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Yet, in spite of all this outpouring of underserved "goodness", the world knew Him
not.
The revelation of God in creation is again referred to in Rom. 1::
"For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they
are without excuse. When they knew God . . . . . they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge" (Rom. 1: 20, 21, 28).
To come back to John 1:--the Apostle, in verse 11, leaves creation (verse 10)--what
the Word "was" and "made" and goes on to the incarnation--what the Word "became":
"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (John 1: 11).
"In the world He WAS"--En to kosmo en.
"Unto His own He CAME"--Eis ta idia elthe.
The expression "His own" comes twice in verse 11 and is repeated in the A.V. without
alteration. There is, however, a difference in the original that is intended and should be
noted. The first occurrence--"He came unto His own" is ta idia (neuter) while the
second occurrence--"His own received Him not" is hoi idioi (masculine). The same
Greek word is used in John 19: 27 and in Acts 21: 6, and Moulton gives a number of
references to the use of this term in the Papyri. The latter also illustrates the use of the
masculine hoi idioi for "one's relations".
When Christ was born at Bethlehem "He came to His own", for the land was
peculiarly His: "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is Mine" (Lev. 25: 23).
When Christ came to Jerusalem, He again "came unto His own", for this city is spoken of
by Daniel as "Thy city", "The city which is called by Thy Name" (Dan. 9: 16, 18).
When Christ came to Israel, also, "He came unto His own", for of the people of Israel we
read: "The Lord Thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself"
(Deut. 7: 6).
The word "receive" in verse 11 is parelabon, and, following the reference to His
coming to His own, implies an offer which they would not "accept". Dr. Weymouth
translates the word "gave Him no welcome". In verse 12 the word "receive" is simply
elabon, which is parallel with "believe" at the end of the same verse.
If the Lord's "own people" who "received Him not" are Israel, who, then, are those
who did receive Him? If we reply that those who received Him were "some of Israel", it
would seem that the statement of verse 11 is too sweeping. There was certainly a
remnant of believers throughout the Acts that were of Israel, but at Acts 28: it
became manifest that "His own" people as a whole would not receive Him. The other
Gospels lead the reader step by step to the crisis of the Lord's rejection. John, on the
other hand, places it in his prologue, and the whole Gospel is written with the previous
knowledge that Israel had failed. John speaks of "the world", and of "other sheep" that