|
|
|
JOHN CHAPTER ONE
CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
[OBSERVATIONS FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]:
A) "IN THE BEGINNING" REFERS TO THE BEGINNING OFALL TIME AND ALL CREATION
"In [the] beginning" =
"en .........archE"
Notice that there is no definite article for the Word "beginning". This points in an emphatic way to a specific beginning.
Since these are the very first words in the gospel of John pointing to a beginning of beginnings,
and since original creation of time and matter comes immediately into view as the substance of this beginning in verses 2 & 3,
and since the creation of the Word cannot be in view since the Word is stipulated as "was";
then "In [the] beginning" refers to the beginning of all time and creation of all things.
1) [Compare the next two verses: Jn 1:2-3]:
(v. 2) "He was with God in the beginning.
(v. 3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."
Verses 2 & 3 nail down the beginning to be that beginning when "all things were made... that has been made." - a momentous beginning at which time the Word already "was with God"
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Notice that author John is paralleling Genesis 1:1 as it portrays the beginning of all time and creation. The LXX, Genesis 1:1, (septuagint) has the identical phrase for in the beginning in Jn 1:1, "En arche". Hence Genesis 1:1 is a declarative statement about the absolute beginning of all time-space-matter, i.e. of the universe. This is not a recreation because the Hebrew verb "bara" = rendered in English "created", signifying created out of nothing, does not support that, nor does the context of the rest of Genesis chapter one.
Furthermore the
conjunction "and" connecting the verses in Genesis chapter 1
indicates uninterrupted sequential action over a period of 6 twenty-four
hour days. So the phrase "In the beginning" in Genesis 1:1
points to the beginning of a series of original creative acts out of
nothing over a 6 x 24 hour period, not a description of a recreation of
something that evolved over millions of years. This is corroborated by
Genesis 2:1 which is a declarative statement indicating that from verse
1:1 to 2:1 there were 6 literal 24 hour days which transpired in God's
creative work whereupon in Genesis 2:1 the work is finished. 
"Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of His hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and the name of His Son? Tell me if you know!"
In the Hebrew the word "Who" in this passage is literally translated, "Who are the Holy Ones Who"= plural. So God the Father and God the Son have gone up to heaven and come down, gathered up the wind, wrapped up the waters and established, (i.e. created), the ends of the earth. Here is a clear statement that the Son of God, later in the text of John chapter 1 to be established as the Word, to be there at the creation of the world, even a Co-Creator, even two Personalities of the Godhead.
1) [Compare 1 Jn 1:1-2; 2:13a]:
(v. 1) "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
(v. 2) The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
(v. 3) We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
(v. 2:13a) "I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning."
Notice that the Word of life, identified by John as 'Jesus Christ', the 'Son' of God, 'eternal life', is stipulated as being 'with the Father', 'from the beginning', having 'appeared' to humanity to be seen, looked at and touched, i.e., in human form. It is especially clear that the phrase "from the beginning" refers to the beginning of all time and creation.
I cont.) [Jn 1:1 cont.]:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]
"In the beginning was the Word" =
The word "logos" in Greek, commonly refers to speaking, a message or words. It appears here with the definite article, "the Word" = "ho Logos". Repeated personal references are made to the Word in this passage as if "ho Logos", the Word were a Person. John 1:1a refers to an eternal Person already present at the beginning of all time and creation.
[Kenneth Wuest, Golden Nuggets from the Greek New Testament, 1940, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1940]:
'''There are three words in the Greek language for "word," one referring to the mere articulate sound of the voice, another speaking of that sound as the manifestation of a mental state, and still another, the one used by John, and whose meaning will be discussed.
The word is Logos. It comes from the verb which means literally "to pick out or select," thus "to pick words in order to express one's thoughts," thus "to speak." It speaks of a word uttered by the human voice which embodies a conception or idea. It refers not merely to a part of speech but to a concept or idea... The definite article appears before "Word". He is not merely a concept ... He is THE concept.'''
"In the beginning was the Word" =
The phrase "In the beginning" cannot refer to the time of the Word being created because "the Word" in that phrase is stipulated that it already "was" in the beginning which establishes itself as uncreated and eternal. Time did not exist, no created thing existed and the Word was - uncreated & eternal!
Notice that the verb "was" = Greek, "en" in this context indicates a continual existence in the past. An eternal existence of "the Word" is in view since "the Word" was already ongoing "in the beginning" before all time and all creation.
(v. 2) "He was with God in the beginning.
(v. 3) Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made."
Notice that the Word is declared once more as being with God "in the beginning" and is then referred to in verse 3 as "Him" through Whom "all things were made," without Whom "nothing was made that has been made." It is emphatically declared here that all that was created was created through the Word following the declaration of the Word being with God "in the beginning". This narrows down the beginning to the beginning of all time and creation when all things that were created were created. This rules out the Word being created, because He is Creator of all things. The Word, therefore must be one Who is uncreated, i.e., eternal, God.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
(v. 16) "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
(v. 17) He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Notice that the Son, Jesus Christ, the Word is before all things, i.e., uncreated = eternal God
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
3) JESUS CHRIST WAS PRESENT WITH THE FATHER BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN
"And now, Father, glorify Me [Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, vv. 1-2)] in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began."
[Notice that Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Father and was in His presence with the glory of God before the world began]
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]
4) SINCE THE WORD IS ETERNAL, THE WORD IS GOD
Since the Word "was" at the beginning of all time and all creation, then the Word was already and has always been, i.e., He is eternal as only God is eternal. Hence the Word is God.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
"Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God."
Notice that He Who was before creation, and He Who was before the earth and the world, which includes the Word, (Jn 1:1), is everlasting God. This corroborates the eternality and hence the Diety of the Word who was before creation and verses stipulates that He is Creator, (v. 3).
I cont.) [Jn 1:1 cont.]:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
"In the beginning was the Word" =
E cont.) "THE WORD" REFERS TO AN ETERNAL PERSON ALREADY PRESENT AT THE BEGINNING OF ALL TIME AND CREATION, cont.
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]
Logos" in greek, commonly refers to speaking, or a message, or words. In the context of Jn 1:1-2 "Logos" appears with a definite article and is personified to mean an eternal person equal to God and already present at the beginning of all time and creation.
To understand the term "Word" ("logos") which John used as a name we need to determine the meaning this term "logos" had for those to whom the Gospel of John was first written nearly 2000 years ago to a Jewish audience.
To the Jew living 2000 years ago in Jerusalem, a word was something concrete, something much closer to what we today would call an event or a deed. A word spoken to the Jew was a deed done! Thus the Jew would be prepared for the thought that the Word the "Logos" - of God could be seen and touched as well as heard, and that the "Logos" would find expression as a Person.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
7) JOHN'S FIRST EPISTLE PERSONIFIES THE WORD AS HAVING APPEARED IN HIS HUMANITY
(v. 1) "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
(v. 2) The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
(v. 3) We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."
Notice that the Word of life Who was from the beginning, appeared, as life, i.e., a human being and was heard, seen, looked at, and touched. Hence the Word here in First John is the same as 'The Word' in John chapter one which is indeed personified and human.
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]
"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God" =
"With", (Greek, "pros", accusative case), with the stationary verb "to be", (Greek, "eimi"), means "close to", "facing", "in front of", "in the presence of"
"God" = "Theon", accusative case.
If "pros" were in the dative case, it would mean something like the Word was "with God" or even "at God's place" in the sense of the French 'chez moi', for that is the typical usage. But John's use of "pros" here is unique. It is not in the dative case but in the accusative case, hence it portrays a face to face with God as directed/oriented towards God on an equal level, separate and in its own right. So, in the beginning, the Word was enjoying reciprocity with God.
So the Word was already there "in the beginning" of all time and all creation and at that beginning the Word was with - literally, face to face on an equal level with God indicating an eternal being equal to God - not simply words from God which would not have such a status. The Word therefore is God, a second expression/personality of God.
The Greek word which is rendered "with" in both verses ("pros") means an intimate communion on an equal level with God.
[Dr Leon Morris states, ('The Gospel According to John, Wiliam B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mi, 1971, p. 75-76)]:
''' "The Word was with God" is probably as good a translation as we can manage for a difficult Greek expression.....
...The preposition ["pros" = "with"] "implies not merely existence alongside of but personal intercourse. It means more than' meta' = 'with' or 'para' = 'with', 'by', 'near', 'among', and is regularly employed in expressing the presence of one person with another"....According to A. T. Robertson, "the literal idea comes out well, 'face to face with God...[it]...expresses nearness combined with the sense of movement towards God, and so indicates an active relationship." [with a sense of intimacy]
So "pros" is used to establish the idea of communion on an equal level with God.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
G) JESUS CHRIST LATER TESTIFIES TO HIS PRESENCE WITH THE FATHER BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN
"And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began."
Notice that Jesus Christ declares that He had the glory of God while in the presence of God before the world began.
I cont.) [Jn 1:1 cont.]:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]
H) GOD THE FATHER IS IN VIEW IN THE PHRASE "AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD"
(v. 1:1b) "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God"............................ (v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the One and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Notice that in verse 1 the Word was with God and in verse 14 the Word became flesh and came from the Father. Hence "God" in 1:1b is God the Father.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
1) [Compare 1 Jn 1:1-2; 2:13a]:
(v. 1) "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
(v. 2) The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
(v. 3) We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
(v. 2:13a) "I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning."
Notice that the Word of life is stipulated as being 'with the Father', 'from the beginning'. It is especially clear that the phrase "from the beginning" refers to the beginning of all time and creation.
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]
J) AND GOD - THE NATURE, ALL THE QUALITIES AND ESSENCE OF GOD WAS THE WORD IN THE BEGINNING OF ALL TIME AND CREATION
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" =
"Kai Theos en ...o ...Logos"
"And God ..was the Word"
Notice the position of "Theos" = "God" at the beginning of the phrase - an emphatic one without the definite article which serves by this position and without the article to describe the Word as having the essence of God.
Since there is no article in front of "Theos" = "God", the noun is said to be anarthrous, i.e., without an article. The verb "was" = "en", (to be), is copulative and intransitive verb, i.e., it joins two subjects together in meaning as the context permits and takes no object, respectively . Said in another way, there can be no direct object following "was" because intransitive copulative verbs take no objects but take instead predicate nominatives which refer back in meaning to the subject of the clause. Hence, Jn 1:1c joins the two subjects = "Theos" and = "Logos" in meaning where the former being without an article and in view of the previous phrases describes the quality of the latter. Hence "Logos", the Word is described by everything that "Theos", God is.
Mark it down that in every instance where we need to construe one nominative as the predicate nominative, the predicate nominative is anarthrous. Accordingly, if one nominative is articular and the other is anarthrous, the anarthrous nominative is in the predicate, and the articular nominative is the subject.
On the other hand, if both of the nouns in a predicate nominative construction have the article, or if both lack the article, the two nouns become interchangeable. If there had been an article in front of "Theos", then John would have been telling us that "God was the Word" as well as "the Word was God." But there is no article in front of "Theos" so author John is not teaching that Jesus Christ and God [the Father] were both the same person. Hence we avoid the heresy of modalism and a contradiction since the Word cannot be with God if both are one and the same.
Therefore, in view of the emphatic position of "Theos" (God) at the beginning of Jn 1:1c and the lack of a definite article in Jn 1:1c pointing to it as the predicate nominative which describes the subject,"ho Logos", (the Word); we conclude that the qualities of God, i.e., His divine essence which only God can possess, are indicated as qualities which are inherent in "Logos" = "the Word". So "Theos" in this phrase means that the Word has the nature, qualities and essences of the One and only God, i.e., God is the Word.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
K) SCRIPTURE SPECIFICALLY STIPULATES THAT JESUS CHRIST IS GOD
"[We pray this] so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."
......................"HopOs endoxasthE .........to ..onoma tou kuriou ..hEmOn iEsou en humin
[We pray this] so that may be glorified ..the name .........of Lord our .......Jesus .in .you
.
kai humeis en autO kata ..............tEn.charin tou theou .....hEmOn kai .kuriou iEsou
and you .....in Him ..according to the .grace ........of God ...our ........and Lord ..Jesus
christou."
Christ."
