; but a coming of Heaven
to earth; a theophany, or manifesting of God. This is perfect compassion, and
effectualrelief. This gets the sundered souls together. Even stolid and blinded
eyes will behold their Lord. This will move, and melt, and convince of sin, and
arouse to holiness.
III. A MOTIVE. There could be but one (John 3:16).
(Bp. Huntington.)
The Advent of Christ
T. Whitelaw, D. D.
I. THE GREAT ADVENT; OR, THE ARRIVAL OF THE HEIR.
1. The illustrious personage described.(1)The Word of God; implying
personality, intelligence, eternity, divinity.(2) The Creatorof the universe.(3)

The life and light of men; the source of whatevermental, moral, or spiritual
truth ever entered into the soul of man.(4) The heir of Israeland humanity.
He came into His own possessions.
(a)Into the world which by reasonof His creatorshipwas His.
(b)Unto Israel, the specialcreationof His grace, and His peculiar treasure.
2. The manner of His coming pictured. He came(1)Voluntarily. The Baptist
was sent; Christ came.(2)Opportunely. In the fulness of the times; the time
pre-appointed by God; the time pre-eminently adapted for a new religion. The
false faiths had been tried and found wanting. The Mosaic economyhad
served its purpose. The Roman power had provided a means of universal
communication, and Greece a universal language.(3)Graciously. To
communicate the life and the light without which neither Israelnor humanity
could be saved. It would not have been surprising had He come to condemn
rather than to save.(4)Unostentatiously. We might have anticipated an advent
in greatpower and glory.: insteadof that it was in the form of a servant.
II. THE MOURNFUL REJECTION;OR, THE REPUDIATION OF THE
HEIR. Israel's conduct representative of the world's. This rejectionwas —
1. Symbolized at His birth. "No room for Him in the inn." Mangerfor His
cradle.
2. Experiencedthroughout His life. "Despisedand rejectedof men."
Calumniated as a wine-bibber, a blasphemer, an impostor, a confederate of
Beelzebub, and persecutedand scorned.

3. Confirmed by His death. " Away with Him"! "Crucify Him"! Learn(1) The
amazing condescencionofChrist.(2) The supreme claim of Christ.(3) The
wickednessand dangerof the unbelief which rejects Christ.
(T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
Jesus ofNazareth the true promised Messiah
R. South, D. D.
No Scripture has so directly and immoveably stoodin the way of opposers of
Christ's divinity, from Socinius backwards, thanthis chapter. In the text we
have —
I. CHRIST'S COMING INTO THE WORLD.
1. The person who came. The SecondPersonin the Trinity, whose infinity
makes the act of His coming miraculous. But Christ, who delighted to mingle
mercy with miracle, took a finite nature, so that what was impossible to a
Divine nature was done by a Divine Person, and being made man could do all
that a man could do except sin. The endeavour to accountfor this mystery has
been the source ofall heresy, both of hypothesis and denial.
2. The state and condition from which Christ came. From the bosom of the
Father, a state of eternalglory, joy, and Divine communion. How greatthe
humiliation from this to that of a crucified malefactor!And yet it was
perfectly voluntary.

3. To whom He came. Everything was "His own" by creation, possession, and
absolute dominion; but the Jews were His by(1) The fraternal right of
consanguinity; and(2) Churchship, as selectedby Him. That it was Palestine
and not Rome He came to was of His sovereignmercy.
4. The time at which He came. When they were at their worst.(1)Nationally.
Only a remnant left, and that under a foreignyoke;when to be a Jew was a
mark of infamy.(2) Ecclesiastically. When most corrupt, hypocritical,
sceptical. In this we may see
(a)the invariable strength of Christ's love;
(b)the immoveable veracityof God's promise.
II. CHRIST'S ENTERTAINMENT BEING COME. Maywe not expectfor
Him a magnificent reception, a welcome as extraordinary as His kindness,
especiallywhen we considerHis purpose? But His ownreceivedHim not. This
is not strange. The Jews only followedthe common practice of men,
whose.emulationusually preys on those superior to them.
1. The grounds of His rejection.(1)Christ came not as a temporal prince,
which frustrated their carnal hopes. They therefore derided "the carpenter's
son."(2)They supposedthat He set Himself againstthe law of Moses by His
spiritual interpretations, human exceptions, and exposures ofrabbinical
glosses.
2. The unreasonableness ofthese grounds.(1)He came to be not a temporal
prince, but

(a)a blessing to all nations, which is inconsistentwith the idea of a warrior
Messiah. This is the burden of prophecy —
(b)of a low, despised estate (Psalm22;Isaiah53:1.)(2) He came not to destroy
the law but to fulfil it. The ceremoniallaw was fulfilled and passedaway,
therefore, of itself.
3. The reasons which should have induced them to receive Him.(1) All the
marks of the Messiahappearedin Him.(2) His whole behaviour was a
continued actof mercy and charity. Conclusion:The Jews are not the only
persons concernedin this guilt, but also all vicious Christians.
(R. South, D. D.)
The ingratitude of man
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. THE PEOPLE AMONGST WHOM OUR LORD DWELT WERE
GUILTY OF INGRATITUDE TOWARDS HIM.
1. It was an act of distinguished favour our that He should be born among
them; yet they rejectedHim, which was a high-handed actof national
ingratitude.
2. Specialcasesoccurredinvolving still greateringratitude.(1) Among them
were many whom our Lord healed. Strange ingratitude that a man should
owe his eyes to Him and yet refuse to see in Him the Saviour; should owe to
Christ his tongue and be silent in the greatPhysician's praise.(2)He fed

thousands of hungry persons:yet they followedHim, not for Himself, but for
what they could get out of Him.(3) When He actedas a teacherthey tried to
murder Him.
3. The further our Lord went on in life the more ungratefully was He treated.
He forgot Himself and gave Himself away that He might seek and save the
lost; and yet men strove to take awayHis life which was more valuable to
them than to Him.
4. At last that evil generationhad its way with Him and crucified Him.
5. When He rose and tarried for forty days to minister blessing, they first
doubted and then invented an idle tale to accountfor it.
6. In this ingratitude those who were nearestto Him had a share. One denied
Him, and all forsook Him and fled.
II. WE ALSO HAVE BEEN UNGRATEFULTO OUR LORD.
1. Those who are most indebted to Christ's love and grace — believers.(1)
Every sin is ingratitude since Christ suffered for it and came to destroy it.(2)
The setting up of any rival on His throne in the heart, when Christ is
dethroned in favour of wife, child, friend, ambition, pleasure, wealth, is base
ingratitude.(3) The same is true when we lose large measures ofgrace;when
the Holy Spirit admits us into peculiar nearness to God and we act
inconsistently.(4)And so the little service we render and our lukewarm love.
Christ's love is like the ancient furnace which was heated seventimes hotter;
ours like the solitary spark which wonders within itself that it is yet alive.(5)

The rare consecrationofour substance is another case in point. Our gifts to
His poor, His Church, missions, are an insult to Him.(6) How base is our
ingratitude when we neglectHis commands and have to be driven to
obedience.
2. There are those whose ingratitude is even greater.(1)Those who refuse to
trust Him, in spite of gospelannouncements, loving invitations, the evident
manifestation of Christ.(2) Those who oppose Him, jest at His gospel, and
treat His people with indignity. What evil has He ever done you? When has
He given you an ill word or look? It is to His silence that you owe your life.
There is no chivalry in such conduct as this.
3. Those from whom, above all others, such conduct ought not to have
proceeded.(1)Children of pious and saintedparents.(2) The restoredfrom
sickness.
III. WHAT THEN? What comes out of all this?
1. Let us appreciate our Saviour's sufferings.
2. Admire our Saviour's love.
3. Apply the cleansing bloodwhich cantake away the scarletsin of
ingratitude.
4. Learn how to forgive. Christ loved men none the less for their ingratitude.

