THEY DID NOT KNOW HIM

 

John 1:10-13

He came into the very world he created  but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan but a birth that comes from God. (NLT)

The late Kenneth Gangel Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Dallas Theological Seminary gives a remarkable insight about this passage from the first chapter of John’s Gospel. He sharply observed that John uses the devise of repetition, practically summarizing in one single verse the weighty doctrines of the Christian faith which are Creation, Incarnation,  and Rejection.  

The great Apostle John declares “for by Him (Christ) all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Consider the surpassing immensity of this statement.  Christ is the Creator of all things, Giver and Sustainer of life.  The Greek word "all" means ALL without exception! Christ came into the very world He created. This is a stupendous event. The eternal God who has neither beginning nor end came wrapped in human form. The only reason and cause why about 2.2 billion Christians  celebrate Christmas every year.

“The world was made through Him”, proclaims the Apostle  John. "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." Jesus is the Creator. Jesus is the One through Whom the world (physical) was created, but tragically the One the world (humanity) did not know (as Savior, Redeemer, Lord).

John heightens the irony by stating the fact (as in Jn 1:3) that Jesus made the world and yet, “the world did not know Him.”  Knowing Jesus (or not knowing Him) often stands out as a major theme in St. John’s Gospel.

"This little world knew not Christ, for God had hid Him under the carpenter's Son; His glory was inward, His kingdom came not by observation."(Bible Commentator John Trapp)

Edwin Blum says that "The failure to recognize (egnō, “know”) Him was not because God’s nature was somehow “hidden” in people, as some suggest. Rather, it is because of human ignorance and blindness, caused by sin (John

This is phenomenal -- the Creator came to His own planet, the one He had created and the people of that planet could not and would not recognize and acknowledge Jesus because of their spiritual blindness!

Bible Commentator Thomas Constable gives a succinct illustration regarding the world’s rejection of the Creator. He said, “Jesus had created the earth as a house, but when He visited it He found it inhabited by people who refused to acknowledge Him for who He was. In the Incarnation Jesus did not come as an alien; He came home.”

Theologian and Pastor Dr. John Piper  expresses the view that Jesus  “came e to what belongs to Him by right of creation. He came to His own possession, His own domain, the house of humanity that He had built for a dwelling place." But sadly, his own domain did not welcome Him and did not even recognize Him.

His own did not receive Him - Jesus born a Jew was not received by the Jews. Think about this for a moment. Had not God through the Old Testament prepared the Jews to receive the Messiah by repeatedly giving them prophetic pictures (by some estimates over 300 prophecies) by which they would be able to clearly identify Him? So why did they not recognize and receive Jesus as the Messiah? Because they did not know Him.

They were hoping for a political Messiah who would deliver them from Rome’s power and provide peace and prosperity. They didn’t see their need for a Savior from sin. And so they rejected the true Light who made them and who rightfully owned them.

John’s Gospel however shines with a radiant ray of hope. He said, “But to all who believed him and accepted him he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan but a birth that comes from God.” (NLT) As Anglican Minister and Bible Expositor Leon Morris says ""The end of the story is not the tragedy of rejection, but the grace of acceptance."

The people may not have recognized Him or rejected Him the first time he came, but the door is open to those who believe.

This open invitation (so to speak) is similar to Paul's declaration (quoting the OT prophet Joel 2:32) that "Whoever will call upon the Name of the LORD (Jehovah) will be saved.  It follows that calling upon His Name is one aspect of receiving (and believing in) Yeshua the Messiah.

Dr. John Piper says "Receiving Jesus means that when Jesus offers Himself to you, you welcome Him into your life for what He is.

 

    • If he comes to you as Savior, you welcome his salvation.

 

    • If he comes to you as Leader, you welcome his leadership.

 

    • If he comes to you as Provider, you welcome his provision.

 

    • If he comes to you as Counselor, you welcome his counsel.

 

    • If he comes to you as Protector, you welcome his protection.

 

    • If he comes to you as Authority, you welcome his authority.

 

    • If he comes to you as King, you welcome his rule.

 

John Piper makes an excellent observation on received the right to become children of God - We need to be born. We need to have spiritual life. That is what God does according to John 1:13 without any help from us—“not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.” We are born of God by a free act of sovereign grace. He chooses us before we choose him. But when God does that, what we now have is a newborn sinner. The spiritual life is present, but so is sin, and a whole history of sin! In this condition we would have no right to take our place in the house of God—no authority, no empowerment. Except for one thing. God not only provided the regeneration by which we are born again, but also the authorization by which we can lay claim to our inheritance as children, even though we are sinners. And that is precisely where Jesus comes in. The moment you believe in Jesus, the moment you receive him for who he really is, in that moment he gives you not new birth, but the right and authority, as a sinner, to lay claim to your inheritance as a child of God—to become legally, as it were (with due authority), what you are by virtue of new birth—because you were “born of God.” (How to Become a Child of God - Desiring God)

This Christmas may we all ponder the wonderful, indescribable Gift given to us mere puny mortals, who is Immanuel (God with us).