God "theos" here
is articular, and Christ "christou" is anarthrous. Both nouns
are in the same case, and therefore should read "the grace of Jesus
Christ, our God and Lord". (Granville Sharp rule #1
)
"While we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,"
"Prosdechomenoi tEn makarian elpida kai ..epiphaneian tEs .....doxEs
"Expecting............the .blessed .....hope ..and .appearing ....of the glory
tou megalou theou kai .sOtEros hEmOn iEsou christou
.......of great .God ..and Savior ...our ....Jesus Christ
God "theos" here is articular, and Christ "christou" is anarthrous. Both nouns are in the same case, and therefore should read "our great God and Savior Jesus Christ". (Granville Sharp rule #1)
"But to the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.' "
"pros de ..ton huion ..........ho thronos sou ..ho .theos .eis ton aiOna tou aiOnos
"to ....But the Son .He says ....throne Your Oh God is to the age .....of the age....
......................................................................................................(forever and ever)
........rhabdos euthutEtos ............he .rhabdos tEs ....basileias sou"
...the scepter .of righteousness is the scepter .of the kingdom Your"
Notice that the Son is addressed as God in this quotation from Ps 45:6-7, hence we have a testimony of God the Son in the Old and New Testaments.
"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood."
Notice that "Theos" = "God" purchased the church "with his own blood", pointing to Jesus Christ.
"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
And He will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
I cont.) [Jn 1:1 cont.]:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]
L) THE 'WORD' CANNOT BE A GOD IT MUST REFER TO THE GOD
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"(cont.) =
"Theos" is a predicate nominative of "was" in the emphatic position at the beginning of the third clause without the definite article. The absence of the definite article, however, does not demand that "Theos" be interpreted "a god" with the indefinite article as some suggest.
First of all, New Testament Greek does not possess an indefinite article ('a/an'), but it does have an indefinite pronoun ('a certain one', Greek 'tis') the very word that a Greek reader would expect here if the point was that Christ was somehow a god, but not really 'God.'
Secondly, the verb "was" = "en", (to be), is copulative and intransitive, i.e., it joins two subjects together in meaning as the context permits and takes no object, respectively. Said in another way, there can be no direct object following "was" because intransitive copulative verbs take no objects but take instead predicate nominatives which refer back in meaning to the subject of the clause. Hence, Jn 1:1c joins the two subjects = "Theos" and = "Logos" in meaning where the former being without an article and in view of the previous phrases describes the quality of the latter. Hence "Logos", the Word is described by everything that "Theos", God is.
Mark it down that in every instance where we need to construe one nominative as the predicate nominative, the predicate nominative is anarthrous. Accordingly, if one nominative is articular and the other is anarthrous, the anarthrous nominative is in the predicate, and the articular nominative is the subject.
On the other hand, if both of the nouns in a predicate nominative construction have the article, or if both lack the article, the two nouns become interchangeable. If there had been an article in front of "Theos", then John would have been telling us that "God was the Word" as well as "the Word was God." But there is no article in front of "Theos" so author John is not teaching that Jesus Christ and God [the Father] were both the same person. Hence we avoid the heresy of modalism and a contradiction since the Word cannot be with God if both are one and the same.
Therefore, in view of the emphatic position of "Theos" (God) at the beginning of Jn 1:1c and the lack of a definite article in Jn 1:1c pointing to it as the predicate nominative which describes the subject,"ho Logos", (the Word); we conclude that the qualities of God, i.e., His divine essence which only God can possess, are indicated as qualities which are inherent in "Logos" = "the Word". So "Theos" in this phrase means that the Word has the nature, qualities and essences of the One and only God, i.e., God is the Word.
So to translate it 'a god' as some individuals do is both incorrect grammar, poor Greek and totally out of context. The Word, then, can be no one else except God.
Thirdly, earlier in the verse, the apostle John used the definite article with the Greek word Theos to refer to God [the Father] according to customary usage, and so to use the identical combination again to refer to the Word would be potentially confusing, making it seem as if 'the Word' was really identical to God the Father', one of the very points that John is disproving here.
So John only had three ways to write this:
1) the Word as 'the God' (but this would mean that there was no real distinction between the Father and the Word)
2) the Word was 'a certain god' (but this would mean that the Word was a lesser sort of divinity, not God on the level of the Father
3) 'God' was the Word - what John actually did write, thus fully and unambiguously attributing the essence of God to the Word as distinct from the Father.
"God" in the 2nd clause is in the accusative case with the definite article and is thus spelled "Theon". It refers to the One and only Almighty God. "God" in the 3rd clause is in the predicate nominative case without an article and is thus spelled "Theos". Its position at the beginning of the clause refers to the qualities of the One and only Almighty God. The spelling differences are due to the grammatical rules of the koine Greek language, and not to a difference in meaning. That is how this biblical language works!
I cont.) [Jn 1:1 cont.]:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
L cont.) THE 'WORD' CANNOT BE A GOD IT MUST REFER TO THE GOD
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (cont.) =
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
It can be easily demonstrated that the anarthrous theos is quite in fact qualitive, not indefinite. If the anarthrous theos is to be taken as indefinite, and hence translated into English with an indefinite article ("a god"), then we must do the same to the other 282 times that theos appears without the article. In fact, there are four more instances in chapter 1 of John alone where theos appears anarthrously, and yet the Jehovah's Witnesses inconsistently translate only verse 1 as indefinite, while in the remaining four instances in the first chapter where theos appears anarthrously they don't translate them as "a god."
It is interesting to note that for centuries Jn 1:1c has been translated as "The Word was God" until the New World Translation came along. Are we to conclude that centuries of humanity have gone by deceived?
In 2 Corinthians 5:19 the word theos appears anarthrously, but the Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation (NWT) does not translate it as "For a god was in Christ..." Nor do they translate John 1:6 as indefinite either ("There was a man sent from a god, whose name was John"). John 1:12 would not mean the same if they translated it as indefinite ("...to them gave he power to become the sons of a god..."). Same with verse 13 ("Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of a god") and verse 18 ("No man hath seen a god at any time...").
Since God is truly the only God - i.e., there is no other God or god, then Jesus Christ could not be a god other than Jehovah God Himself or He is no God or god at all. Scripture testifies that there is no God or god other than Almighty God Himself, hence Jn 1:1c could not be interpreted as "And the Word was a god" and be consistent with the rest of the bible:
1) [Isa 45:5a]:
"I am the Lord, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God."
(v. 10) "'You are My witnesses,' declares the Lord,
'And My servant [Israel] whom I have chosen,
In order that you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.
[So no God or god was or will be created. Jesus Christ cannot therefore be a created God]
(v. 11) I, even I, am the Lord;
And there is no Savior besides Me.' "
"I [God] am the first and I am the last;
apart from Me there is no god."
apart from Me there is no god."
(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(v. 2) He was with God in the beginning."
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]
"He was with God in the beginning" =
Verse two reiterates the message of verse one for emphasis and leaves no doubt that the Word is a Person Who was at the beginning of all time and creation Who is uncreated, eternal, God.
The phrase 'He was with God in the beginning' eliminates the possibility that the Word is simply a communication from God. No communication from God would be described as 'He was with God in the beginning!' The phrase 'in the beginning' points all the more to the beginning of all time and creation at which beginning 'He', the Word already was with = face to face on an equal basis with God.
(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(v. 2) He was with God in the beginning.
(v. 3) Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made."
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]:
A) THE WORD IS PERSONIFIED BY THE PRONOUN, 'HIM', - THE AGENT OF ALL CREATION, UNCREATED, WHO IS GOD
"Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made" =
"The phrases "through Him" and "without Him" mark "Him", the Word, as the Agent of creation. In this verse the context of the term "Word" is as the Agent of creation, a Person, and not just a commanding word from God to create. So through the Word, a Person, all things were created. He Himself was not created because the verse stipulates so: "without Him nothing was made that has been made." He could not create Himself, He is the Creator Who by virtue of this is the uncreated, eternal God.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
(v. 15) "He [the Son of God, (v. 13-14)] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
(v. 16) For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.
(v. 17) He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Notice that the Son of God Who is the Word of life, (1 Jn 1:1-3), i.e., Who is the Word, (Jn 1:1), is before all things and Creator of all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible; hence His must be uncreated, God.
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]
C) THE BEGINNING OF ALL TIME & CREATION IS IN VIEW, NOT SOME OTHER BEGINNING
"Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made" =
Verse 3 has the time when all things were made in view, reinforcing that the "beginning" of verses 1 & 2 is the beginning of all time and creation when all things were made and not some other beginning as some have suggested.
(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(v. 2) He was with God in the beginning.
(v. 3) Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.
(v. 4) In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men."
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]
A) IN HIM, THE WORD, WAS ALL LIFE AND ETERNAL LIFE. HE IS ETERNAL
"In Him was life" =
"was life" is in the durative past tense = in Him always was life, with a view of the Word's eternal essence which is singular to God.
The word "life" in the phrase "In Him was life" points to more than just aliveness - more than being the source of all physical life. Notice that the phrase in v. 3, "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made." immediately precedes "In Him was life" in v. 4. This points emphatically to the Word being Creator of all life and all things. Hence, the phrase "In Him was life" includes every sense and source of life from creating all things from the beginning of all time and creation to sustaining the life of all things to being the source of eternal life in which anything that was created exists in Him and is sustained by Him. The Word is the Creator, Eternal God.
[John Morris states in his commentary, (NIV Commentary: Gospel of John, p.82)]:
The term [Life] must be taken in its broadest sense. It is only because there is life in the Logos [Greek for "Word"] that there is life in anything on earth at all. Life does not exist in its own right. It is not even spoken of [in this particular verse] as made 'by' or 'through' the Word, but as existing 'in Him.' "
"In Him was life and that life was the Light of men" =
The phrase "and that life was the Light of men" points to the Word in Whom all life eternally was from the beginning of all time and creation, (vv. 1-3). He was the Light, (v. 4), i.e., the enlightenment - the revelation to all men of the Word = the Life = the Creator of all things = God.
By the title "the Light of men" the Word is revealed as the One Who knows God the Father and Who makes Him known - if we may jump ahead to verse 18, (Amplified Version):
"No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, the only unique God, Who is in the bosom [the intimate presence] of the Father, He [the Son] has declared Him [the Father] - He has revealed Him, brought Him out where He can be seen; He (Jesus) has interpreted Him (God) and He has made Him known."
God Almighty is not completely knowable because He is infinite, yet He is knowable in a finite sense to man - through the Word Who is the Light of men.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
"In Him was life and that life was the Light of men" (cont.) =
(v. 19) "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
(v. 20) Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
(v. 21) But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Notice that God's Son is depicted as Light Who has come into the world. The Person of Christ and the light that He emanates via His actions of His humanity is portrayed as the opposite of darkness and evil. It is portrayed as that which exposes evil. Hence we may conclude that the Light of the Person of Christ and what He represents is righteousness and holiness, the antithesis of darkness and evil.
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Jesus Himself declares here that He is the light of the world, i.e, the righteousness of God to the world. Furthermore, He declares that whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness, i.e., evil but have the light of life, i.e., the righteousness of God.
(v. 5) '''And now the LORD says -- He Who formed Me in the womb to be His servant to bring Jacob back to Him and gather Israel to Himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and My God has been My strength--
(v. 6) He says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth." '''
We corroborate and add further commentary to Jn 1:3 that Jesus Christ is the light of the world relative to the availability through Him of the salvation of all men, Jew and Gentile 'to the ends of the earth.'
(v. 4) "In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men.
(v. 5) The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not [overpowered] it."
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]:
A) THE WORD, A PERSON WAS IN PAST TIMES FROM THE BEGINNING THE LIGHT OF MEN. HE IS THE REVELATION OF WHO GOD IS TO MANKIND FROM ADAM AND EVE THROUGHOUT THE AGES. THE WORLD WHICH IS DARKNESS IS OPPOSED TO THIS LIGHT OF MEN AND SEEKS TO OVERPOWER HIM
"In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not comprehended [overpowered] it." =
Notice that author John used "was the Light of men" and not "is the Light of men" to describe the Word in Whom was life. He also used the past tense "comprehended [overpowered]" and not the present tense "comprehends [overpowers]"
Although it is true that the Word is Life and Light today and forever because He is the eternal Creator God, (vv. 1-4); the fact that the verbs are in the past tense makes it likely that author John is speaking of Old Testament times - from the beginning with Adam and Eve ongoing throughout the ages wherein the Light of the Word, the truth about God through the Word Who is life Who is the Light of men has always been available for men to see, receive and believe in unto eternal life.
In light of the phrase "but the darkness [of the world] has not comprehended [overpowered] it" we can determined that the world is generally at odds with God. Furthermore, the all mankind is portrayed as in "darkness", i.e., opposed to the Light Who is life Who reveals Who God is and that He provides life to the world, their existence and eternal life - all life.