5. Judge how we ought to live in the light of this subject: devote ourselves
entirely to Him. In conclusion, what will become of the finally ungrateful?
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
His own
Bp. Huntington, D. D.
There are two ways of belonging to another: unwilling and inevitable, or
willing and hearty. You may belong to a nation by birth, and dislike it; to a
family, from dependence or self-interest, and care for no welfare in it; to a
university, and be out of harmony and out of temper with its administration.
But so you cannotbelong to the brotherhood that is of the body of Christ. You
must be in sympathy both with the brotherhood and its head. The legal
ownership you cannot help; it brings no animation and no comfort. By your
creationyou are the Lord's; His to be disposedof, to live or die, to be judged.
The business of your new heart, "receiving Christ," is to change this reluctant
belonging for the closerand grateful loyalty of affection; the legalbond for the
gracious one of faith.
(Bp. Huntington, D. D.)
The coming and rejection of the light
F. D. Maurice, M. A.
The light came into men's hearts as into its proper native dwelling-place. The
Word from whom that light issuedassertedHis right over all the feelings,
instincts, impulses, and determinations of these hearts, as over His own
rightful domestics and subjects. But the light was repelled; the rightful Ruler
was treatedas an intruder by these domestics and subjects. There was
anarchy and rebellion where there should have been subordination and

harmony. A usurper had reduced those into slavery who would not have the
service which is freedom.
(F. D. Maurice, M. A.)
Christ rejected
H. W. Beecher.
His own were those who believed with Him in the Scriptures; the teachers of
Israel, those who had been trained for His reception. The peasants ofGalilee
knew Him and receivedHim when He fed them; for the ox knowethhis
owner, and the ass his master's crib. He was rejectedby those who were the
most rigorously orthodox; by the men who believed that their whole life
should expend itself in maintaining the temple and its worship. The lastdays
of Christ, the illustrious days of His controversy, were spent with the best, the
highest, the most moral of all the people then upon the globe;and they knew
Him not. The poor knew Him, and followedHim; the blind know Him, and
cried out to Him; the dead knew Him, and came to life; but the armour-
bearers of the then regnantfaith — the priests, the teachers — lookedupon
Him with blank faces, and treatedHim as a pretender, a traitor, and slew
Him. Is the Christian spirit any more acceptable to-day? Is the policy of
Christian nations saturated with blood, and bearing every insignia of the cross
imbued with that spirit? Are all pompous churches, with all forms of
superstition connectedwith their worship, and full of symbols of Him who
came not to destroy but to save — are they truly Christian? Listen to the Te
Deum when men knee deep in blood come back with victory on their banners.
See the government of most Christian nations; how degradedhave been the
empires over which they have ruled. See how the Christian nations of Europe
lie over againsteachother, like hungry lions waiting only for an opportunity
to spring! What Christian nation, looking at its past history and present
policy, can be said to have receivedChrist?
(H. W. Beecher.)

Christ still rejected
Bp. Huntington, D. D.
As John writes, there was an advent and a rejection: a bodily advent, a bodily
crucifixion: the image and outer form of the Word that was from the
beginning, the ever-living Emmanuel, the Christ that comes to-day. If He is
rejectedto-day, it is by the pride and fashion and self-indulgence of to-day. It
is our compromising consciences, itis our well-dressedsensuality, it is our
commercialcunning, it is more literary conceit, it is our making merchandise
of men and of men's virtue, our covering up cruelty, and calling it patriotism;
dishonesty, and calling it regular trade; hollowness and mutual flattery, and
calling it goodsociety;prayerless self-idolatry, and calling it a rational
religion — it is these things that prepare and build His cross, and crucify Him
afresh.
(Bp. Huntington, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(10) In the world.—This manifestationin the flesh recalls the pre-incarnate
existence during the whole history of the world, and the creative actitself.
(Comp. John 1:2-3, Note). The two facts are the constantpresence ofthe true
Light, and the creationof the world by Him. The world, then, in its highest
creature man, with spiritual powerfor seeing the true Light, ought to have
recognisedHim. Spirit ought to have felt and knownHis presence. In this
would have been the exercise ofits true power and its highest good. But the
world was sense-bound, and lost its spiritual perception, and “knew Him not.”
This verse brings back againthe thought of John 1:3-5, to prepare for the
deeper gloomwhich follows.

BensonCommentary
John 1:10-11. He was in the world — From the beginning, frequently
appearing, and making known to his servants, the patriarchs and prophets,
the divine will, in dreams and visions, and various other ways: and the world
was made by him — As has just been shown; and the world, nevertheless,
knew him not — Knew not its Makerand Preserver. He came — As the true,
the often-predicted, and long-expectedMessiah;unto his own — Εις τα ιδια,
to his own things, namely, his own land; termed, Immanuel’s land; his own
city, called the holy city; his own temple, mentioned as such by Malachi3:1 :
The Lord whom ye seek shallsuddenly, or unexpectedly, come to his temple:
but, although he answeredall the characters givenof the Messiahin the Old
Testament, οι ιδιοι, his own people, whom he had separatedfrom all the
people upon earth, watchedover, protected, delivered, and singularly
favoured, in a variety of most extraordinary ways, for many ages;received
him not — Becausehe did not countenance and gratify their carnal spirit and
worldly views, by coming in that state of wealth, power, and grandeur in
which they expectedhim to come. He came as the prophet like unto Moses, as
Moses foretoldhe should come, (Deuteronomy 18:18, &c.,)and by his holy
life, his mighty miracles, extreme sufferings, and glorious resurrectionfrom
the dead, proved to a demonstration his divine mission; yet they receivedhim
not, because his doctrine contradictedtheir prejudices, censured their vices,
and laid a restraint upon their lusts. He came as the High-priest of their
profession, and a MediatorbetweenGod and man; but, depending on their
being Abraham’s seed, on the ceremonyof circumcision, on the Aaronical
priesthood and the expiations of their law, and, in general, on their own
righteousness, theyreceivedhim not in these characters. He came as a
Redeemerand Saviour; but not feeling, nor even seeing, their want of the
redemption and salvationwhich are through him, and having no desire of any
such spiritual blessings, they receivedhim not, in any such relations. He came
as the King setupon God’s holy hill of Zion, Psalm 2:6; the righteous branch
raisedunto David, the king that was to reign and prosper, and to execute
justice and judgment in the earth, Jeremiah 23:5-6;Zion’s king, that was to
come to her, just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass,
Zechariah 9:9 : but, as his kingdom was not of this world, not earthly, but

heavenly, not carnal, but spiritual, and they did not desire one of another
world, they would not receive him; declaring openly, We will not have this
man to reign over us.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
1:6-14 John the Baptist came to bear witness concerning Jesus. Nothing more
fully shows the darkness ofmen's minds, than that when the Light had
appeared, there needed a witness to call attention to it. Christ was the true
Light; that greatLight which deserves to be calledso. By his Spirit and grace
he enlightens all that are enlightened to salvation;and those that are not
enlightened by him, perish in darkness. Christwas in the world when he took
our nature upon him, and dwelt among us. The Son of the Highest was here in
this lowerworld. He was in the world, but not of it. He came to save a lost
world, because it was a world of his own making. Yet the world knew him not.
When he comes as a Judge, the world shall know him. Many saythat they are
Christ's own, yet do not receive him, because they will not part with their sins,
nor have him to reign over them. All the children of God are born again. This
new birth is through the word of God as the means, 1Pe 1:23, and by the
Spirit of Godas the Author. By his Divine presence Christ always was in the
world. But now that the fulness of time was come, he was, afteranother
manner, God manifestedin the flesh. But observe the beams of his Divine
glory, which darted through this veil of flesh. Men discovertheir weaknesses
to those most familiar with them, but it was not so with Christ; those most
intimate with him saw most of his glory. Although he was in the form of a
servant, as to outward circumstances, yet, in respectof graces,his form was
like the Son of God His Divine glory appearedin the holiness of his doctrine,
and in his miracles. He was full of grace, fully acceptable to his Father,
therefore qualified to plead for us; and full of truth, fully aware ofthe things
he was to reveal.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
He was in the world - This refers, probably, not to his pre-existence, but to the
fact that he became incarnate;that he dwelt among human beings.

And the world was made by him - This is a repetition of what is said in John
1:3. Not only "men," but all material things, were made by him. These facts
are mentioned here to make what is said immediately after more striking, to
wit, that men did not receive him. The proofs which he furnished that they
ought to receive him were:
1. Those givenwhile he was "in the world" - the miracles that he performed
and his instructions; and,
2. The fact that the "worldwas made by him." It was remarkable that the
world did not know or approve its ownMaker.
The world knew him not - The word "knew" is sometimes usedin the sense of
"approving" or "loving," Psalm1:6; Matthew 7:23. In this sense it may be
used here. The world did not love or approve him, but rejectedhim and put
him to death. Or it may mean that they did not understand or know that he
was the Messiah;for had the Jews knownand believed that he was the
Messiah, they would not have put him to death, 1 Corinthians 2:8; "Had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." Yet they might
have known it, and therefore they were not the less to blame.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
10-13. He was in the world, &c.—The language here is nearly as wonderful as
the thought. Observe its compactsimplicity, its sonorousness—"the world"
resounding in eachof its three members—and the enigmatic form in which it
is couched, startling the reader and setting his ingenuity a-working to solve
the stupendous enigma of Christ ignored in His own world. "The world," in
the first two clauses, plainly means the createdworld, into which He came,
says Joh 1:9; "in it He was," says this verse. By His Incarnation, He became
an inhabitant of it, and bound up with it. Yet it "was made by Him" (Joh 1:3-

