John 1:6-13 The Baptist and the True Light

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John 1:6-13 ESV

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

There was a man sent from God...

Interestingly, John breaks up his prologue (some see this as a hymn) to introduce us to John the Baptist. He takes three sentences to explain that John was the witness to Jesus' coming. Why would John do that? Why break up the prologue, in the middle, just to introduce John as Jesus' witness only to pick up John's story at vs. 19? 

John was not the light, yet he came to give witness of the light. This is what the Evangelist (I am going to use this term to distinguish between John the Apostle and the Baptist) plans to do here. The Baptist is mentioned in all four Gospels: Matt. 3:1-6; Mark 1:1-6; and Luke 3:1-6. Later, in John's Gospel, the Evangelist talks in depth about the Baptist and his mission and message. What did it mean for John to be a witness, though? According to Malina and Rohrbaugh, to be a witness in John's day meant that you affirm one's honor (Malina and Rohrbaugh, John, 32). This testifying was also to be done publicly, out in the open for all to see. Now, we need to look at the meaning of light to understand what the Evangelist is saying.

The True Light...

John is telling us that Jesus is the very opposite of darkness, that Jesus is not just a/the light, but that He is the True Light. The word true in Greek is alethinos and means it is not just the name, but it is the description and meaning of the word it describes. Also, the word means the complete opposite of falsehood. So, here the John is telling us that the light is not just a metaphor for Jesus, but that he is the light. He is so much the light, that he is not the darkness. The word light in Greek is phos, which in this context is used of a metaphor for truth and reasoning. It harkens back to the use of the word logos which also meant reasoning. Which is what leads us into the next portion, that Jesus was rejected. Why would He, the basis of reasoning, be rejected? 

...The World did not Know Him...

What we have here, is John's explanation of the coming of the Messiah. In vs. 9, the Evangelist presents us with the truth that the Light has come (present tense) into the world. Here, we see the rejection of the coming Messiah. The world does not know Him, meaning that they do not have the reasoning needed to recognize the true Light. Barclay states that God's Logos has always been in the world and that man has always been able to see it (Barclay, John, 56-58 ). 

The Greek word here for know is ginosko, which means to know or get to know. Malina and Rohrbaugh tell us that John uses an OT understanding in his context of know--it was a very intimate way to know someone, "face to face" (Malina and Rohrbaugh, John, 32). Haenchen explains how God answers the willingness of the world to refuse to know its Creator--

"For the Logos did not give up in the face of this rejection. On the contrary, he now does the highest, the final, thing that was still possible: he becomes man himself, in order to be received by humankind" (Haenchen, John, 118). 

However, becoming flesh and blood was not good enough, because not only does the world not accept Him, neither does His very own possession--Israel. 

...His own did not Receive Him...

Israel, the place that redemptive history was to be brought did not receive their Lord. Michaels says that Israel and Judaism would be the place of Christ's ministry, yet the context of the word world might mean that the world was the main point of Christ's purpose of salvation (Michaels, John, 23). Either way, the point seems clear--Jesus was not accepted by either His own portion and the world as a whole. However, there are some who will accept Him. 

In the ancient world, a person's name meant something. Now, in America, we have meanings for our names, but the definition of our name does not define who we are. However, to people in the first century Palestine, their name defined them as a person. Here is how Malina and Rohrbaugh explain this phenomenon: 

First, it is the closest term for what we mean by 'person.' Since first-century Mediterranean persons were collective persons, their 'name' represents the entire family, along with the family's honor in the community (Malina and Rohrbaugh, John, 32).

This was what John means by believed in His name. Here we step into new life, we are literally adopted in Jesus' family. The notion here, in Greek, is the idea that God is giving us the right to be born again (Barton, et al., John, 9). John Calvin sees this verse as a grace of God. To Calvin, we do not have the choice, but were made to believe in God. However you see this, as a free-will choice or divinely appointed as Calvinists do is not important. What is, is that we are made children of God and welcomed into his family. Why is this important? Aside from the notions of being saved by Christ, it deals with the notion of the law at the time (by law, I actually mean Roman). In the Roman world, your bloodline was very important, it established your place in society. Mostly, the wealthy Romans are the ones who would be concerned with this law. Here is how it worked: Marriage was a big deal, the dowery was mostly land given to the newlyweds, who would have children to pass it on to. This was important because it kept the wealth that the land gave in the family. This was why being born of blood and of will by flesh was important to those in Palestine and in the Roman Empire, because of the way the marriage laws worked. Here, Jesus makes it possible to be born into His family easy, anyone is capable of becoming a child of God. His kingdom then becomes our inheritance. Jesus breaks the notion of human laws by saying that you can become an heir of His. We become a child of God and thus, are allowed access to his authority and protection. 

What did You Think?

Was this how you read the text? What thoughts did you glean from this? What did I miss? What was something new to you? Let me know in the comments section. Be blessed and leave me your thoughts; thanks, guys. 

C. Bohall

Bibliography

Barclay, William. Gospel of John. vol. 1. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975.

Barton, Bruce B. Philip W. Comfort, David R. Veerman, and Neil Wilson. John. 1993. 

Calvin, John. "Commentary on John 1:1". "Calvin's Commentary on the Bible".    "http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/view.cgi?bk=42&ch=1". 1840-57.

Haenchen, Ernst. John 1. Trans. Robert W. Funk. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984.

Malina, Bruce J. and Richard L. Rohrbaugh. Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of  John. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998. 

Michaels, J. Ramsey. John. Peabody: Hendrickson Press, 2005.