V cont.) [Jn 1:4-5 cont.]:
(v. 4) "In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men.
(v. 5) The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness [overpowered] it not.
(v. 5 Amplified) And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it - put it out, or has never absorbed it, has not appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it."
(v. 5) "And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it - put it out, or has never absorbed it, has not appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it." =
The amplified translation incorporates the most applicable meaning of the Greek phrase "ou katelaben" = to not apprehend or not appropriate or not overcome. Hence this verse reflects the fact that the nature of light is to shine and dispel darkness - and not be overcome by it. Darkness here implies not knowing God, disbelief in and hostility to Him, being separated from Him temporally and eternally. This is evidently the condition of the world. Light will invade the dominion of darkness. But the Word will be victorious in spite of that opposition.
(v. 2) "He [the Word] was with God in the beginning. (v. 3) Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. (v. 4) In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men. (v. 5) And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it - put it out, or has never absorbed it, has not appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it.", (cont.) =
The inference can be made that the Word, the Light of all mankind from the beginning (v. 2) has been shining in the darkness of a world which does not know God, nor the eternal life of God and is even hostile to Him. The verse stipulates that the Light will never be overpowered by the darkness of the world which presumes by implication that the world is dark and hostile to the Light of Who God is and His eternal life.
(v. 6) "There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John."
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]
"There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John." =
The author John the Apostle writes about another John [John the Baptist - to be corroborated later]. In verse 6 the author uses the verb "egeneto" which means "came" or "came into being". This is the same word used in verse 3: "All things "egeneto"= came into existence - through Him [the Word]" So unlike the Word Who "en" = "continually was", (v. 1) = Who is eternal, John [the Baptist] 'egeneto' = "came into being". He was created by the Word Himself, who created all things, (v. 3). Recall that the author John uses the word "en " = "was" in verses 1 & 2 to describe the Word as having a continuous existence in the past, an eternal existence Who created all things.
(v. 6) "There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
(v. 7) He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through Him all men might believe."
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]:
"There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light" =
John was created by and sent from God as a witness at a particular time in history to testify to mankind concerning Who the Word is, i.e., that He is the personified Light, the revelation, the illumination of Who God is to mankind - that in Him is all life and eternal life with Him.
"There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through Him all men might believe." =
The man named John who came into existence, created by God at a particular time in accordance with God's sovereignty was sent from God as a witness to testify to man concerning the Word Who is the personified Light to men concerning Who God is so that through the Word, the Light, all men might believe and have eternal life. Note that by the pronoun 'Him' the Word is confirmed as an individual Person.
So John is a man created and sent by God to testify about (to publicly proclaim) the Light in such a way that all who hear might have the opportunity to trust, i.e. believe to an end which is not specifically stipulated here.
On the other hand, there is implied in the context of this passage that the result of a moment of believing in the Person of the Word comes the reception of eternal life considering the fact that it has already been stipulated that the Word is eternal, (v. 1); God, (v. 1); Creator, (v. 3); and Life, (v. 4). Without Him, one would surely die apart from Him. Hence believing in Him is to live with Him forever.
[Leon Morris states, (The Gospel According to John, NIV Commentary, p.90-91)]:
"The emphasis on testimony should not be overlooked. There is a legal air about it. Testimony is a serious matter and it is required to substantiate the truth of a matter. It is clear that our author wants us to take what he writes as reliable. He is insistent that there is good evidence for the things he sets down. Witness establishes the truth."
Notice that the verb 'believe' is "pisteuousin", a dative, plural, masculine participle, lit., 'to those that are the believing ones' [in His name]. The action of this participle form portrays a moment, not a continuous action, of believing to become the believing one resulting in immediate and permanent possession of eternal life.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
John the Baptist was declared in Scripture as one who would call to Israel to "prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him", (Mt 3:3; Isa 40:3) by declaring "the Kingdom of God is near", (Mt 3:2), i.e., that the Messiah is coming now to bring His Kingdom into the world when all of Israel believes in Him. John further declared Who Jesus is:"Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world", (Jn 1:29), i.e., as testified to in Old Testament Scripture, (Isa 53:4-5); declaring "one must believe in Jesus", (Acts 19:4), being that Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, i.e., "Repent [= believe in Christ as Messiah].. for the forgiveness of sins", (Acts 19:4; Mk 1:4) to gain entrance into this eternal Kingdom. Then John commanded those who believed in Jesus to demonstrate this change to faith in Him by a "baptism of repentance [/belief in Jesus] for the forgiveness of sins", (Acts 19:4; Mk 1:4).
(v. 1) "See, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.
(v. 2) But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap.
(v. 3) He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,
(v. 4) and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years."
(v. 7) "As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?
(v. 8) If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces.
(v. 9) Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
(v. 10) This is the one about whom it is written: " 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
(v. 11) I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
(v. 12) From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
(v. 13) For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
(v. 14) And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
(v. 15) He who has ears, let him hear."
"A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God."
(v. 19) Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
(v. 20) He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ. "
(v. 21) They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
(v. 22) Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
(v. 23) John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "
[So when an Israelite underwent John's or Jesus' baptism of repentance/belief in Jesus, what was in view was immersion into water as a symbol of ones actual identification with Israel's Messiah and His eternal kingdom when he believed in Jesus]
(v. 29) '''The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
(v. 30) This is the one I meant when I said, 'A Man Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 31) I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water
[=a baptism of repentance meaning to believe in Christ as Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, (Mk 1:4; Acts 19:4)]
was that He might be revealed to Israel" '''
[=so that all Israelites might believe in Him unto the kingdom of heaven; and when all Israel believes, the One John announced would "be revealed to Israel" as Messiah and His Kingdom would then be at hand, i.e., ushered in, (Mt 1:4; Zech 12:1-13:4)].
"And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."
[Notice that John's baptism was a baptism that represented having been forgiven of one's sins. Acts 10:43 indicates that forgiveness of sins comes by faith alone, hence the repentance here in Mk 1:4 is the same as saying repent from not believing to believing in Christ unto forgiveness of sins]
(v. 12) "When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee."
(v. 17) "From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
[Notice that our Lord continued John's message of repent/believing in the One coming after him, that is Jesus for His Kingdom is near = at hand ready to begin]
(v. 23) "[Peter said] 'From this man's [David's, (v. 22)] descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.
(v. 24) Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel."
[Notice that John's preaching was directed to Israel - a preaching of corporate repentance of national Israel and individual water baptism. John the Baptist preached this as did our Lord Who continued this after John's death]
(v. 1) '''In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea
(v. 2) and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
["near" = "eggiken gar " = lit., 'has drawn near'
" eggiken" = to cause to approach, to be near, to be at hand
"gar" = a causal particle 'for' which introduces a reason, (which is that the Kingdom of God is potentially at hand), for the thing previously said, (which is that Israel must therefore repent in order to bring it in) = 'Israel repent, i.e., trust in the coming Messiah and all that the Scriptures relate about Him, for then the Kingdom of God will be caused to approach and enter into history, (i.e., a corporate trusting in Him by national Israel will result in eternal life in the Kingdom and that Kingdom will then commence on earth when the entire Israel nation accepts Jesus Christ as Messiah and Savior).'. However the Jews did not receive Him at the time, (Jn 1:11) - so the Kingdom did not commence]
(v. 3) This is he [John] who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' ", (Ref., Isa 40:3)
(v. 4) John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
(v. 5) People [from Israel, (Jn 1:31)] went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
(v. 6) Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
[Once an Israelite trusted in Christ as Messiah/Savior unto the kingdom of heaven which was declared as near in conjunction with the Messiah's arrival as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, (Jn 1:29), that Israelite believer thereupon confessed his sins, (Pr 28:13; 1 Jn 1:9), and was water baptized by John in the Jordan River. This water baptism was declared as a baptism of repentance, symbolic of changing one’s mind from not believing to faith alone in Christ alone as Messiah/Savior, (Acts 19:4). This baptism was symbolic of the Israelite believer's identification of national Israel with our Lord and His Kingdom which was to be ushered in had all Israel accepted Him as Messiah, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, hence John's statement, 'The Kingdom of God is near']
(v. 7) But when he [John] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
(v. 8) Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."
Notice that producing fruit and repentance are two different things. One repents, i.e., believes in the Messiah Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins so as to gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven and after that one is to produce fruit, i.e., godly behavior.
So the command is to produce fruit, i.e., change the behavior in keeping with the change of mind = repentance from unbelief to belief. If repentance were the same as producing fruit then this verse would make no sense: "produce fruit in keeping with producing fruit???
So John's message (and our Lord's message at first) of repentance was limited to the people of Israel and it was related to the coming of their Messiah Jesus Christ in Whom John exhorted Israel to repent/believe Him as "The Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world" unto the forgiveness of sins. Upon the nation Israel accepting her Messiah/Savior, the Kingdom would commence on earth. But Israel inevitably rejected and crucified Him:
(v. 10) "He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.
(v. 11) He came to that which was His own [Israel], but his own did not receive Him."
(v. 6) "There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
(v. 7) He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through Him all men might believe.
(v. 8) He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light."
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
A) JOHN HIMSELF WAS NOT THE LIGHT - HE CAME ONLY AS A WITNESS TO THE LIGHT
"He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light" =
The author emphasizes in verse 8 that John is not the Light but a messenger of the Light. Evidently this has in view the possibility that some may consider John as the Light instead of only as a witness to the Light.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
"He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light" =
(v. 19) Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
(v. 20) He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ. "
(v. 21) They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
(v. 22) Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
(v. 23) John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "
[Notice that John has to make it clear that he is not the Prophet, i.e., the One Who is to come, the Messiah but John has to make it clear that he is the "one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord', i.e., the Prophet/Messiah to come]
(v. 6) "There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
(v. 7) He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through Him all men might believe.
(v. 8) He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light.
(v. 9) That was the True Light which gives light to every man was coming into the world."
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]:
"That was the True Light which gives light to every man" =
"Ouk En ekeinos ...to ..phOs all ................hina ....marturEsE .......peri ...tou phOtos"
"Not was that man the Light but was sent so that he might testify about the .Light"
It is further emphasized that the Word is the true Light Who gives light to every man, i.e., revelation/enlightenment of Who God is, that the Word is life, He created all things, (v. 3), and thus He is eternal life and makes it available to all men. Evidently all anyone has to do is believe in Him for it.
Notice that the true Light "gives light" in the sense of shining the light of truth about God upon mankind to reveal Himself to man as the Word in Whom is eternal life to be received simply when one believes that fact.
This not to say that man receives some inner light or enlightment within himself; for it is John's testimony about the Light, the Word, Who has come into the world as a personal revelation to mankind as an individual human being for man to perceive and believe in Him.
Several verses later it becomes evident that man's inner condition in general has an incapacity to receive the Light. The phrase 'true Light' implies that there are false 'lights' that lead to untruths which pervade man's thinking especially relative to God and life and eternal life.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
(v. 18) "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
(v. 19) This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil."
(v. 20) Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
(v. 21) But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
[Light is portrayed as God's One and only Son, (v. 18) Who has come into the world and whose light, i.e., what He reveals by His thoughts, words and deeds is righteousness and truth. Light exposes and is the antithesis of the deeds of men which are inevitably evil. On the other hand, when men live by the truth, i.e., the Light, i.e., God's righteousness, this is done exclusively through God.
Those who do evil - the implication here is all men, love darkness, i.e., evil because their deeds are always evil. Everyone who does evil, i.e., all mankind hates the light and will not come into the light. They will not accept God's One and only Son, Who is the light of truth and God's righteousness because He exposes their evil deeds]
(v. 6) "There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
(v. 7) He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through Him all men might believe.
(v. 8) He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light.
(v. 9) That was the True Light which gives light to every man was coming into the world."
[OBSERVATION FROM THE TEXT AT HAND]:
"He himself [John] was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light. That was the True Light which gives light to every man was coming into the world." =
The true Light, the Word, entered the world in past history, (hence the phrase "was coming into the world), in a unique way at the time when John was created by and sent from God to announce this entry. The kind of entry implied is one in which mankind can use its senses to perceive Who the Word is and believe in Him unto eternal life.
(v. 7) He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through Him all men might believe.
(v. 8) He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light.
(v. 9) That was the True Light which gives light to every man was coming into the world.
(v. 10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him."