5). Here, then, it is merely alluded to, in contrastpartly with His being in it,
but still more with the receptionHe met with from it. "The world that knew
Him not" (1Jo 3:1) is of course the intelligent world of mankind. (See on
[1756]Joh1:11,12). Taking the first two clauses as one statement, we try to
apprehend it by thinking of the infant Christ conceivedin the womb and born
in the arms of His own creature, and of the Man Christ Jesus breathing His
own air, treading His own ground, supported by substances to which He
Himself gave being, and the Creatorof the very men whom He came to save.
But the most vivid commentary on this entire verse will be got by tracing (in
His matchless history) Him of whom it speaks walking amidstall the elements
of nature, the diseasesofmen and death itself, the secrets ofthe human heart,
and "the rulers of the darkness ofthis world" in all their number, subtlety,
and malignity, not only with absolute ease, as their conscious Lord, but, as we
might say, with full consciousness ontheir part of the presence oftheir Maker,
whose will to one and all of them was law. And this is He of whom it is added,
"the world knew Him not!"
Matthew Poole's Commentary
He was in the world; he was in the place calledthe world, and amongst the
men of the world; for so the term world is often taken, John 16:28 2 Peter3:6.
Christ, before he came in the flesh, was in it; filling both the heavens and the
earth, and sustaining it by the word of his power, and manifesting his will to
it, more immediately to Moses and to the prophets, and more mediately by
Moses andby the prophets.
And the world was made by him; and the heavens and the earth, all things
visible and invisible, (as was saidbefore), were made by him.
And the world knew him not; and the men of the world took no notice of him,
did not acknowledgehim, believe in him, nor were subject to him; so the word
knew often signifies, (according to the Hebrew idiom), John 10:14,15,27;not a
bare comprehensionof an objectin the understanding, but suitable affections:

so Matthew 7:23 1Jo 3:1. This is not to be understood of all individual persons
in the world; for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, andDavid, and many particular
persons, did in this sense know him; but the generalityof the world did not.
The heathens did not, (who are sometimes calledthe world, distinctively from
the Jews, 1Jo2:2 1 Corinthians 1:21), and most of the Jews did not, though
some did.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
He was in the world,.... This is to be understood, not of his incarnation; for the
word was denotes past existence in the world, even all the time pastfrom the
creationof the world; and the world intends the world in general, as opposed
to Judea, and the people of the Jews in the next verse;besides, the incarnation
of the word is spokenof in John 1:14 as a new and distinct thing from this:
but of his being in the world, when first made, and since, by his essence, by
which he fills the whole world; and by his power, upholding and preserving it;
and by his providence, ordering and managing all the affairs of it, and
influencing and governing all things in it: he was in it as the light and life of it,
giving natural life and light to creatures in it, and filling it, and them, with
various blessings ofgoodness;and he was in the promise and type before, as
well as after the Jews were distinguishedfrom other nations, as his peculiar
people; and he was frequently visible in the world, in an human form, before
his incarnation, as in Eden's garden to our first parents, to Abraham, Jacob,
Manoah, and his wife, and others,
And the world was made by him: so Philo the Jew often ascribes the making
of the world to the Logos, orword, as before observedon John 1:3 and this
regards the whole universe, and all createdbeings in it, and therefore cannot
design the new creation:besides, if all men in the world were anew createdby
Christ, they would know him; for a considerable branch of the new creation
lies in knowledge;whereas, in the very next clause, it is asserted, that the
world knew him not; and they would also love him, and obey him, which the
generality of the world do not; they would appear to be in him, and so not be
condemned by him, as multitudes will. To understand this of the old creation,
best suits the context, and proves the deity of Christ, and his pre-existence, as
the word, and Son of God, to his incarnation,

And the world knew him not; that is, the inhabitants of the world knew him
not as their Creator:nor did they acknowledgethe mercies they receivedfrom
him; nor did they worship, serve, and obey him, or love and fear him; nor did
they, the greaterpart of them, know him as the Messiah, Mediator, Saviour,
and Redeemer. There was, atfirst, a generalknowledgeofChrist throughout
the world among all the sons of Adam, after the first promise of him, and
which, for a while, continued; but this, in process oftime, being neglectedand
slighted, it was forgot, and utterly lost, as to the greaterpart of mankind; for
the Gentiles, for many hundreds of years, as they knew not the true God, so
they were without Christ, without any notion of the Messiah;and this their
ignorance, as it was first their sin, became their punishment.
Geneva Study Bible
{q} He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not.
(q) The person of the Word was made manifest even at that time when the
world was made.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
John 1:10. What here follows is linked on to the preceding by ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν,
following upon εἰς τ. κόσμ. This is a fuller definition of the emphatic ἦν of
John 1:9 : “It was in the world”, viz. in the person of Jesus, whenJohn was
bearing witness. There is no mention here of its continual presence in
humanity (B. Crusius, Lange), nor of the “lumière innée” (Godet) of every
man; see on John 1:5. The repetition of κόσμος three times, where, on the last
occasion, the word has the narrowersense of the world of mankind, gives
prominence to the mournful antithesis; Buttm. neut. Gr. p. 341 [E. T. p. 398].

ἦν] not pluperfect (“It had been alreadyalways in the world, but was not
recognisedby it”), as Herder, Tholuck, Olshausen, and Klee maintain, but
like ἦν in John 1:9.
καὶ ὁ κόσμος διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγέν.] Further preparation, by way of climax, for the
antithesis with reference to John 1:3. If the Light was in the world, and the
world was made by it, the latter could and ought all the more to have
recognisedthe former: it could, because it needed only not to close the inner
eye againstthe Light, and to follow the impulse of its original necessarymoral
affinity with the creative Light; it ought, because the Light, shining within the
world, and having even given existence to the world, could demand that
recognition, the non-bestowalof which was ingratitude, originating in
culpable delusion and moral obduracy. Comp. Romans 1:19 ff. We need not
attachto the καί, which is simply conjunctive, either the significationalthough
(Kuinoel, Schott), nor the force of the relative (which was made by it, Bleek).
αὐτόν]the Logos, whichis identified with the Light, which is being spokenof
as its possessor, according to John 1:4 ff.; αὐτοῦ was still neuter, but the
antithesis passes overinto the masculine, because the objectwhich was not
recognisedwas this very personalmanifestation of the Logos.
With regard to the lastκαί, observe:“cum vi pronuntiandum est, ut saepe in
sententiis oppositionem continentibus, ubi frustra fuere qui καίτοι
requirerent,” Stallbaum, ad Plat. Apol. p. 29 B. Comp. Hartung, Partikell. p.
147. Very often in John.
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 1:10. ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ … οὐκ ἔγνω. John 1:10-11 briefly summarise what
happened when the Logos, the Light, came into the world. John has said:
“The Light was coming into the world”; take now a further step, ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ

ἦν, and let us see whathappened. Primarily rejection. The simplicity of the
statement, the thrice repeatedκόσμος, and the connecting of the clauses by a
mere καί, deepens the pathos. The Logos is the subject, as is shownby both
the secondand the third clause.
Westcottthinks that the action of the Light which has been comprehensively
viewed in John 1:9 is in John 1:10-11 divided into two parts. “The first part
(John 1:10) gathers up the facts and issues of the manifestation of the Light as
immanent. The secondpart (John 1:11) contains an accountof the special
personalmanifestation of the Light to a chosenrace.” Thatis possible;only
the obvious advance from the ἐρχόμενονof John 1:9 to the ἦν of John 1:10 is
thus obscured. Certainly Westcottgoes too farwhen he says:“It is impossible
to refer these words simply to the historical presence ofthe Word in Jesus as
witnessedto by the Baptist”.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
10. and the world] Note three points; (1) the close connexionobtained by
repetition, as in John 1:4-5; (2) the tragic tone, as in John 1:5; (3) the climax.
‘He was in the world’ (therefore the world should have known Him); ‘and the
world was His own creature’(therefore still more it should have known Him);
‘and (yet) the world knew Him not.’ ‘And’ = ‘and yet’ is very frequent in S.
John; but it is best not to put in the ‘yet;’ the simple ‘and’ is more forcible.
Comp. John 1:5; John 1:11.
Note that ‘the world’ has not the same meaning in John 1:9-10. Throughout
N.T. it is most important to distinguish the various meanings of ‘the world.’ It
means (1) ‘the universe;’ Romans 1:20 : (2) ‘the earth;’ John 1:9; Matthew
4:8 : (3) ‘the inhabitants of the earth;’ John 1:29, John 4:42 : (4) ‘those
outside the Church,’ alienatedfrom God; John 12:31, John 14:17, and
frequently. In this verse the meaning slips from (2) to (4).

