The Rejection of the Light
John 1:10-11
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.…


I. GENERALLY AND PRIOR TO THE INCARNATION BY THE WORLD. The world knew Him not, which was —

1. Inexcusable (Romans 1:20).

2. Unnatural, since those who lived and moved and had their being in Him should have known Him who made them (Psalm 103:22).

3. Heinous. The non-recognition less intellectual than moral, arising not from failure to discern, but from want of inward affinity to the light (John 3:19; Ephesians 4:18; Job 24:13).

4. Prophetic, since it foreshadowed Christ's reception by Israel with the outlook towards which it is here introduced.

II. PARTICULARLY AND DURING THE PERIOD OF HIS INCARNATION BY HIS OWN, i.e, by the Jews, whose rejection of Him, besides sharing the criminality incurred by the world, displayed —

1. Monstrous ingratitude. He selected them for no peculiar excellence on their part, and vouchsafed centuries of gracious teaching and discipline to prepare them to recognize and embrace Him.

2. Shamefaced robbery. Christ presented Himself as the Heir claiming His inheritance (Matthew 21:38); as a Master (Matthew 25:14) only to find His possessions forcibly withheld from Him, and Himself cast forth and killed.

3. Incorrigible wickedness. They could not discern the signs of Messiahship in Him.

4. Dire infatuation, for in rejecting Him they thrust from themselves the kingdom of God, and missed the true vocation of their race.

(T. Whitelaw, D. D.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

WEB: He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him.




The Non-Recognition of Christ
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