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
"The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him." =
In view is a presence of the Word which came into the world in past history at the time of John such that He was recognizable by men. Notice that verses 4-8 stipulate that the Word is the true Light, the revelation of God and eternal life to men Who "was coming into the world" as announced by John that men might believe in Him, (v. 7), which necessitates being able to be recognized.
This implies that the Word entered the world in a form at John's time in history such that mankind had the capacity to recognize Him, pointing to a human form, a GodMan, Who demonstrated His capacity as Man and Creator God in order to be recognized and believe in Him unto eternal life.
Notice that this could not be the omnipresence of God, because that presence in the world has always been from the beginning. The presence in view here has a beginnning at the time of John's creation and presence in the world.
B) EVEN THOUGH THE WORLD WAS MADE THROUGH THE WORD, THE WORLD DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM
"The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him." =
It is made clear here that even though the Word is Creator and appeared in history in His creation, yet the world did not recognize Him. This further implies that the Word did appear in the world in a recognizable form and should have been recognized but mankind's capacity to recognize Him was hindered for some unspecified reason(s) which will be corroborated later.
(v. 9) "The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
(v. 10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.
(v. 11) He came to that which was His own, [and] His own did not receive Him.
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
(v. 10) "He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. (v. 11) He came to that which was His own" =
"eis ta .idia ...............elthen"
"To his own [things] He came"
The word "idia" is a plural adjective, in the neuter gender. It cannot refer solely to His own people which would have to be masculine, singular; nor to His own world, which is singular. Hence the true Light came into the world, (v. 10), to His own [plural], which were His own, the things of His world which were made through Him, His rulership, His kingdom, all peoples not just a particular people.
"He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to [those things, plural] which were His own and His own [people, singular] did not receive Him." =
"eis ta ...idia .elthen .....kai oi ....idioi auton ou .parelabon"
"To His own .He came and His . own .Him ..not received" =
The Word came to His own, [neuter, plural] in personal self-disclosure to His world - His kingdom, His peoples;
and His own ["oi idios" = masculine, singular] did not receive, i.e., recognize and believe in Him to become children of God, (v. 13).
Notice the conjunction "and" which joins the two phrases of verse 11, rather than "but" as some translations have rendered"kai". The conjunction "but" would signify that "His own" [neuter, plural] is the same as "His own" [masculine,singular]. But this is not the case. The conjunction "and", on the other hand, permits the distinction already afforded by the difference between the two "His own"'s
The second "His own" points to a single entity of His own which has the capacity to receive the Word or not, i.e., a group of people especially identified as His own which group did not receive Him which would have resulted in them becoming children of God, (v. 13).
Note that the Greek word for "people" = "laon" is masculine, singular. Later on in the corroboration stage, other passages will be reviewed which indicate that the particular group defined as "His own" people which did not receive Him was Israel.
3) 'HIS OWN' [PEOPLE] IMPLIES THAT HE, THE WORD, WAS IN HUMAN FORM IN ORDER TO BE ONE OF A PEOPLE
(v. 10) "He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. (v. 11) He came to that [= those things] which were His own, [and] His own [people] did not receive Him." =
'His own' [people] implies that He, the Word, was in human form in order to be one of a people - to be corroborated later as an Israelite.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
4) ISAIAH PREDICTED ISRAEL'S REJECTION OF OUR LORD
(v. 1) "Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
(v. 2) He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
(v. 3) He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
Notice that the question "Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" is as indicated in verse 3 which follows: "He was despised and rejected by men" Evidently men did not believe the message - even His own people.
(v. 9) "The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
(v. 10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.
(v. 11) He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe on His name, He gave the right to become children of God -"
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
A) TO RECEIVE HIM (THE WORD) IS TO BELIEVE IN HIS NAME
"He came to [those things which were] His own, and His own [people] did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name" =
The Greek text of verse 12 literally reads:
"hosoi de ............elabon ..auton edOken .autois ...exousian tekna ......theou
"But as many as received Him ...He gave to them authority children of God
genesthai tois ...............pisteuousin eis to onoma autou"
to be ........to those that believe ........on .....name ..His"
Notice that to receive Him - the 'Word', (v. 1); 'Who was God in the beginning', (v. 1); 'through Him all things were made', (v. 3); 'in Him was life', (v. 4); the 'True Light', (v. 9); is stipulated here: to believe on His name which implies a reception of eternal life.
"He came to [those things which were] His own, and His own [people] did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name" =
It is implied here that every single individual has available to him the opportunity to believe in His name to receive Him, i.e., eternal life; not just one group or a select few. There is a distinct absence of restriction, hence no one throughout history can be excluded as not having the opportunity to receive the Word unto eternal life by believing in His name. This corroborates the doctrine of unlimited atonement.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
"He [Jesus Christ] is the atoning sacrifice [satisfaction] for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe on His name" =
To believe on the name of someone is to trust, rely or have faith in one's capacity and trustworthiness to some end such that that end will be successfully fulfilled.
Since it has already been stipulated that the Word is Life and in Him is Life eternal and that He is eternal and God, then to receive Him is to receive eternal life.
So to believe on the name of the Word toward the end of receiving Him unto eternal life is to trust in His capacity and trustworthiness to provide that reception.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
E) TO BELIEVE ON HIS NAME IS TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE
"But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."
[Notice that those who believe on Christ receive eternal life]
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe on His name" =
Notice that "received" is "elabon", aorist tense, a completed action verb; and "those who believe" is "tois posteuousin", a dative, plural masculine participle for noun, lit., 'to those who are the believing ones', - a noun. Hence those that "believe" on His name to become a believer receive a completed action of receiving the Word in a moment's time unto eternal life. So what is in view is a moment of faith alone in the name of the Word alone unto the reception of the Word in one, i.e., eternal life forever because it is a completed action and only requires a moment of believing to become the believing one and eternal life lasts forever once received in that completed action.
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe on His name, He gave the right to become children of God" =
"the right" = Gk "exousian", the power, authority, right.
At the moment of belief on the name of the Word, God gave believers the authority, power and right to become children of God, i.e., the status of being children of God. This is an being extremely worthy right or status because it comes from God. The passage implies that this right is immediately effective and implemented by believers. Otherwise, one might ask the question as to why one would believe on the Word in the first place, if not to exercise ones authority as a child of God once it was received. The next verse corroborates this. Certainly the first thing a believer usually does is to exercise his right as a child of God by praying a prayer of thanksgiving for receiving the Word, i.e., eternal life.
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe on His name, He gave the right to become children of God" =
What is implied here is that before one believes on the name of the Word, one is not a child of God, i.e., in the family of God.
(v. 11) "He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -
(v. 13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent" =
The word "natural" here refers to the physical, i.e., the natural world wherein physical births occur. So the phrase "children born not of natural descent" refers to children not of physical birth, but born of another sphere: the spiritual one.
The phrase "natural descent" refers to children not born in the manner in which physical births occur in the natural world: children who are a product of their physical ancestors - their seed, their features and other characteristics. This kind of childhood via such a natural descendancy is not in view when a child of God is being referred to in this passage. What is in view are children born in the spiritual world of descent from God Who is Spirit. Hence the phrase "children of God."
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent" =
All mankind consists of children born of natural descent, but only those of mankind who have believed on the name of the Word have the right, power and authority to become another kind of child: a child of God as well - both.
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision nor a husband's will, but born of God." =
Becoming a child of God is not as a result of any human decision; but being physically born is dependent upon human decision, i.e., the decision to have sexual relations.
D) BECOMING A CHILD OF GOD IS NOT DUE TO THE WILL OF THE HUSBAND TO BEGET CHILDREN
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision nor a husband's will, but born of God." =
Becoming a child of God is not due to the will of the husband to beget children, (reflecting the masculine outlook on family life in New Testament times in that part of the world). This will on the husband's part to beget children obviously precedes the sexual union and the development of the child in the womb.
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision nor a husband's will, but born of God." =
Three phrases cover the stages of reproduction which are stipulated as specifically excluded from being required by one to receive the right to become a child of God:
1) The original text of the first phrase is literally translated: "who not of bloods....were born." The forming of the child in the womb through the mixing of the parents' "aimaton" = "bloods"; i.e. an ancient expression which means that natural procreation involves the mixing of bloods - that is to say that it is what we know today as through inherited genes.
2) The second phrase "nor of will of the flesh.." which is rendered in the NIV "nor of human decision..." means nor by the sexual union. The sexual union preceds the "mixing of bloods" - or the "natural descent" or the forming of the child in the womb.
3) And the third phrase "nor of will of man.." is rendered "nor of a husband's will..." in the NIV. The Greek word "andpos" in this phrase = man referring to the husband.
XIII cont.) [Jn 1:11-13 cont.]:
(v. 11) "He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -
(v. 13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."
F) ONE IS BORN OF GOD IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE RIGHT TO BECOME A CHILD OF GOD
"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision nor a husband's will, but born of God." =
Evidently to become a child of God is via becoming born of God as opposed to anything to do with the natural world, human decision, a husband's will and this was as a result of believing in the name of the Word in order to receive the Word.
(v. 4) "In him was
life, [eternal life
] and that life was the light of men.... (v. 12) Yet to all who received
Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become
children of God-- (v. 13) children born not of natural descent, nor of
human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
Since the Word is eternal life then to receive Him by believing in His name and becoming born of God is to receive eternal life.
H) REGENERATION DOES NOT PRECEDE FAITH IN HIS NAME
Notice that those that insist that regeneration precedes faith find themselves refuted when observing the context of Jn 1:12-13:
Verse 12 declares that one who received Christ, (aorist), was given (aorist) the right to become a child of God, (aorist infinitive) - to the ones who are believers in Christ, (dative, present participle = a noun)!
Verse 13 then continues this context stipulating that those in view in v. 12, i.e., children of God, are that those that became born of God, (aorist) which viewing back to v. 12 became children of God when they believed. Hence believing came first then one became a child of God, born of God. One can hardly become born of God then believe in order to become a child of God, for being born of God is paralleled here with being a child of God. The image itself would be absurd if one insisted that one is born of God but not yet a child of God!
(v. 11) "He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -
(v. 13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
"The Word became flesh" =
To the individual living 2000 years ago, especially the Jew, a word represented a deed done even a person. So a word spoken then was a deed done! Thus one was prepared for the thought that the Word -the "Logos" of God - could be seen, touched and heard in the world. Hence the "Logos" Who is God would find expression in a human life and "became flesh" and enter as such into the physical world for all man to get to know.
Flesh here is not sinful flesh, but an expression of being a human being in the physical world, inferring that the Word was not of humanity in the physical world up to that point.
"kai o ..logoß .sarx egeneto"
"and the Word flesh became"
Note the absence of the article with the predicate substantive "sarx", so that it cannot mean "the flesh became the Word." The Pre-existence of the Word has already been plainly stated and established in previous verses. John does not say here say that the Word entered into a man or dwelt in a man or filled a man, but that the Word became flesh.
(v. 4) "In Him was life and that life was the Light of men." (v. 9) "The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world." (v. 10) "He was in the world... and the world did not recognize Him...." (v. 11) "He came to His own [things] but His own [people] did not receive Him..." (v. 14) "The Word became flesh" (cont.) =
Just as verse 4 indicates that the Word was the Light of men, and verse 9 indicates that the True Light gives light to every man was coming into the world and verse 10 stipulates that the Word was in the world and verse 11 indicates that the Word came into the world to His own [things] but His own [people] did not receive Him,
so verse 14 stipulates that the Word became flesh, i.e., added humanity to His being, His essence; and in this manner came into the world so that He indeed was able to be perceived as the Light of men, and be received by the world especially received by His own people.
This is not to say that the Word ceased to be the eternal God, Creator of all things, for One Who is eternal and the source of all life cannot cease to be eternal and take on immortality. Hence the Word continued to be eternal and at a specific time in history added to Himself mortal humanity.