knew him not] Did not acquire knowledge ofits Creator;did not recognise
and acknowledgeHim. Comp. Acts 19:15.
Bengel's Gnomen
John 1:10. Ἐν τῷ κόσμῷ ἦν, He was in the world) The evangelistadds this,
lest any one should so understand the expression, coming into the world, as if
the Light had not been previously in the world at all. Three times in this verse
world is repeated; three times it is said of the human race, as in the previous
verse, but not to the exclusionof the other creatures, atleastin the first
place.—δἰ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, was made by Him) αὐτοῦ, masculine, as presently
after αὐτόν. It is referred to the sense,[16]though Φῶς is neuter. Artemonius,
p. 439, 450, etc., maintains that there is meant here the dissolution of all
things, which was now about to have takenplace, at the time when Christ
suffered, had it not been turned aside [removed] by His ownsacrifice, and for
that purpose he quotes the passage,Hebrews 9:26, “Now once in the end of
the world hath He appeared to put awaysin by the sacrifice of Himself.” But
in that passageἩ ΣΥΝΤΈΛΕΙΑΤῶΝ ΑἸΏΝΩΝ does not mean the putting
off of the end of the world on [subjectto] a condition, but categorically
denotes the last times of the world, as opposedto the many ages thathave
elapsedsince the foundation of the world. If such an interpretation [as
Artemonius’] holds good, Israeltoo might be said to be made by Moses;
inasmuch as he averted its dissolution. With the same purpose in view,
Artemonius, p. 455, urges the order of time in the clauses ofthis verse, but
without reason. There is rather in it a gradation, wherein the world is urged
to the acknowledgmentof the Light by that [first] reasonHe was in the world,
but more so by this [secondreason]and the world was made by Him; or in
other words, began to be.—καὶ, and) and yet.—ὁ κόσμος, the world) The
name world in the sacredwritings implies THE IMPIOUS SILLINESS
[futilitatem, emptiness]OF THE HUMAN RACE. Camer. note in John 17.
[16] By the figure πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον.—E.and T.
Pulpit Commentary

Verses 10, 11. -
(c) The twofold effect of the pre-Incarnation activity in the electednation and
individuals. The highest expressionof this truth was seenin the unique
"coming" of which the evangelisthad been the spectatorand witness;but the
words cannot be limited to it - they stretch back to the beginning of the
creationof the world and on to the final consummation. They explain or
divide the solemn theme of the previous announcement into two related proofs
of the fact that the Light which illumines every man shineth in darkness, and
that the darkness apprehendeth it not. Verse 10. - Of him who was evermore
coming into the world, it is said, In the world he was, and the world was made
(came into being) through him, and the world recognizedhim not. The κόσμος
is a term speciallyused by St. John to denote the ordered whole of the
universe, viewedapart from God (see Introduction). Sometimes this is
emphasized by the pronoun, "This world," when it is contrastedwith the
higher and heavenly "order" to which the Lord's personality belonged, both
before and after this manifestation in the flesh. From being thus the scene of
ordered existence apartfrom God, it rapidly moves into the organized
resistance to the will of God, and therefore it often denotes humanity taken as
a whole apart from God and grace. It may be the object of the Divine love and
compassion(John3:16), while the redemption and deliverance of the world
from sin is the greatend of the ministry and work of Jesus (ver. 29); but
throughout this gospel"the world" is the synonym of the adverse powerand
order of humanity, until it is illumined, regenerated, by the Spirit of God. The
world here signifies humanity and its dwelling place, consideredapart from
the changes wroughtin any part of it by grace. The three assertions
concerning the world drop the imagery of light and life, and by their emphatic
concatenation, withoutthe assistance ofa Greek particle, tell the tragic story
of human departure from God. Thus only can the mystery of the previous
verses be explained. At the very forefront of the argument of the Gospelis put
a statementwhich concedesthe strange perplexity of the rejectionof the
incarnate Logos. Notonly does the entire narrative illustrate the awful fact,
strange and inconceivable as suchan idea appears when baldly stated, but the
author generalizes the antipathy betweenthe Logos and the world into a more

comprehensive, damning, and yet undeniable, proposition. From the
beginning, though the world came into being through the Logos, thoughhe
was in the world, in every atom of matter, in every vibration of force, in every
energy of life, yet the world, notwithstanding all its power of recognizing the
fact, yet the world, as concentratedin an antagonistic humanity, did not come
to know him fully (ἔγνω). This is the lessonwe learn from all the melancholy
and tragic perversions of his glorious perfections which every heathenism and
every cultus, and even every philosophy, has perpetrated. St. Paul says
preciselythe same thing: "The world by wisdom knew not God" (see also
Romans 1:19-22, which might be takenas an inspired commentary on the
whole passage).And the awful statementis still, with reference to the majority
of men, true, that "the world knoweth not God, neither the Father, nor the
Word, nor the Holy Ghost."
Vincent's Word Studies
He was in the world
Not merely at His advent, but before His incarnation no less than after it. See
on John 1:4, John 1:5.
Was made (ἐγένετο)
Came into being. See on John 1:3.
By Him. Or through Him (διά)
See on John 1:3.
Knew (ἔγνω)

Recognized. ThoughHe was in the world and was its Creator, yet the world
did not recognize him. This is the relation of ideas in these three clauses,but
John expresses this relation after the Hebrew manner, by simply putting the
three side by side, and connecting them by καὶ, and. This constructionis
characteristic ofJohn. Compare John 8:20, where the point of the passage is,
that though Jesus was teaching publicly, where He might easilyhave been
seized, yet no man attempted his seizure. This is expressedby two parallel
clauses with the simple copulative. "These words spake Jesus,"etc., "andno
man laid hands on Him."
Him (αὐτὸν)
The preceding him (αὐτοῦ) is, in itself, ambiguous as to gender. So far as its
form is concerned, it might be neuter, in which case it would refer to the light,
"the Word regarded as a luminous principle," as it, in John 1:5. But αὐτὸνis
masculine, Him, so that the Word now appears as a person. This determines
the genderof the preceding αὐτοῦ.
On the enlightened and unenlightened nature, compare the allegoryin Plato's
"Republic," at the beginning of Book 7, where he pictures men confined from
childhood in an underground den, chained so that they can only see before
them, and with no light save from a fire behind them. They mistake shadows
for substance, andechoes for voices. Whenthey are liberated and compelled
to look at the light, either of the fire or of the sun, their unaccustomedeyes are
pained, and they imagine that the shadows which they formerly saw are truer
than the realobjects which are now shownthem. Finally, they will be able to
see the sun, and will recognize him as the giver of the seasons andyears, and
the guardian of all that is in the visible world. "When the eye of the soulis
turned round, the whole soul must be turned round from the world of

becoming into that of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or, in other
words, of the good."
Notice also the appropriateness ofthe two verbs joined with the neuter and
the masculine pronouns. In John 1:5, with it, the Word, as a principle of light,
κατέλαβεν, apprehended. Here, with Him, the Word, as a person, ἔγνω,
recognized.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the
world did not know Him: en to kosmo en (3SIAI) kai o kosmos di autou
egeneto (3SAMI)kai o kosmos autonouk egno (3SAAI) (NASB: Lockman)
was in: John 1:18 Jn 5:17 Ge 11:6-9 Ge 16:13 Ge 17:1 Ge 18:33 Ex 3:4-6 Acts
14:17 Acts 17:24-27 Heb 1:3
world was made: John 1:3 Jer 10:11,12 Heb1:2 Heb 11:3
know Him: John 1:5 Jn 17:25 Mt 11:27 1Co 1:21 1Cor2:8 1Jn 3:1
John 1:10 Benefit of Receiving Christ
John 1:10 Multiple Older Commentaries on this verse

Barclay- He was in the world, and, although the world was made by him, the
world did not recognize him.
KJV John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the
world knew him not.
NET John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was createdby him, but
the world did not recognize him.
ASV John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him,
and the world knew him not.
BBE John 1:10 He was in the world, the world which came into being through
him, but the world had no knowledge ofhim.
CJB John 1:10 He was in the world- the world came to be through him- yet
the world did not know him.
CSB John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was createdthrough Him,
yet the world did not recognize Him.
DBY John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world had its being through him,
and the world knew him not.
ESV John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet
the world did not know him.

NAS John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him,
and the world did not know Him.
NIV John 1:10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through
him, the world did not recognize him.
NLT John 1:10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn't
recognize him.
GWN John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world came into existence
through him. Yet, the world didn't recognize him.
NAB John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
NJB John 1:10 He was in the world that had come into being through him,
and the world did not recognise him.
NKJ John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him,
and the world did not know Him.
NRS John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through
him; yet the world did not know him.

RSV John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him,
yet the world knew him not.
TNT John 1:10 He was in the worlde and the worlde was made by him: and
yet the worlde knewe him not.
WEB John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the
world knew him not.
YLT John 1:10 in the world he was, and the world through him was made,
and the world did not know him:
THE TRAGIC IRONY: THE CREATOR
UNKNOWN & REJECTEDBYHIS CREATION
The supreme tragedy and utter irony was (and still is!) that the creatures
createdby Jesus rubbed shoulders with Him, yet were blind to His identity as
the true Light! And as an old song goes..."andthe beat goes onand on and
on!" The world was in darkness and did not know the light but instead
shunned the light. Men still run from the true Light (Jn 3:19-20)but will one
day canno longerrun and hide but will be forced to bow their knee before the
true Light (Php 2:10)!
Spurgeon- This is a sad verse. He was a strangerin his own house. He was
unknown amidst his ownhandiwork. Men whom he had made, made nothing
of him.

Vincent on He was in the world - He was in the world. Notmerely at His
advent, but before His incarnation no less than after it.
Kenneth Gangelsummarizes this passage - With the device of repetition, John
taught incarnation, creation, and rejectionall in one verse. (Holman New
TestamentCommentary) (Bolding added)
He was in the world - The verb was (ēn of the verb eimi) is in the imperfect
tense which depicts continual existence, a continuous state, not a completed
past. "The Word continually was" is the idea. This truth provides definitive
proof of Christ’s deity, for only God is eternal. As Phillips says "It suggests
the idea of "absolute, supra-temporalexistence." Orstatedanother way, the
verb ēn in the imperfect tense "denotes neither a completedstate nor a
coming into being. It is appropriate to eternal, unchanging being.
Morris - John is affirming that the Word existed before creation, which makes
it clearthat the Word was not created.
As Phillips says John "does not refer to a start, but to an infinite state!"
Vincent adds that ēn (from eimi) in imperfect tense signifies that Jesus was in
the world "Notmerely at His advent, but before His incarnation no less than
after it."
John Phillips commenting on John's use of the imperfect tense adds that
"This is not nearly so arresting in English as it is in the original. In eachcase
it sets before the readernot something past, or present, or future, but
something ongoing. It refers to a mode of existence that transcends time. Time

is a device to help finite beings relate to their mode of existence. The verb
John uses takes us into the sphere of the timeless. In other words, the one
John calls "the Word" belongs to a realm where time does not matter. The
word did not have a beginning. The word will never have an ending. The word
belongs to eternity....But says John, when we think of Jesus, thatis where we
must begin. We must go back to the dateless past, to a time before time. We
must think of Jesus as neverhaving begun at all. He is eternally God."
(Exploring the Gospelof John)
HE MADE
THE WORLD
The world was made through Him - John repeats the truth of John 1:3 (note)
that Jesus is Creator - "All things came into being by Him, and apart from
Him nothing came into being that has come into being." Jesus is the One
through Whom the world (physical) was created, but tragicallythe One the
world (humanity) did not know (as Savior, Redeemer, Lord).
Natural (General)Revelationis a perfect "commentary" on this passage!The
Creator's creationbears cleartestimony to the Creator!ReadRomans 1:18-
22 so that all men are without excuse!And yet God did not only give general
revelation, but in this passagewe see He, the Creator, entered the very
creationHe had createdto give us "special" revelationin His incarnation.
Now we are really without excuse!!!
RelatedResource -Can a person be savedthrough generalor natural
revelation?
Other passagesaffirm the role of Jesus in Creation...

Heb 11:3-note By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the
word of God, so that what is seenwas not made out of things which are
visible.
Col 1:16-note Col 1:17-note - For by Him all things were created, both in the
heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities–allthings have been createdby Him and for Him. And
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together(Beloved, this
includes your life, even when it seems to be falling apart! The Greek word
"all" means ALL without exception!Run to the One Who createdthe world
when your world seems to be falling apart!).
F B Meyer comments on John's repetition of the word world - Mark this
touching repetition of the world; we shall often meet with it again. It is used
repeatedly, as when a bereavedparent, brooding over the sin or misfortune of
some beloved child, repeats his name again and again. "O my son Absalom!
my son, my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!"
Was made (1096)(ginomai)means to cause to be (cp our English word -
"gen"-erate)or to become, to come into existence, to be formed. Ginomai is in
the aoristtense (punctiliar) which describes an instantaneous intervention,
decisive and at a moment or point in time. In other words ginomai in this
context refers to a historical time in the past in which Jesus causedallthings
to exist. Indeed, He even createdthe Cradle He lay in at His birth and the
Cross He was nailed to at His death! Hallelujah! What a Savior! (Hallelujah!
What a Savior) (Hallelujah What A Savior - Austin Stone)
In Jeremiah Jehovahtells his weeping prophet "Thus you shall say to them
(rebellious, idol worshipping Judah), “The gods that did not make the heavens

and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” It is
He who made the earth by His power, Who establishedthe world by His
wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretchedout the heavens." (Jer
10:11,12)Thus Jehovahspeaks ofthe utter folly of following false gods, and
the tragedyof rejecting the true God, the Creator, Sustainerand Redeemerof
everything!
Harris adds that "kosmos in John’s Gospelcan be used to denote the world of
humanity: Jn 1:10, 29;6:33, 51;12:19; 14:17, 19;16:20; 17:21. An example of
this usage (and another instance of hyperbole) is Jn 12:19, where the
Pharisees say, “Look,the world has gone after him.” Particularly interesting
is Jn 1:10, where kosmos occurs three times: the first and secondreferto the
createdorder (“he was in the world, and the world was createdthrough
him”), but the third instance (“the world did not know [i.e., recognize]him”)
must refer to the world of humanity, since cognitionis involved. (An Out-of-
this-World Experience A Look at Kosmos in the Johannine Literature)
W E Vine on in the world...worldmade through Him...world did not know
Him - The word kosmos, world, had various meanings in the NT. Besides
signifying an ornament (1Pe 3:3) and the ordered universe (Ro 1:20), and the
inhabitants of the earth (Jn 1:29; 4:42), it means the earth, as in the second
statementin this verse, and the world of men alienatedfrom God, as in the
last statement. They ought to have knownHim.
Steven Cole explains that world (kosmos)"is a keyconceptin John. He uses it
78 times, often with reference to the evil system that is under Satan, “the ruler
of this world” (Jn 12:31; 14:30;16:11). It is hostile both toward Jesus and His
followers (Jn 7:7; 15:18; 16:20). (John 1:6-13 God’s Witness, Your Verdict)

John Heading on kosmos -usually the word refers to the world of men, and
only occasionallyto the physical creation. In the expressions "in the world"
and "the world was made by him", no doubt there is an element of the
physical, but after that the world of men is implied, "the world knew him
not". The Lord stoodin complete contrastto this world of men, "ye are of this
world; I am not of this world" (Jn 8:23). This world of men had no knowledge
naturally of this One in their midst; faith in the messagesofthe various
witnesses sentby Godwas necessaryfor any man to know Him. Their
ignorance was demonstrated, for example, by the names that they applied to
Him (Matt 16:14). Even the religious leaders knew no better, for they knew
not their own OT Scriptures that spoke ofHim. (What the Bible teaches)
Hendriksen on kosmos - Here (Jn 1:10, 11) it indicates the realm of mankind
which, though createdby the Word, became alienatedfrom the life of God.
That kosmos does nothere refer to birds and trees is evident from the clause:
but the world did not acknowledge him. (New TestamentCommentary
Exposition of the GospelAccording to John)
World (2889)(kosmos relatedto the verb kosmeo = to order or adorn, to put in
order [Mt 25:7 = "trimmed"], to adorn literally [1Ti2:9], to adorn
figuratively [Titus 2:9-note]) means essentiallysomething that is well-
arranged, that which has order or something arrangedharmoniously, an
ornament, an adornment (1Pe 3:3)
Kosmos refers to an ordered systemor a systemwhere order prevails.
Kosmos/kosmeo give us our English words cosmos (the ordered universe),
cosmopolitan(literally a citizen of the world!) and cosmetics(those things we
put on in order to bring order out of "chaos"!) Englishterms. A matter of
"cosmic" significance,is something which is important for the whole world.
When one speaks ofa "cosmopolitan"city, it means a city which has citizens
from many parts of the world. The Bible on the other hand uses kosmos to