[The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Walvoord & Zuck, Eds, Victor Books, USA, 1988, p. 273]:
"[The Word] did not merely 'appear' like a man; He became one.... Humanity, in other words, was added to [the Word's] deity. And yet [the Word], in becoming 'flesh,' did not change; ...the Word became (egeneto) should be understood as 'took to Himself' or 'arrived on the scene as.' "
C) THE WORD WAS NOT MADE FLESH NOR CREATED FLESH BUT BECAME FLESH, I.E., ADDED HUMANITY TO HIMSELF
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
"was made" = The King James translation version is rendered from the Greek word = "egeneto". This translation in the King James Bible could possibly be interpreted that our Lord was created in the flesh and therein began His existence. It is not an especially accurate translation of John's chosen word "egeneto". Rather, our Lord Himself chose to become flesh and that is what the Greek says: "egeneto" = "became." So the Word, Who was in the beginning - Who is eternal - Who is God - "became", (not "was made" or created in) flesh, and dwelt among us. So now all of the attributes of God in the Word became present in history adding humanity to Himself.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
D) JESUS CHRIST SET ASIDE THE EXERCISING OF HIS ESSENCE AS GOD AND ADDED TO HIMSELF HUMANITY
1) [Compare Phil 2:5-8 N.A.S.]:
(v. 5) "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
(v. 6) Who, although He subsisted in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
(v. 7) but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men.
(v. 8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
The main purpose of this passage is to exhort the believer to emulate the humility and servitude of our Lord as exemplified by His humbling Himself by setting aside the exercising of His essence as God in order to function as a Perfect Man so that He could then pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world.
Objectors to Phil 2:5-8 being a proof text of the diety of Christ maintain that all this passage says is that Christians should not be motivated by self will but to be meek and obedient like Christ; Who although existing in the form of a god like Almighty God was not ambitious to become equal to his Father. Scripture clearly refutes this statement. Let's examine this passage in the light of Who it says Jesus Christ really is.
(v. 5 NAS) "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
(v. 6 NAS) Who, although subsisting in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
(v. 6 K.J.V.) "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:"
"os ....en .........morphu ....Theou .huparchon"
"Who in [the] form ..........of God subsisting
ouch arpagmon egesato ...to
not ...robbery ...esteemed it
elnai .isa ...TheO
to be equal with God
["Who" = refers to Jesus Christ, (v. 5)]
["being" or "subsisting" = "huparchon" = subsisting, existing.
Vines, (op. cit., p. 60), states:
["huparchon" from the verb] "huparcho"......denotes to be, to be in existence, involving an existence or condition both previous to the circumstances mentioned and continuing after it."
This word "huparchon"
= subsisting, existing was selected instead of the Greek word "eimi"
which means to be, or a status of being. The word "huparchon" is
in the present tense participle form which refers to the ongoing continual
status of Jesus Christ in the present. And it is in the active voice
meaning that our Lord chose to retain this state of subsistence. The
participle form is used here as a statement of truth. It implies much more
than just being, it indicates a continuous existence - one which in the
context is a continuous existence of Deity, therefore it is an eternal
existence. Note that since God is immutable, then having and losing an
existence as God is out of the question. Finally, "huparchon"
indicates that our Lord existed as God when He became a Man and continued
to exist as God while He now also exists as a Man. So here is what this
verse is saying: 'Jesus Christ had a continuous state of existence in the
form of Almighty God in eternity past before He took on the form of a
human body. And He continues to exist as God while He exists as a human
being.'
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
(v. 9) "The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. (v. 10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. (v. 11) He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him..(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us..." =
"kai .ho ..logos sarx .egeneto kai .eskEnOsen ..en ........hEmin"
"and the Word flesh became and dwelt ............among .us" =
The Word having added to Himself humanity thereupon made His dwelling "among us", literally, "tented" or "tabernacled" among us, [mankind]. He dwelt among us in His newly acquired human tent as one of us - fully human, yet at the same time, remained the eternal God Who is the Word.
[BKC, cont.]:
"In the Greek the word's 'made His dwelling, i.e., lived among us'... [i.e.,].. The word 'lived' is 'eskEnOsen', from "skEnoO" ('tabernacle')."
Verse 14: "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us" corroborates vv. 9-11. Verses 9-11 have in view someone coming into the world, being in the world in a recognizable mode; neither being recognized nor received even by His own people all of which point to His humanity:
"The Word, the True Light [Who]was coming into the world", (v. 9); "[Who] was in the world and [Who] the world did not recognize..." (v. 10); "[Who] came to His own [things on earth] and [Whose] own [people] did not receive [believe in Him to become children of God and receive eternal life]" (v. 11).
XIV cont.) [Jn 1:11-14 cont.]:
(v. 11) "He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -
(v. 13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father" =
"kai .ho ..logos sarx .egeneto kai .eskEnOsen ..en ........hEmin
"and the Word flesh became and dwelt ............among .us
kai etheasametha tEn doxan autou doxan hOs ...monogenous
and we have seen.the..glory ..His ....glory .as the one and only
para ......Patros" .
from the Father"
Since God is the Word then the glory of the Word Who is stipulated as having come from the Father relative to His humanity, is the glory of God which is the expression of the honor, power & holiness of God. This glory was able to be seen by man evidently as a result of the Word in His humanity as He made His dwelling among mankind in history. Author John expresses this seeing of the glory of God in the Word as a personal experience amongst others who evidently shared this experience of beholding the glory of God in the humanity of the Word. Other passages may be consulted to determine the specific events in which the Word indeed expressed the glory of God in His humanity.
The manifested glory of the Word in His humanity is the glory of God the Father. Note that the Word in His Diety has always possessed the glory of God, being God as previously established earlier in this passage. When the Word became humanity He manifested the glory of God.
(v. 14) "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father", cont. =
"kai etheasametha tEn doxan autou doxan hOs ...monogenous
"and we have seen.the..glory ..His ....glory .as the one and only
para ......patros"
from the Father" =
"monogenous" = "unique" = "one and only" is a genetive, singular, masculine adjective consisting of the Greek prefix "mono" = "one" and "genous" from the Greek verb infinitive "ginomai" which means to cause to be. The stem of this word "monogenous" is "gEne" = "One Who is". So "monogenous" = the only one who is, i.e., the "one and only". Notice: only one "n" occurs in the verb "ginomai" and only one "n" occurs in the form of this verb which the Apostle John uses in this verse: "genous"; hence "monogenous" is not derived from the Greek verb "gennao" - to procreate, beget. Notice the two "n"'s in this verb. One verb, meaning to cause to be, (unique), has one "n" and the other, meaning to beget has two. So the word "monogenous" means "the only One Who is" or "the unique One"
Note that this is not to say that the Word is not the only begotten of God, just that it isn't stipulated in this particular verse.
The Word is in view here as having become, i.e., adding to Himself humanity as a one and only creation from the Father, i.e., the unique Son of the Father, eternal God and human being at the same time.
[BKC, cont., p. 273]:
"[The Word] is the Son of God in a sense totally different from a human who believes and becomes a child of God..... [a] Sonship [which] is unique for He is eternal and is of the same essence as the Father."
XIV cont.) [Jn 1:11-14 cont.]:
(v. 11) "He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -
(v. 13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... (v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." =
God the Father and the Word are in view in verse 14 and have been in view since verse 1 as God, two Personalities of God: God [the Father] and the Word.
Furthermore, the Word is stipulated as the one and only Who came from the Father, referring to the Word in His humanity.
So the stipulation in verse 14 "The Word... Who came from the Father" indicates that the Word became flesh, i.e., added to Himself Humanity from the Father, i.e., under the sovereignty and auspices of the Father. Evidently we have a line of authority in the Godhead indicated here.
I) THE WORD IS FULL OF GRACE - THE GRACE OF SALVATION AND THE WHOLE OF THE GRACE OF GOD
(v. 4) "In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men. (v. 5) The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not [overpowered] it....(v. 10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. (v. 11) He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him. (v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe on His name, He gave the right to become children of God -.... (v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." =
Grace is unmerited favor, undeserved blessing. It is the principle upon which life comes. The principle by which the Word created all things. Hence the Word is full of grace. Notice that mankind is pictured in this passage as darkness. The Word made the world and everything that was in it and is the source of eternal life, the Light of man illuminating to the world as to Who God is. Yet He was rejected by man who is in darkness. Hence the world is pictured without merit and deserving nothing but condemnation, yet verse 12 pictures the grace of God at work amongst undeserving mankind by making available the capacity to become children of God, born of God unto eternal life by receiving the Word through faith alone in the Word alone. This is grand evidence that the Word was indeed full of grace.
J) THE WORD IS FULL OF TRUTH - THE ETERNAL TRUTHS OF GOD AND WHO HE IS
(v. 4) "In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men. (v. 5) The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not [overpowered] it....(v. 10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. (v. 11) He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him. (v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe on His name, He gave the right to become children of God... (v.13) ...born of God.... (v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." =
From verses 4 & 5 it is evident that the Word Who is God was Life and the Light of men from the beginning - the revelation of Who God is and eternal life. The Word is stipulated there as the Light of men, testifying as to Who God is and that He is and provides eternal life. Yet the world is generally characterized as darkness, at enmity with the Light of men, the Word, (v. 5).
Verses 10-11 corroborate the fact that many rejected the Word, i.e., did not receive the Word, especially His own people, in order to become children of God and have eternal life, (v. 12). It is clear that the Word became the personification in the flesh of eternal truth and eternal life, the revelation of God to mankind.
(v. 11) '''He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -
(v. 13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' " '''
[OBSERVATIONS OF THE TEXT AT HAND]
(v. 6) '''There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. (v. 7) He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through Him all men might believe. (v. 8) He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light......(v. 9) That was the True Light which gives light to every man was coming into the world. (v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' " ''' =
Notice that the context of the passage has already established that John [the Baptist] was sent from God as a witness to testify concerning the Light, the Word Who was coming into the world in history in His humanity during John's [the Baptist's] lifetime; so that through the Word in His humanity all men might believe in Him and receive Him unto eternal life. The passage has made it clear that John [the Baptist] himself was not the Light, but came only as a witness to the Light.
Verse 15 then provides specific details of what John [the Baptist] said to fulfill this godly testimony wherein it says ''' He [John the Baptist] cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' " ''' Notice that the humanity of the Word is declared younger in time than John yet he speaks of the prexistence and surpassing quality of the Word, i.e., His eternality which John says "was before me".
The last phrase in verse 15:
"'''He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.''' especially testifies that this is the Son of God for it states that although our Lord in His humanity came after John the Baptist in time on the earth, He was, ("en" = "continually was"), before him, (cp Jn 1:1). This of course refers to our Lord's eternal existence and His diety. John is a finite being - our Lord is the infinite God the Son. Ancient understanding would place John the Baptist in precedence over our Lord because people from antiquity viewed earlier prophets to be the superior ones. Not so in this case - as surely testified to by John the Baptist himself.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
A) JESUS CLAIMS AN ETERNAL EXISTENCE AND DIETY CORROBORATING JOHN THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY ABOUT HIM
(v. 56) ''' "Your [the Jews of Jesus' day's] father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing My day; he saw it and was glad."
(v. 57) "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to Him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
(v. 58) "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
[Notice that Jesus used the phrase "I am" which is a claim to eternality and Diety. Recall that God declared this to Moses]:
(v. 13) '''Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
(v. 14) God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' " '''
(v. 11) '''He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -
(v. 13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.'''
[OBSERVATIONS OF THE TEXT AT HAND]
A) THE PHRASE "OF HIS FULLNESS" POINTS TO ALL THAT THE WORD IS, HIS ATTRIBUTES AS GOD AND MAN
(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..... (v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."..... (v. 16) "And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace." =
The phrase "of His fullness" points to all that the Word is, His attributes as God and Man. Verse 1 establishes that the Word is God - fully God. Verse 14 describes the glory of God manifest in the incarnate Word as "full of grace and truth." Picking up on the term full, John says in verse 16 that it is from this "fullness" that we have received even grace in place of grace.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
B) JESUS CHRIST HAS THE FULLNESS OF GOD WITHIN HIM
"For God was pleased to have all His fullness [the complete essences of diety] dwell [katoikesai = permanently reside] in Him [Jesus Christ], ..."
"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ."
These verses teach that all of the fullness of God resides in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God Himself, for ALL of the fullness of God resides in Him!
XVI cont.) [Jn 1:11-16 cont.]:
(v. 11) '''He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(v. 12) Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -
(v. 13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.'''
[OBSERVATIONS OF THE TEXT AT HAND, cont.]
"And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace" =
Notice that author John uses the phrase "we have all received", (cf. vv. 12-13) to reflect his experience and that of all individuals who have believed and become born of God, (vv. 12-13), of receiving of the fullness of the Word.
Notice the phrase "of His fullness", not 'of all His fullness', the former signifying a reception of His fullness but not all of what He is. So this is not to say that believers receive everything that the Word is.