describe the original condition of the universe as one of perfection ("it was
very good" Ge 1:31, not very chaotic!In this verse John uses kosmos to
describe the world, i.e. the createduniverse (cf Acts 17:24, Ro 4:13, Jn 1:10,
1Jn 3:17, 4:17), the sum total of everything here and now, the orderly
universe. It is notable that the future redeemedworld is never calledkosmos.
Gary Burge on kosmos in John - In some casesit bears a positive connotation
(e.g., Jn 3:16: "Godso loves the world"). Other times it is neutral (e.g., 8:26,
where Jesus says, "WhatI have heard from him [God] I tell the world"). But
for the most part, references to kosmos are decidedlynegative. The world is
not the createdorder of things; it is not the natural environment per se. It is
the sphere of creationthat lives in rebellion (Jn 1:10; 7:7; 14:17, 22, 27, 30;
15:18-19;16:8, 20, 33; 17:6, 9, 14, 25). Thus when we read about Jesus'
appearance in the world, God's love for the world (Jn 3:16), or Jesus'
salvationof the world (Jn 4:42), such passagesare not ringing endorsements
of the world, but testimonies to the characterof God and his love. (NIV
Application Commentary)
MacArthur - John gives it severalshades of meaning: 1) the physical created
universe (v. 9; cf. v. 3; 21:24, 25); 2) humanity in general(3:16; 6:33, 51;
12:19); and 3) the invisible spiritual system of evil dominated by Satanand all
that it offers in opposition to God, His Word, and His people (3:19; 4:42; 7:7;
14:17, 22, 27, 30;15:18, 19; 16:8, 20, 33; 17:6, 9, 14; cf. 1Co 1:21; 2Pe 1:4; 1Jn
5:19). The latter conceptis the significant new use that the term acquires in
the NT and that predominates in John. Thus, in the majority of times that
John uses the word, it has decidedly negative overtones. (The MacArthur
Study Bible)
Kosmos - 186xin 151vwith the majority of uses of kosmos by the apostle John
- John 1:9-10, 29; 3:16-17, 19;4:42; 6:14, 33, 51; 7:4, 7; 8:12, 23, 26; 9:5, 39;
10:36;11:9, 27; 12:19, 25, 31, 46-47;13:1; 14:17, 19, 22, 27, 30-31;15:18-19;

16:8, 11, 20-21, 28, 33;17:5-6, 9, 11, 13-15, 18, 21, 23-25;18:20, 36-37;21:25;
1Jn 2:2, 15-17;3:1, 13, 17;4:1, 3-5, 9, 14, 17; 5:4-5, 19;2 John 1:7; Rev 11:15;
13:8; 17:8
Jesus saidto those Jews most of whom did not know Him - "And He was
saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world,
I am not of this world." (John 8:23)
John 3:19-20 "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world,
and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.
For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest
his deeds should be exposed.
THE WORLD DID NOT
KNOW HIM
Did not know - Did not getto know Him. Did not recognize Him for Who He
really was. Forexample, Matthew records " coming to His home town He
beganteaching them in their synagogue, so thatthey became astonished, and
said, “Where did this man getthis wisdom, and these miraculous powers? Is
not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother calledMary, and His brothers,
James and Josephand Simon and Judas?" (Mt 13:54-55)So even in His
hometown they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah!
Morris - “The world’s characteristicreactionto the Word is one of
indifference.”

John explains at leastin large part why the world did not know the Word
Who came into the World He created...
And this is the judgment, that the Light is come (perfect tense = speaks of
having arrived at a point in time with enduring or permanent impact) into the
world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for (explains how
one candiscern their love of darkness)their deeds were evil. For everyone
who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lesthis deeds
should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his
deeds may be manifestedas having been wrought in God.” (Jn 3:19-21)
Boice - Jesus was the Light of the world. When he came into the world his
light shone upon men’s darkness and revealedthe darkness forwhat it was.
Men hated him for it. Thus, they would not acknowledgehim to be God’s Son,
the Lord of glory....Iremember how shockedand astonishedI was at my
discoveryof the moral depravity of the Roman world of Christ’s day the first
time I visited the remains of the ancient Romancity of Pompeii. Pompeii was
buried by an eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Today it has been uncovered,
and a personcan therefore visit the city and come away with the feeling that
he has almost seenlife as it was during the first century. I remember my visit,
and I remember my shock atdiscovering the visual record in Pompeii of the
city’s moral and sexual depravity. But it is the same today. The point of
John’s statementis that men and womenare so in love with their sins that
they do not want anyone to dissuade them from them. (Gospelof John, James
MontgomeryBoice)
Paul gives another reasonthe world did not know Him...
And even if our gospelis veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4in
whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that

they might not see the light of the gospelofthe glory of Christ, who is the
image of God. (2Cor 4:3-4)
Spurgeon- Oh, what terrible estrangementsin has causedbetweenGod and
man! What dreadful ignorance sin has createdin the human mind! The world
was made by Christ, yet “the world knew him not.”
Paul has a similar thought - For since in the wisdom of God the world through
its wisdom did not come to know (ginosko)God, God was well-pleased
through the foolishness ofthe message preachedto save those who believe.
(1Cor1:21)
Steven Cole on did not know Him - John heightens the irony here by noting
again(as in Jn 1:3) that Jesus made the world and yet, “the world did not
know Him.” Knowing Jesus (ornot knowing Him) is another major theme in
John. When the Samaritans believe in Jesus through the witness of the woman
at the well, they say to her (Jn 4:42), “It is no longer because ofwhat you said
that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know (not ginosko but
eido = a supernaturally given knowledge)that this One is indeed the Savior of
the world.” In like fashion, Peter testifies (Jn 6:69), “We have believed and
have come to know (ginosko in the perfecttense = speaks ofhaving arrived
come to know at a point in time permanent effect - they still know)that You
are the Holy One of God.” But in Jn 8:19, Jesus says to the hostile Jews, “You
know (eido) neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know
(eido) My Father also.” Whydidn’t the world know its Creatorand Savior?
One reasonis that it is spiritually blind (Jn 9:39-41;2Cor. 4:4). Another
reasonis that they love their sin (“darkness,”Jn3:19-21). In many cases,the
cause is just indifference. People are immersed in their own things and don’t
have the time or desire to know Jesus in a personal, saving way. (John 1:6-13
God’s Witness, Your Verdict)

Trapp says "This little world knew not Christ, for God had hid Him under the
carpenter's Son; His glory was inward, His kingdom came not by
observation."
Edwin Blum says that "The failure to recognize (egnō, “know”)Him was not
because God’s nature was somehow “hidden” in people, as some suggest.
Rather, it is because ofhuman ignorance and blindness, causedby sin (John
12:37). (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
Gerald Borcherton did not know Him - The use of ouk egnō (“did not know”;
the NIV has the less acceptable“did not recognize”)introduces into the
Prologue anotherof the greatthemes of the Gospeland encapsulates the
seriousnessofthe human dilemma. WesternChristians generallyhave lived
with the conceptof “knowing” as primarily related to the sphere of
intellectual information (i.e., head knowledge). But they need to recognize that
such a definition is a far cry from the Johannine meaning of “knowing.”
Knowing is a relational idea in this Gospel. This may be illustrated from Gen
4:1, where it states (literally) that Adam “knew” his wife, and that kind of
knowledge resultedin children. That knowledge obviouslywas not primarily
intellectual! Accordingly, knowing the Logos in this Gospelis more than
knowing facts about the Logos
Know (1097)(ginosko)means to acquire information through some modality,
as through sense perception(hearing). Howeverginosko involves experiential
knowledge, notmerely the accumulation of known facts. Knowledge possessed
through the intellectualprocess oflearning is one thing. Knowledge gained by
experience, by an active relationship betweenthe one who knows and the
person or thing known, is far superior to the former. Ginosko describes the
latter quality of knowledge and is what every Christ followershould desire as
their personal, permanent possessionregarding the Personof Christ (e.g., see
ginosko in Jn 8:32, Jn 17:3, Php 3:10). By extension, ginosko was usedof the

intimate relationship betweenhusband and wife (Mt 1:25 = says Joseph
"knew her not" means he did not have intercourse with Mary until after the
birth of Jesus)and betweenGod and His people (Jn 17:3). Statedanother way
ginosko frequently implies an active relation betweenthe one who knows and
the personknown.
Hendriksen explains what John means by using ginosko in this passage -As is
clearfrom Mt. 7:23 the verb ginosko means not only to know, to come to
know, to recognize, to perceive, to understand, but also to acknowledgeas
one’s own. So also here: the factthat more than mere intellectual recognition
is intended is evident also from the parallelism in Jn 1:5 and Jn 1:11. (New
TestamentCommentary Exposition of the GospelAccording to John)
W E Vine writes that "In the NT ginosko frequently indicates a relation
betweenthe person“knowing” and the object known; in this respect, whatis
“known” is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the
establishment of the relationship, e.g., especiallyofGod’s “knowledge,”1Cor
8:3, “if any man love God, the same is knownof Him.""
Charles Swindoll adds that ginosko "refers to intelligent comprehensionwith
an emphasis on the process oractof knowing. Throughout John’s literature,
“knowing” and “obeying” are inseparable (as they are in Old Testament
literature). In the Upper Room, Jesus placedgreatemphasis on His followers
knowing the mind of God so they might become integralto His redemptive
plan. The disciples struggledwith lack of understanding until they received
the Holy Spirit. (Insights on John)
Ginosko is used 57x in 51v in John's Gospel(222 totaluses in the NT - so John
uses about 22%) - John 1:10, 48; 2:24-25;3:10; 4:1, 53; 5:6, 42;6:15, 69;7:17,
26-27, 49, 51;8:27-28, 32, 43, 52, 55; 10:6, 14-15 (2x in eachverse), Jn 10:27,

38 (2x), Jn 11:57; 12:9, 16; 13:7, 12, 28, 35; 14:7 (3x), Jn 14:9, 17 (2x), Jn
14:20, 31;15:18; 16:3, 19;17:3, 7-8, 23, 25 (3x), Jn 19:4; 21:17
In His high priestly prayer Jesus describes the knowledge the world did not
possessbut which He came to offer - "And this is eternallife, that they may
know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christwhom Thou hast sent." (Jn
17:3)
Steven Cole - These verses show the tragedy of sin and the terrible wickedness
of the human heart. Sin is utterly irrational. If God loves sinners enough to
send His own Sonto pay for their sin and offer them eternal life as a free gift,
it’s insane for them to scream, “Getout of here! Turn off that light! I love my
sin so much that I’m willing to face eternal judgment rather than to receive
the right to become God’s child!” (John 1:6-13 God’s Witness, Your Verdict)
><>><>><>
Jon Courson- When the Bulls and the Blazers play basketball, people in the
stands go crazy. They lift their hands in the air victoriously, clap exuberantly,
and cheerwildly. They stand, yell, and stomp their feet. And they won't care
who sees them. The same thing happens at rock concerts and hockeygames,
beauty pageants and rodeos. Humanity creatively and radically worships with
abandon. But when it comes to worshiping Jesus, arms fold, voices hush, and
sitting becomes the position of choice. Our culture finds it very easyto
worship sports, movie, or rock stars—but has greatdifficulty worshiping
Jesus. (JonCourson's Application Commentary
><>><>><>

While the World Sleeps - In the vivid imagination of many young children,
high above the decorations and colorful holiday lights, a jolly man in a red
suit is pulled through the sky by a team of flying reindeer. Youngsters go to
bed in fitful anticipation of the next morning. It’s Christmas Eve!
Yet today my mind wanders across time and space to a very different scene.
The animals are restless. A mule brays. A cow bumps the stable door. An
anxious husband stops pacing the makeshift delivery room floor to console his
love. Suddenly a newborn baby sputters with His first breath. With a spirited
cry He announces His own arrival. The long-awaitedSon has come!
On Christmas morning this year, children will leapout of bed and rush
downstairs. Paperand ribbon will soonthreaten to push everyone out of the
room. Will we let it push out the Son of God too?
In all the excitement of the holiday, let’s draw attention to the Savior. Like
John the Baptist, let’s point others to the One who came into the world but
was not recognizedby it (Jn. 1:6-10). May the greetings we speak, the cards
we send, the presents we give be motivated by our love for Jesus. After all, He
is the realreasonfor the season!
The world drowns the carolwith its sleighbells—
Giftwraps the manger—shoves it out of sight;
Yet though the darkness deepens while the din swells,
The Star of Bethlehem still shines as bright.
—Gustafson

The best gift in the world was wrapped in a manger.
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Surprise! - A writer for The WashingtonPostconducted an experiment to test
people’s perception. He askeda famous violinist to perform incognito at a
train station in the nation’s capitalone January morning. Thousands of
people walkedby as he played, but only a few stopped to listen. After 45
minutes, just $32 had been dropped into the virtuoso’s open violin case. Two
days earlier, this man—Joshua Bell—hadused the same $3.5 million
Stradivarius for a sold-out concertwhere people paid $100 a seatto hear him
perform.
The idea of a person not being recognizedfor his greatness isn’tnew. It
happened to Jesus. “He was in the world,” John said, “. . . and the world did
not know Him” (John 1:10). Why did people who had been expecting the
Messiahgive Jesus sucha cold reception? One reasonis that they were
surprised. Just as people today don’t expect famous musicians to play in
railway stations, the people in Jesus’day didn’t expect Messiahto be born in a
stable. They also expectedHim to be a political king—notthe head of a
spiritual kingdom.
The people in the first century were blinded to God’s purpose in sending Jesus
to this world. He came to save people from their sins (John 1:29). Receive
God’s surprising gift of salvationthat He offers freely to you today.
Amazing thought! that God in flesh
Would take my place and bear my sin;

That I, a guilty, death-doomedsoul,
Eternal life might win!
—Anon.
God broke into human history
to offer us the gift of eternal life.
Lappin's Sermon Outline - THE DIVINE PRESENCE “And as he sat on the
mount of Olives, the disciples came onto him privately, saying, Tellus, when
shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end
of the world?”—Mt. 24:3. "He was in the world, and the world was made
through him, and the world knew him not.”—Jn1:10.
INTRODUCTION.—IfJesusis in the world—a divine presence—where is
He? How may we know Him?
I. He is where the gospelis being preached. Mt. 19:28.
II. He is where the needy are being relieved. Mt. 25:40.
III. He is where His table is spread—forChristians. “Where one or two” (Mt.
18:20).
IV. He is where sinners are repenting. “If any man hear and open.”

WILLIAM BARCLAY
Unrecognized (John 1:10-11)
__John1:1-51 __
1:10-11 He was in the world, and, although the world came into being through
him, the world did not recognize him. It was into his own home that he came,
and his own people did not welcome him.
When John wrote this passage two thoughts were in his mind.
(i) He was thinking of the time before Jesus Christ came into the world in the
body. From the beginning of time God's Logos (Greek #3056)has been active
in the world. In the beginning God's creating, dynamic word brought the
world into being; and ever since it is the word, the Logos (Greek #3056), the
reasonof God which has made the world an ordered whole and man a
thinking being. If men had only had the sense to see him, the Logos (Greek
#3056)was alwaysrecognizable inthe universe.
The WestminsterConfessionofFaith begins by saying that "the lights of
nature, and the works ofcreationand providence do so far manifest the
goodness,wisdomand powerof God as to leave men inexcusable." Long ago
Paul had said that the visible things of the world were so designed by God as
to lead men's thoughts to the invisible things, and that if men had lookedwith
open eyes and an understanding heart at the world their thoughts would have
been inevitably led to the creatorof the world (Romans 1:19-20). The world

has always beensuch that, lookedat in the right way, it would leadmen's
minds to God.
Theologyhas always made a distinction betweennatural theology and
revealedtheology. Revealedtheologydeals with the truths that came to us
directly from God in the words of the prophets, the pages of his book, and
supremely in Jesus Christ. Natural theologydeals with the truths that man
could discoverby the exercise ofhis own mind and intellect on the world in
which he lives. How, then, canwe see God's word, God's Logos (Greek #3056),
God's reason, God's mind in the world in which we live?
(a) We must look outwards. It was always a basic Greek thought that where
there is order there must be a mind. When we look at the world we see an
amazing order. The planets keepto their appointed courses. The tides observe
their appointed times. Seed times and harvest, summer and winter, day and
night come in their appointed order. Clearly there is order in nature, and,
therefore, equally clearlythere must be a mind behind it all. Further, that
mind must be greaterthan any human mind because it achieves results that
the human mind can never achieve. No man can make day into night, or night
into day; no man can make a seedthat will have in it the power of growth; no
man can make a living thing. If in the world there is order, there must be
mind; and if in that order there are things which are beyond the mind of man
to do, then the mind behind the order of nature must be a mind above and
beyond the mind of man--and straightwaywe have reachedGod. To look
outwards upon the world is to come face to face with the God who made it.
(b) We must look upwards. Nothing demonstrates the amazing order of the
universe so much as the movement of the world. Astronomers tell us that
there are as many stars as there are grains of sand upon the seashore. If we
may put it in human terms, think of the traffic problem of the heavens;and
yet the heavenly bodies keeptheir appointed courses and travel their