What specific things John and the others received "of His fullness" is described as follows:
(v. 16b) "And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace," (v. 17) [and continuing this thought]: "For [because] the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ'''
So what follows in the next few phrases provides an insight to what he means "of His fullness we have all received".
"And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace" =
"Kai .ek ......tou plErOmatos autou hEmeis pantes elabomen kai ...charin
"And out of the fullness..........His ....we ........all .......received ..even..grace
anti ............charitos"
in place of..grace"
A literal translation of the last phrase of verse 16 should read:
"even grace in place of grace" because "anti" is correctly rendered "in place of".
Most translations including the NAS translate this as something on the order of "grace upon grace".
The NIV renders this:
"we have all received one blessing after another."
The KJV renders the entire verse:
"And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."
Author John has in view receiving of the fullness of the Word, one experience of grace after another much like ocean waves rolling up on the shore replacing one after the other.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
(v. 1) "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
(v. 2) in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
(v. 3) All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
(v. 4) But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
(v. 5) made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.
(v. 6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
(v. 7) in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
(v. 8) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
(v. 9) not by works, so that no one can boast.
[From vv. 1-5 we observe that the grace of God which saves one unto eternal life is motivated by God's great love for us and it is equated with the wholly undeserved mercy of God Who is rich in mercy . Verses 6-9 then proceed to add to the concept of God's saving grace by giving it a quality and bounty from God's incomparable riches and kindness. Salvation by grace is further described as a free gift, not of of yourselves, i.e., available without requiring anything of oneself, not of works at all - so that no one can boast, i.e., be in a position to boast.
From this passage we can conclude that grace is a blessing, a favor which excludes any human doing at any time and excludes any human merit at any time.
(v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.
(v. 17) For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ'''
[OBSERVATIONS OF THE TEXT AT HAND]
A) THE LAW WAS GIVEN TO MAN AS AN ACT OF GOD'S GRACE
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth..........(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace. (v. 17) For [because] the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ''' =
Notice that the word "for" [because] at the beginning of verse 17 further explains verses 14 through 16, especially verse 16, "And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace" which leads into verse 17 beginning with the word, "for" [because].
Verse 16 and 17 stipulate "And of His fullness we have all received, even [one bestowment of ] grace [which comes through Jesus Christ] in place of [a previous bestowment of grace - the Law]; for [because] the Law was given through Moses [one grace followed by another] grace and truth [which] came through Jesus Christ.
So the giving to mankind of the Law through Moses is an act of grace.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth..........(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace. (v. 17) For [because] the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ''' =
The Law was given to mankind through Moses as an act of grace, i.e., unmerited favor by God according to the phrase "even grace in place of grace" in verse 16. The Law is something mankind did not deserve but which God nevertheless provided - an act of grace.
(v. 19) "What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.
(v. 20) A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
(v. 21) Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart [eternal] life, then righteousness would certainly have come by law [no def. article, hence any law or rules to live by including the Law].
(v. 22) But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
(v. 23) Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.
(v. 24) So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith."
Notice that the Law was added so that everyone of the whole world comes face to face with ones trangressions. Transgressions are deliberate violations of the statutes of the Law, God's standard of righteousness. This presents us with the impossibility of fulfilling the standards of the Law wherein we face eternal condemnation; and it brings us to the mercy of God "to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" in Him for salvation unto eternal life. Hence the Law is a gracious act of God for the whole world.
(v. 19) "Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God"
(v. 20) "Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in His [God's] sight by observing the Law; rather through the Law we become conscious of sin.
(v. 21) But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
(v. 22) This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference"
[Harrison, Expositor's Bible Commentary, "Romans", p.39-40]:
"When human achievement is measured against what God requires, there is no place for pride or boasting but only for silence that lends consent to the verdict of guilty......... ......Justification before God [which is an individual's 'ticket' into heaven and eternal life] cannot be attained by attempted observance of the Law"
Every mouth of the whole world is silenced before the Law, not just Israel for v. 19 stipulates that because of the Law the whole world [is] held accountable to God. God's standard of righteousness as reflected by the Law then is effective in its purpose: "Through the Law we [all mankind] become conscious of sin [leading one to faith in Christ
The Law was an absolutely gracious thing that God gave to the nation Israel. They didn't deserve it - no nation, no man - deserved or deserves any mercy from God - considering their contamination with sin. But God in His infinite mercy provided the gift of the Law for the nation Israel as a standard of the perfect righteousness an individual needed to perfectly keep in order to enter the kingdom of God. It served to remind man that he must turn to God's grace - God's unmerited favor - God's mercy - for his salvation rather than to attempt to keep the Law in order to go to heaven.
It was a blessing to have a mirror of absolute perfection of the righteousness of God reflected by the Law by which a man can truly see how far short he falls in being good enough to go to heaven on his own merit...thus convincing him to trust solely and completely on the mercy of God - in His provision of salvation as a grace gift!!! Before God gave Israel the gift of the Law there was no Law and man had no measure of the absolutely perfect standard that he must live up to in order to please God. Man had no absolute concept of wrong doing of sin, (Ro 7:7-13). Man had no idea how far short he came - and hence many men deluded themselves with their own acceptability and did not seek God's mercy which is the only route to eternal life]
XVII cont.) [Jn 1:14-17 cont.]:
(v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.
(v. 17) For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ'''
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY, cont.]:
(v. 19) "What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.
[Verse 19 stipulates that the Law's purpose was to expose transgressions by virtue of setting a standard of laws of behavior by which men must abide in order to have eternal life which would be in effect condemning man until the Seed, the Messiah Jesus Christ through Whom the promise of eternal life will come]
(v. 20) A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
(v. 21) Is the Law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the Law.
[Verse 21 then establishes that the Law is absolutely not...opposed to the promises of God to impart righteousness to men unto eternal life. The phrase which follows explains this: "For [because] if a law [i.e., any set of rules to live by] could impart [eternal] life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the [Mosaic] Law". This implies that no matter what the set of rules to live by man cannot demonstrate obedience to to attain the righteousness required for eternal life. Hence the Law represents the standard of God's righteousness required to receive eternal life]
(v. 22) But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
(v. 23) Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.
(v. 24) So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith."
[Notice that God's promise of eternal life through the provision of the required righteousness was to be made available "through faith in Jesus Christ [that it] might be given to those who believe."
So faith in Christ provides His righteousness to those who believe which is the righteousness God requires [it is absolute, not lacking in anything] as reflected by the Law. Hence the Law is indeed a picture of Christ's righteousness.
(v. 19) "Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God"
(v. 20) "Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in His [God's] sight by observing the Law; rather through the Law we become conscious of sin.
(v. 21) But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
(v. 22) This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference"
The phrases "Those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God" and "No one will be declared righteous in His [God's] sight by observing the Law" imply that the Law is God's standard of absolute righteousness which silences every man, woman and child who would try to have a righteousness of his own. In a figurative sense the Law is the perfect righteousness of Christ Who by the grace of God came to provide that righteousness in every man who believes, (Gal 3:24)
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
Notice that in Christ, i.e., through faith in Him who had no sin, i.e., was perfectly and absolutely righteous, we become that righteousness of God which is Christ's.
XVII cont.) [Jn 1:14-17 cont.]:
(v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.
(v. 17) For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ'''
[OBSERVATIONS OF THE TEXT AT HAND, (cont.) ]:
(v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth"................(v. 16) "And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace. (v. 17) For [because] the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ''' =
Verse 14 stipulates that the Word become flesh and made His dwelling among mankind. It goes on to say "we have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father full of grace and truth". Hence what was seen by author John and others was a demonstration of God's fullness of grace and truth in the flesh. So the phrase "full of grace and truth" describes the Word, named as Jesus Christ in verse 17. Verses 16-17 then stipulate "And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace. The Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The "grace and truth which came through Jesus Christ" thus replaced the previous act of grace providing the Law through Moses.
XVII cont.) [Jn 1:14-17 cont.]:
(v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.
(v. 17) For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ'''
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth..........(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace. (v. 17) For [because] the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ''' =
The Law was given to mankind through Moses as an act of grace, i.e., unmerited favor by God according to the phrase "even grace in place of grace" in verse 16. The Law is something mankind did not deserve but which God nevertheless provided - an act of grace.
(v. 19) "What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.
(v. 20) A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
(v. 21) Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart [eternal] life, then righteousness would certainly have come by law [no def. article, hence any law or rules to live by including the Law].
(v. 22) But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
(v. 23) Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.
(v. 24) So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith."
Notice that the Law was added so that everyone of the whole world comes face to face with ones trangressions. Transgressions are deliberate violations of the statutes of the Law, God's standard of righteousness. This presents us with the impossibility of fulfilling the standards of the Law wherein we face eternal condemnation; and it brings us to the mercy of God "to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" in Him for salvation unto eternal life. Hence the Law is a gracious act of God for the whole world.
(v. 19) "Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God"
(v. 20) "Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in His [God's] sight by observing the Law; rather through the Law we become conscious of sin.
(v. 21) But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
(v. 22) This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference"
[Harrison, Expositor's Bible Commentary, "Romans", p.39-40]:
"When human achievement is measured against what God requires, there is no place for pride or boasting but only for silence that lends consent to the verdict of guilty......... ......Justification before God [which is an individual's 'ticket' into heaven and eternal life] cannot be attained by attempted observance of the Law"
Every mouth of the whole world is silenced before the Law, not just Israel for v. 19 stipulates that because of the Law the whole world [is] held accountable to God. God's standard of righteousness as reflected by the Law then is effective in its purpose: "Through the Law we [all mankind] become conscious of sin [leading one to faith in Christ
The Law was an absolutely gracious thing that God gave to the nation Israel. They didn't deserve it - no nation, no man - deserved or deserves any mercy from God - considering their contamination with sin. But God in His infinite mercy provided the gift of the Law for the nation Israel as a standard of the perfect righteousness an individual needed to perfectly keep in order to enter the kingdom of God. It served to remind man that he must turn to God's grace - God's unmerited favor - God's mercy - for his salvation rather than to attempt to keep the Law in order to go to heaven.
What a blessing to have a mirror of absolute perfection in the Law by which a man can truly see how far short he falls in being good enough to go to heaven on his own merit...thus convincing him to trust solely and completely on the mercy of God - in His provision of salvation as a grace gift!!! Before God gave Israel the gift of the Law there was no Law and man had no measure of the absolutely perfect standard that he must live up to in order to please God. Man had no absolute concept of wrong doing of sin, (Ro 7:7-13). Man had no idea how far short he came - and hence many men deluded themselves with their own acceptability and did not seek God's mercy which is the only route to eternal life]
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND, cont.]:
(v. 16) "And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace. (v. 17) For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ'''
Verse 16 and 17 stipulate "And of His fullness we have all received, even [one bestowment of ] grace [which comes through Jesus Christ] in place of [a previous bestowment of grace - the Law]; for [because] the Law was given through Moses [one grace followed by another] grace and truth [which] came through Jesus Christ. Notice that grace and truth all the more come through Jesus Christ.
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER TESTIMONY, cont.]:
[Dr Renald E Showers comments, (Professor, Phila. College of Bible, 'Israel My Glory' periodical, Dec/Jan 87/88, 'The Grace Administration of God's Moral Absolutes,' p.23): "For the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ"]:
Dr Showers states relative to this verse:
'John was teaching that during His first coming Jesus brought into being a new form of divine grace which had not existed in Old Testament times.'
In the phrase "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ", Dr Showers goes on to say, 'the verb which is translated "came" means "come to be, become, originate" Thus John was saying that some form of grace came into being or originated through Jesus Christ during His first coming.'
With reference to the phrase from verse 16, "for of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace", Dr Showers states, 'Again the implication seems to be that during His first coming Jesus enlarged grace by adding a new from of it to all those forms of grace which had already existed during Old Testament times...John 1:17 seems to imply that the new form of grace which originated through Jesus was intended to serve as the contrasting replacement of the Law which God gave through Moses. In other words, the new form of grace was to have the same basic function as the Law, but it was to fulfill that function in a significantly different way from the Law. In light of this it is important to note that the Mosaic Law never functioned as a means of eternal salvation. No person has ever been justified through the Law (Rom 3:28; Gal 2:16, 21; 3:11). In fact, instead of saving people, the Law was a ministry of condemnation, death and wrath (2 Cor 3:7, 9; Rom 4:15) to those who were under it.'
Old Testament Jewish saints, being saved by grace through faith alone in the Messiah to come were not under the Law as a means of salvation but were under the Law as a rule of life, i.e., a way of receiving blessings, discipline, a way to follow in order to maintain fellowship with Almighty God.