appointed way. An astronomeris able to forecastto the minute and to the inch
when and where a certain planet will appear. An astronomercan tell us when
and where an eclipse ofthe sun will happen hundreds of years from now, and
he can ten us to the secondhow long it will last. It has been said that "no
astronomercan be an atheist." When we look upwards we see God.
(c) We must look inwards. Where did we get the power to think, to reasonand
to know? Where did we getour knowledge ofright and of wrong? Why does
even the most evil-ridden man know in his heart of hearts when he is doing a
wrong thing? Kant said long ago that two things convincedhim of the
existence ofGod--the starry heavens above him and the moral law within him.
We neither gave ourselves life, nor did we give ourselves the reasonwhich
guides and directs life. It must have come from some poweroutside ourselves.
Where do remorse and regretand the sense of guilt come from? Why can we
never do what we like and be at peace? Whenwe look inwards we find what
Marcus Aurelius called"the god within," and what Seneca called"the holy
spirit which sits within our souls." No man can explain himself apart from
God.
(d) We must look backwards. Froude, the greathistorian, said that the whole
of history is a demonstration of the moral law in action. Empires rise and
empires collapse. As Kipling wrote:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
And it is a demonstrable factof history that moral degenerationand national
collapse go hand in hand. "No nation," said George BernardShaw, "has ever

outlived the loss of its gods." AU history is the practicaldemonstration that
there is a God.
So, then, even if Jesus Christhad never come into this world in bodily form, it
would still have been possible for men to see God's word, God's Logos (Greek
#3056), God's reasonin action. But, although the actionof the word was there
for all to see, men never recognizedhim.
Unrecognized (John 1:10-11 Continued)
__John1:1-51 __
1:10-11 He was in the world, and, although the world came into being through
him, the world did not recognize him. It was into his own home that he came,
and his own people did not welcome him.
(i) In the end God's creating and directing word did come into this world in
the form of the man Jesus. Johnsays that the word came to his own home and
his ownpeople gave him no welcome. Whatdoes he mean by that? He means
that when God's word enteredthis world, he did not come to Rome or to
Greece orto Egypt or to the EasternEmpires. He came to Palestine;Palestine
was speciallyGod's land and the Jews were speciallyGod's people.
The very titles by which the Old Testamentcalls the land and the people show
that. Palestine is repeatedly calledthe holy land (Zechariah 2:12; 2 Maccabees
1:7; Wisdom of Solomon12:3). It is called the Lord's land; God speaks ofit as
his land (Hosea 9:3; Jeremiah2:7; Jeremiah16:18; Leviticus 25:23). The
Jewishnation is called God's peculiar treasure (Exodus 19:5; Psalms 135:4).

The Jews are calledGod's specialpeople (Deuteronomy 7:6). They are called
God's peculiar people (Deuteronomy 14:2; Deuteronomy26:18). They are
calledthe Lord's portion (Deuteronomy 32:9).
Jesus came to a land which was peculiarly God's land and a people who were
peculiarly God's people. He ought, therefore, to have been coming to a nation
that would welcome him with open arms; the door should have been wide
open for him; he should have been welcomedlike a wayfarercoming home;
or, even more, like a king coming to his own--but he was rejectedHe was
receivedwith hate and not with adoration.
Here is the tragedy of a people being prepared for a task and then refusing
that task. It may be, that parents plan and save and sacrifice to give a sonor a
daughter a chance in life, to prepare that son or daughter for some special
task and opportunity--and then when the chance comes, the one for whom so
much sacrifice was made refuses to grasp the opportunity, or fails miserably
when confronted with the challenge. Thereinis tragedy. And that is what
happened to God.
It would be wrong to think that God prepared only the Jewishpeople. God is
preparing every man and womanand child in this world for some task that he
has in store for them. A novelist tells of a girl who refused to touch the soiling
things of life. When she was askedwhy, she said: "Some day something fine is
going to come into my life, and I want to be ready for it." The tragedy is that
so many people refuse the task God has for them.
We may put it in anotherway--a way that strikes home there are so few
people who become what they have it in them to be. It may be through
lethargy and laziness, it may be through timidity and cowardice, it may be
through lack of discipline and self-indulgence, it may be through involvement

in second-bests andbyways; but the world is full of people who have never
realized the possibilities which are in them. We need not think of the task God
has in store for us in terms of some greatactor achievementof which all men
will know. It may be to fit a child for life; it may be at some crucialmoment to
speak that word and exert that influence which will stop someone ruining his
life; it may be to do some quite small job superlatively well; it may be to touch
the lives of many by our hands, our voices or our minds. The fact remains that
God is preparing us by all the experiences oflife for something;and many
refuse the task when it comes and never even realize that they are refusing it.
There is all the pathos in the world in the simple saying:"He came to his own
home and his ownpeople gave him no welcome." Ithappened to Jesus long
ago--andit is happening yet.
ALBERT BARNES
Verse 10
He was in the world - This refers, probably, not to his pre-existence, but to the
fact that he became incarnate;that he dwelt among human beings.
And the world was made by him - This is a repetition of what is said in John
1:3. Not only “men,” but all material things, were made by him. These facts
are mentioned here to make what is said immediately after more striking, to
wit, that men did not receive him. The proofs which he furnished that they
ought to receive him were:

1.Those givenwhile he was “in the world” - the miracles that he performed
and his instructions; and,
2.The fact that the “world was made by him.” It was remarkable that the
world did not know or approve its ownMaker.
The world knew him not - The word “knew” is sometimes usedin the sense of
“approving” or “loving,” Psalm1:6; Matthew 7:23. In this sense it may be
used here. The world did not love or approve him, but rejectedhim and put
him to death. Or it may mean that they did not understand or know that he
was the Messiah;for had the Jews knownand believed that he was the
Messiah, they would not have put him to death, 1 Corinthians 2:8; “Had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Yet they might
have known it, and therefore they were not the less to blame.
BRIAN BILL
The Response to Jesus
Let’s look now at three responses to Jesus.
1. Immanuel is ignored. The infant is infinite, Christ is the creator, and the
Lord is life and light. Unfortunately, verse 10 reveals that Immanuel is often
ignored: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,
the world did not recognize him.” With all the tinsel of Christmas, it’s easyto
blow right past the birth of Immanuel, which means, “Godwith us.”
Everything starts with this truth: Jesus Christ was in the world. And He was

here for more than a fleeting visit, having walkedon this planet for 33 years.
He was one of us and lived among us. J.B. Phillips put it this way, “We must
never allow anything to blind us to the true significance ofwhat happened at
Bethlehem so long ago. Nothing can alter the factthat we live on a visited
planet.”
There has always been a greatdivide in the human race. The majority has
never recognizedJesus for who He really is. When He came the first time,
Herod hated him, the scribes ignoredHim, and there was no room for Him in
the inn. Only the shepherds and the wise men, the poor and the foreigners,
welcomedhim to earth.
Not much has changedtoday as we see the birth of Jesus slipping from our
cultural discourse. He came to the world He created, and the “the world did
not recognize him.”
In 1932, RobertMcGimseyattended a Christmas Eve service in New York
City and then headedback to his one-room apartment. As he walkedthe final
blocks, he passedby the open doors of private clubs where people were
partying with all their might. They didn’t seemto have a clue that it was
Christmas Eve, and if they did, they didn’t seemto care. As he stepped over
people who had passedout on the sidewalk, he thought to himself, “What a
strange way to celebrate the birth of the most perfectPersonwho ever lived
on this earth. People are missing the whole significance ofHis life.”
When he finally arrived home, he scribbled some more thoughts on the back
of an envelope. His words formed the basis of the song that Kent is going to
sing right now: “Sweetlittle Jesus Boy, they made you be born in a manger.
Sweetlittle holy Child didn’t know who you was. Didn’t know you’d come to

save us, Lord, to take our sins away. Our eyes was blind, we couldn’t see, we
didn’t know who you was.”
Have you been ignoring Jesus this year? Don’t let this Christmas pass by
without figuring out why Jesus came.
2. The Revealeris rejected. While some are apathetic and ignore the Christ of
Christmas, others rejectHim outright. Look at verse 11: “He came to that
which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” The idiom “came to his
own” means “to come home.” It’s been said, “Home is where, when you go
there, they have to take you in.” Jesus came to the people who should have
known Him best, but they wantednothing to do with Him. Jesus came “home”
to his own people and they wouldn’t take Him in.
They should have knownbetter because they knew He was coming. Every
book in the Old Testamenttestifies to this one greattruth: He’s coming. One
day God would send His Messiahto deliver His people Israel. And when Jesus
finally arrived, they didn’t receive Him because they didn’t want to. To not
receive means, “to reject.” Insteadof welcoming Him home they drove Him
away.
This is not just an historicalobservation;it’s a profound theological
statement. Humans in generalreject God. And the reasonwe rejectHim is
because we wantto. While some people seemto be sincere seekers ofChrist,
the Bible says that most of us are looking to be rid of Him. People are blind
because it’s their very nature to reject the light. We can’t come to Christ on
our own. Jesus saidit this way in John 6:44: “No man can come to me unless
the Fatherwho sent me draws him.”

Jesus was unrecognized by the world

Jesus was unrecognized by the world

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