'Although the Mosaic Law was never a means of eternal salvation, it did function as one particular way of God administering His eternal, moral absolutes. Since the new form of grace which originated through Christ was to have the same basic function as the Law, and since the Law functioned as a particular way of God administering His moral absolutes, then the new form of grace was also to function as a new, particular way of God administering His moral absolutes.
It would appear, then, that John was teaching the following in John 1:17: God established the Mosaic Law way of administering His eternal, moral absolutes through Moses, but Jesus Christ established grace as the new way of God administering His moral absolutes.'
"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."
So the Law was given as an act of grace by God through Moses as a way of life and a way of indicating to man just what kind of a person one must be in order to have eternal life in heaven and be in fellowship with God. But without the supernatural intervention of God the Holy Spirit, eternal life and maintaining fellowship with God is impossible for man - even when a behavior code like the Mosaic Law is spelled out for man to follow. This is so because man is so contaminated by the sin nature that even the human good that he does is tainted at the very least by impure motives. Those individuals today and those in Old Testament who realized this came to the conclusion that they needed mercy from God, not a set of rules to live by in order to have eternal life and fellowship with Him. They needed a Savior Who would pay the penalty for their contaminated condition and the sins coming out of it. They needed to have their contaminated natures replaced with a perfect righteousness from God. Adam knew this, so did Abraham, Moses and all saints on down through the ages. So our Lord perfectly lived by and fulfilled the moral absolutes of the Law of Moses. By the perfect way He led His life culminating on the cross, He provided for man what man could not provide for himself. Our Lord brought the promised new kind of grace, i.e., a new kind of unmerited blessing to man - a grace by which man is given eternal life as a gift if an individual would only trust in Christ to receive it as a gift. This new kind of grace also provides the believer at the point of faith with the indwelling Holy Spirit Who enables the believer who chooses to trust in the Spirit to live that moment in godliness - that moment of trust being initiated by the believer's study and trust in applicable teaching from the Bible, (Eph 5:25-27).
[Dr Shower continues, (op cit, p. 24)]:
'The third passage which indicates that Jesus established grace as the new way of God administering His moral absolutes is Titus 2:11-14. Paul wrote:
(v. 11) "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
(v. 12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present age,
(v. 13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God... ["kai" = "that is to say"]...our Savior, Jesus Christ,
(v. 14) Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people of His own, zealous of good works."
Paul's statement indicates several things. First, the grace of God has more than one function. One function is that of bringing eternal salvation to human beings, but another function is that of teaching Christians how to live.
Second, the way in which grace teaches Christians how to live is by functioning as a rule of life. The word which is translated "teaching" in Titus 2:12 '''denotes the upbringing and handling of the child which is growing up to maturity and which thus needs direction, teaching, instruction and a certain measure of compulsion in the form of discipline or even chastisement.'''*....'
[*'Georg Bertram, "paideuo," Theological Dictionary Of The New Testament, Vol. V, ed. by Gerhard Friedrich, trans. and ed. by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), p. 595']
...The term was used of '''activity directed to the moral and spiritual nurture and training of the child, to influence conscious will and action...'''**
[**Hermann Bremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon Of New Testament Greek, trans. by Wilian Urwick (4th English ed.; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1895), p. 812.]
'In other words, this form of teaching does far more than just impart precepts. It also disciplines in order to bring practice into conformity with the precept. Thus, it governs lifestyle and molds character. This means, then, that when Paul referred to this teaching activity of grace he was talking about grace functioning as a rule of life.
Third, Paul indicated that as a rule of life grace teaches Christians to reject a godless, worldly lifestyle and to practice a godly, righteous lifestyle. Since such a godly lifestyle would have to involve conformity to God's eternal, moral absolutes, and since as a rule of life grace works to produce such a lifestyle, then it would seem that this grace rule of life is an administration of God's eternal, moral absolutes.
Fourth, grace is the particular way of God administering His moral absolutes in this present age. Paul declared that grace is teaching believers to live godly lives "in this present age" (literally, "in the now age," v. 12). The fact that grace is teaching believers to live godly lives in this present age indicates that this teaching function of grace is also going on in this present age. The implication is that the grace administration of God's absolutes is distinctive to this present age.
Fifth, this grace administration of God's absolutes was established through Christ's first coming ministry [i.e., what He did on the cross]. Paul indicated this through two things. First, in Titus 2:11 he declared, "For the grace of God...hath appeared."
Second, in Titus 2:14 Paul taught that Jesus gave Himself (through death) for the purpose of obtaining a people whose lives would be characterized by freedom from lawlessness (literal translation of the term translated "iniquity") and by the kind of godly, righteous lifestyle which grace teaches Christians to have (v. 12). Since Christ died for the purpose of obtaining a people whose lifestyle is the same as that which grace teaches Christians to have, then it would appear that Christ's death played a key role in establishing that teaching function of grace.
Through these two things, then, Paul indicated that Christ established the grace way of God administering His moral absolutes through His first coming ministry.
XVII cont.) [Jn 1:14-17 cont.]:
(v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the one and only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.
(v. 17) For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ'''
G cont.) GOD ESTABLISHED THE MOSAIC LAW WAY OF ADMINISTERING HIS ETERNAL, MORAL ABSOLUTES THROUGH MOSES, BUT JESUS CHRIST ESTABLISHED GRACE AS THE NEW WAY OF GOD ADMINISTERING HIS MORAL ABSOLUTES, (cont.)
"For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" =
[Carson states, (op cit, pp. 133-134)]:
"The Law, i.e. the law-covenant, was given by grace, and anticipated the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ; now that He has come, that same prophetic law-covenant is necessarily superceded by that which it 'prophesied' would come.......................
But the Law that was given through Moses, [the Law was given to the people Israel by God through Moses....by God Who is Jesus Christ - the Second Person of the Godhead] and the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ (v.17), alike sprang from the fulness of the Word (v.16), whether in His preexistent oneness with the Father, or in His status as the Word-made-flesh. It is from that 'fulness' that we have received 'one grace replacing another.' "
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the One and only [God] Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.
(v. 17) For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
(v. 18) No one has ever seen God, [but] God the One and Only, Who is at the Father's side, [He] has made Him known.'''
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND]:
A) NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN GOD IN HIS ESSENCE WITH ONES PHYSICAL EYES
"No one has ever seen God" =
Since author John declares that no one has ever seen God, i.e., ever seen with the human physical eye, (notice the word "ever", an emphatic expression allowing for no exceptions), then we must conclude that God in His essence has indeed not been seen with the human physical eye. This does not exclude, however, certain phenonemon that would permit men to perceive some characteristic of God via dreams, visions, supernatural forms such as angels or human being or some other form of creation within their finite understanding.
No man has seen God at any time:
"Theon oudeis heOraken pOpote
"God ...no one has seen.....ever."
"heOraken" is perfect active indicative = conveying "No one has ever seen with the human physical eye."
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
B) GOD IS INVISIBLE ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE AND CANNOT BE SEEN WITH THE HUMAN PHYSICAL EYE
(v. 19) '''And the LORD said, "I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
(v. 20) But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
(v. 15) "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."
"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
(v. 46) "No one has seen the Father except the One Who is from God; only He has seen the Father."
C) MOSES 'SAW' GOD BUT NOT IN ALL HIS FULLNESS
(v. 19) '''And the LORD said, "I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
(v. 20) But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see Me and live."
[Notice that this corroborates Jn 1:18: "No one has seen God"
To see God's face is evidently to see Him fully in His essence & power - but that would be fatal]
(v. 21) Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.
(v. 22) When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
["cover you with My hand" = not an actual hand but a figurative hand for God is Spirit, (Jn 4:24), and in this particular instance He was not appearing in the form of a man. God is using figurative Hebrew language here to give Moses who has the finite mind of an ancient Hebrew the best understanding of how He will protect Moses from being exposed to His glory while He caused His goodness to pass by Moses in such a manner that Moses was described as being able to see God's 'back' and not His 'face']:
(v. 23) Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen." '''
[God, Who is Spirit, Who has no limits - Who is not limited by hands, or face or back, yet speaks to Moses as if He has human characteristics. This is so Moses will understand Him, not so that Moses would see that God has human parts.
So God permitted Moses to see finite evidence of the glory of God, i.e., His "back" ]
D) MOSES, ARRON, NADAB, ABIHU & SEVENTY ELDERS 'SAW' THE GOD OF ISRAEL
(v. 9) "Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up
(v. 10) and saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself."
[BKC, O.T., (op cit, p.146)]:
"Since no one can see God and live....they probably "saw the God of Israel" in the sense that they had a vision of Him.....
[The language of this passage indicates that they had a vision of Him in which they discerned Who He was. Apparently the sight was so grand and awesome that their eyes saw only below "His feet."
Throughout history certain men were given an opportunity to "see" God in the sense of seeing a vision of Him or appearance of Him in the form of a man, a burning bush, a cloud or a pillar of fire, etc. Only a part of the infinite essence of God is revealed to men in each case.
"Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; He stood at the entrance to the Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, He said, 'Listen to My words:
When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal Myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form [not the full essence] of the Lord.............. "
E) JACOB SAW GOD APPEARING AS AN ANGEL - HE DID NOT SEE GOD FACE TO FACE
(v. 22) ''' "That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
(v. 23) After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.
(v. 24) So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
(v. 25) When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
(v. 26) Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
(v. 27) The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered.
(v. 28) Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
[Notice that Jacob saw God appearing as an angel and struggled with Him; hence he did not see God face to face in all His essence]
F) ISAIAH 'SAW' A VISION OF THE LORD
(v. 1) "In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord [Jehovah God Almighty] sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the hem of His robe filling the temple."
(v. 5) "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
[Carson states, (op cit p. 134)]:
"The vision of the Lord seated on His throne that Isaiah saw was so vivid and terrifying, so close to the 'real thing,' even though it was but the hem of the Lord's garment that filled the temple, that he [Isaiah] could cry, (v. 5) 'Woe to me....I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.' "
G) SAMSON'S PARENTS WERE TERRIFIED WHEN THEY REALIZED THEY HAD 'SEEN' GOD
(v. 8) '''Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: "O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born."
(v. 9) God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.
(v. 10) The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!"
(v. 11) Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, "Are you the one who talked to my wife?" "I am," he said.
(v. 12) So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy's life and work?"
(v. 13) The angel of the LORD answered, "Your wife must do all that I have told her.
(v. 14) She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her."
(v. 15) Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you."
(v. 16) The angel of the LORD replied, "Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD."
[Notice that Manoah did not yet realize that it was the angel of the LORD]
(v. 17) Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"
(v. 18) He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding. "
(v. 19) Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched:
(v. 20) As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.
(v. 21) When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD.
(v. 22) "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"
[Note that seeing the Angel of the LORD is not the same as actually seeing God in all His glory]
(v. 23) But his wife answered, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this."
(v. 24) The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him,
(v. 25) and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.'''
[Notice that Samson’s parents were terrified when they realized they had seen God (Judges 13:22), but they had only seen Him appearing as an angel, not God in all His fullness and glory]
(v. 6) '''Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
(v. 7) If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him."
[Notice that seeing Jesus is to be interpreted as being provided with information which leads to knowing God. This cannot be interpreted as seeing God in all His fullness and glory]
(v. 8) Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
(v. 9) Jesus answered: "Don't you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
(v. 10) Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you are not just My own. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, Who is doing His work.
(v. 11) Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.'''
(v. 1) '''That which was from the beginning, Which we have heard, Which we have seen with our eyes, Which we have looked at and our hands have touched--This we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
(v. 2) The life appeared; we have seen It and testify to It, and we proclaim to you the Eternal Life, Which was with the Father and has appeared to us.'''
Notice that the Eternal Life Which was from the beginning and Which was with the Father is Jesus Christ Who is God, (cf Jn 1:1-2). Verse 2 goes on to say, "And He [God] has appeared to us.
Hence we have God appearing to John and the disciples in His humanity not in the fullness of the glory of His diety.
(v. 1) '''After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
(v. 2) There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. [cf Dan 7:9-10 below]
(v. 3) Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. MT
(v. 4) Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
(v. 5) While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
(v. 6) When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
(v. 7) But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid."
(v. 8) When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
(v. 9) As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
(v. 10) The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
(v. 11) Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.
(v. 12) But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."
(v. 13) Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.'''
(v. 9) "As I looked, "thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days [term for God] took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of His head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
(v. 10) A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened."
Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1,14) so when people saw Him even in when He was transfigured, they were seeing God. However, this is different than seeing God with all His glory and holiness displayed. People have seen visions of God, images of God, and appearances of God – but no one has ever seen God in all His fullness (cf. Exodus 33:20).
XVIII cont.) [Jn 1:14-18 cont.]:
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the One and only [God] Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.
(v. 17) For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
(v. 18) No one has ever seen God, [but] God the One and Only, Who is at the Father's side, [He] has made Him known.'''
[OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT AT HAND, cont.]:
I) THE CORRECT RENDERING IS "THE ONE AND ONLY GOD" AS OPPOSED TO "THE ONE AND ONLY SON"
"No one has ever seen God, [but] God the One and Only" =
The phrase "God the One and only" in 1:18 is unique to the New Testament in describing the Word, Jesus Christ. This rendering has come under question because there are some manuscripts that have "the One and only Son". The word "Son" was evidently substituted for the word "God" in manuscript copies to correct a perceived error in a current manuscript copy because it was probably thought that the word "Son" is what the author originally wrote since this was John's usual way of referring to our Lord.
On the other hand, the best old Greek manuscripts (Aleph B C L) and other reliable manuscripts have "[but] the One and only God." Considering the manuscript evidence "God" is undoubtedly the true text as follows:
"Theon oudeis heOraken pOpote .........'O .monogenEs ..Theos
"God ....no one has seen ...ever......[but] the One and only God
ho ....On eis ton kolpon tou ....patros .ekeinos exEgEsato"
Who .is ..in .the bosom .of the Father he .........declared [Him]"
[Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament]:
"The only begotten Son ("Ho monogenes Yios"). This is the reading of the Textus Receptus and is intelligible after "hOs monogenous para patros" (the only begotten from the Father) in verse 14. But the best old Greek manuscripts (Aleph B C L) read "HO .monogenEs..Theos" (God only begotten) which is undoubtedly the true text. Probably some scribe changed it to "Ho monogenes Yios" (the only begotten Son) to obviate the blunt statement of the deity of Christ and to make it like John 3:16. But there is an inner harmony in the reading of the old uncials. The Logos is plainly called Theos in verse 1. The Incarnation is stated in verse John 14, where he is also termed "monogenous". He was that before the Incarnation. So he is "God only begotten," "the Eternal Generation of the Son" of Origen's phrase. Which is in the bosom of the Father ("Ho On eis ton kolpon tou patros"). The eternal relation of the Son with the Father like "pros ton Theon" (with = face to face with God) in verse John 1. In John 3:13 there is some evidence for "Ho On en TO ouranO" (the One being in heaven) used by Christ of himself while still on earth. The mystic sense here is that the Son is qualified to reveal the Father as Logos (both the Father in Idea and Expression) by reason of the continual fellowship with the Father. He (ekinos). Emphatic pronoun referring to the Son. Hath declared him (exhghsato). First aorist (effective) middle indicative of exhgeomai, old verb to lead out, to draw out in narrative, to recount. Here only in John, though once in Luke's Gospel (Luke 24:35) and four times in (Acts 10:8; Acts 15:12,14; Acts 21:19). This word fitly closes the Prologue in which the Logos is pictured in marvellous fashion as the Word of God in human flesh, the Son of God with the Glory of God in him, showing men who God is and what he is."
J) NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN GOD [BUT] THE ONE AND ONLY GOD [BECOME FLESH]
(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...... (v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the One and only [God] Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth...(v. 18) . "No one has ever seen God, [but] God the One and Only" =
Notice that verse 1 stipulates that "the Word was with God". Thus according to verse 1, the Word was face to face with God, i.e., able to see God. This is corroborated in verse 18 by "No one has ever seen God, [but] God the One and Only", referring to the Word.
In verse 14, "the Word became flesh" is then described as "the One and only [God] Who came from the Father." This is corroborated in verse 18 with "No one has ever seen God, [but] God the One and Only" [, i.e., the Word Who became flesh]."
[CORROBORATION AND FURTHER COMMENTARY]:
(v. 5 NAS) "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
(v. 6 NAS) Who, although subsisting in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
(v. 6 K.J.V.) "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:"
"os ....en .........morphu ....Theou .huparchon"
"Who in [the] form ..........of God subsisting
ouch arpagmon egesato ...to
not ...robbery ...esteemed it
elnai .isa ...TheO
to be equal with God"
["Who" = refers to Jesus Christ, (v. 5)]
b) "being" or "subsisting" = "huparchon" = subsisting, existing
The word "huparchon" is in the present tense participle form which refers to the ongoing continual status of Jesus Christ in the present. And it is in the active voice meaning that our Lord chose to retain this state of subsistence. The participle form is used here as a statement of truth. It implies much more than just being, it indicates a continuous existence - one which in the context is a continuous existence of Deity, therefore it is an eternal existence. Note that since God is immutable, then having and losing an existence as God is out of the question. Finally, "huparchon" indicates that our Lord existed as God when He became a Man and continued to exist as God while He now also exists as a Man. So here is what this verse is saying: 'Jesus Christ had a continuous state of existence in the form of Almighty God in eternity past before He took on the form of a human body. And He continues to exist as God while He exists as a human being.'
c) "form" = "morphu" = essential being, internal and external
While this word does mean form it is more than that. The word form in English is limited to some physical shape - some outside structure in a physical sense. But the Greek word which is translated into the English word "form" = "morphu" is a philosophical word which refers to the essential being of someone - an internal quality as well as an external one - the essential quality that characterizes that person and which is reflected by the external.
"There is no 'the' here in the Greek ["form of God"]. It does not have any definite article and therefore it is stressing the essence of God, the quality of Deity. So the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ in His inner most being was that of Deity.
d) "robbery" = "harpagmon" = refers here to a treasure which is to be held on to
It is in a noun form which can have one of two basic meanings:
An active meaning = robbery in the sense of a person taking something that doesn't belong to him,
and
a passive meaning = robbery in the sense of a prize or a treasure which one rightfully possesses but which is robbed from him.
The passive meaning must apply here because of the first part of verse 6 which states that Jesus Christ already continually was Almighty God from eternity past:
[Phil 2:6a] "...Who [Christ] although He [continually] subsisted in the [internal and external] form of God..."
Phil 2:6a indicates that in eternity past our Lord always subsisted - existed - as God. So He would not be in an active position of robbing something He already had - that of being God. Rather, the passive meaning of "harpagmon" applies: that of having the expression of His diety..........
(and not the essence since God is immutable and cannot lose His essence in any way. Compare Malachi 3:6),
............having the expression of His diety taken away. So Jesus is spoken of as NOT thinking it robbery to be in the position of not expressing the glory of God that is His essence and instead becoming a Man to die for the sins of the whole world:
1 cont.) [Compare Phil 2:5-8 cont.]:
(v. 7) "but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men.
(v. 8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
e) "but emptied Himself" = set aside the expression of
Our Lord emptied Himself such that He took on 'the form of a bondservant...being made in the likeness of men'. Since God Who is Christ is immutable, our Lord could not have emptied Himself of His divine attributes. The context gives us the answer to the question of what He emptied Himself of:
f) "He humbled Himself by becoming obedient.." =
Our Lord being God set aside the expression of His glory so that He could humble Himself and take on the form of a bondservant, a slave, an obedient Man "to the point of death, even [the ignominious] death on a cross"
Although no one has seen God at any time, the Lord Jesus Christ has now made such a revelation - a declaration - of Who God is. The Lord Jesus Christ, being God, limited Himself in order to become a man, (Phil 2:5-8), so that His humanity in its perfection would reflect to mankind in a finite way Who God is without destroying men in the process.
So when men see the Son of God, Jesus Christ in His humanity, they are seeing God in a finite human form not in His infinite glory.
(v. 9) "As I looked, "thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
(v. 10) A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened."
(v. 6) '''Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
(v. 7) If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him."
[Notice that Jesus says if you knew Him you know the Father and by knowing Jesus you have seen the Father. This does not imply seeing God in all His unlimited glory but implies a knowledge and seeing of Jesus Christ in His humanity]
(v. 8) Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
(v. 9) Jesus answered: "Don't you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
[To see Jesus Christ in His humanity is to see the Father in a finite sense]
(v. 10) Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you are not just My own. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work.
(v. 11) Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.'''
Notice that Jesus is appealing to the finite senses of the disciples. Seeing and knowing God is through knowing and seeing Jesus in His finite Humanity - with a view of His words and works. Jesus declared that all of this was the Father living in Him and expressing Himself through Jesus' words and deeds. So to see Jesus in this sense is to see the God the Father.
(v. 1) '''That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
(v. 2) The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.'''
[Here again we have an appearing of the Eternal Life, i.e., God in human form Who was 'seen' and 'touched']
(v. 1) '''After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
(v. 2) There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
(v. 3) Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. MT
(v. 4) Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
(v. 5) While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
(v. 6) When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
(v. 7) But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid."
(v. 8) When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
(v. 9) As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
(v. 10) The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
(v. 11) Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.
(v. 12) But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."
(v. 13) Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.'''
Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14). When people saw Him, they were seeing God in a finite sense - even when our Lord displayed His glory in Mt 17:2 in a limited manner when He appeared transfigured to three disciples.
Mt 17:2 reports our Lord transfigured into a form that shown like the Sun, His clothes as white as light in display of His diety. (cf. Dan 7:9-10). However, this is different than seeing God with all His glory and holiness displayed.
(v. 9) "As I looked, "thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days [term for God] took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of His head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
(v. 10) A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened."
Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1,14) so when people saw Him even in when He was transfigured, they were seeing God. However, this is different than seeing God with all His glory and holiness displayed. People have seen visions of God, images of God, and appearances of God – but no one has ever seen God in all His fullness (cf. Exodus 33:20).
XVIII cont.) [Jn 1:14-18 cont.]:
(v. 1:1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God......
(v. 14) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, as of the One and only [God] Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(v. 15) John testifies concerning Him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "
(v. 16) And of His fullness we have all received, even grace in place of grace.
(v. 17) For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
(v. 18) No one has ever seen God, [but] the One and only God, Who is at the Father's side, [He] has made Him known.'''
[OBSERVATIONS OF THE TEXT AT HAND, cont.]:
(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.................................(v. 18) "No one has ever seen God, [but] the One and only God [the Word], Who is at the Father's side" =
Verse 1:1b stipulates that "the Word was with God" indicating that the Word is face to face with God the Father in intimate fellowship. Then in verse 18 the Word which became flesh, (v. 14), is stipulated as the "One and only God Who is at the Father's side" i.e., the Word Who became flesh is in God the Father's presence in a position of power and authority "at the Father's side."
Evidently the Word Who is God, became flesh and dwelt among mankind in His humanity for a season and thereafter His humanity is stipulated by John as at the Father's side.
The KJV which states: "[the Son] "Which is in the bosom of the Father" best renders the intimacy with which the Father and the Son have. It is also the most literal translation of the Greek text. It is such an intimacy that it indicates the diety of the Son, for no One but God could have such an intimacy with the Father.
M) THE WORD, WHO IS AT THE FATHER'S SIDE HAS MADE GOD KNOWN
"No one has ever seen God, [but] the One and only God, Who is at the Father's side, [He] has made Him known." =
"Theon oudeis heOraken pOpote 'O .monogenEs ..Theos ho .........On ...
"God ....no one has seen ...ever......the one and only God ..the One being [Who is]
eis ton kolpon tou ....patros .ekeinos ...........exEgEsato"
in .the bosom .of the Father that One [He] explained, i.e., makes Him known"
The greek "ekeinos" is an emphatic pronoun, literally, that One, referring to the Word become flesh, the one and only God which singles the Word, Jesus Christ out emphatically as declaring, making known Who God the Father is.
Notice that the One and only God, the Word Who has become flesh, dwelt among men for a season, Who is thereafter at the Father's side, He [the Word, Jesus Christ] has made Him [God the Father] known - evidently while He was among men in His humanity.
"Theon oudeis heOraken pOpote 'O .monogenEs ..Theos ho .........On ...
"God ....no one has seen ...ever......the one and only God ..the One being [Who is]
eis ton kolpon tou ....patros .ekeinos ...........exEgEsato"
in .the bosom .of the Father that One [He] explained Him"
In His essential being God has never yet been seen of men.. Men had their visions of God, but these were all partial. The theophanies [visible revelations of God to man, cp Gen 18:1-end] of the Old Testament did not and could not reveal God's essential being. But Christ has now made such a revelation."