to bear witness of the Light, that | Light.
all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but
was sent to bear witness of that

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

He was

the mind on it. (3.) It was that of a
man acknowledged by all to be a prophet
of God, for all men held John to be a
prophet.' Matt. xxi. 26. (4.) It was
for the express purpose of declaring be-
forehand that he was about to appear.
(5.) It was disinterested.
himself extremely popular. Many were
disposed to receive him as the Messiah.
It was evidently in his power to form a
large party, and to be regarded exten-
sively as the Christ. This was the
highest honor to which a Jew could
aspire; and it shows the value of John's
testimony, that he was willing to lay
all his honors at the feet of Jesus, and
to acknowledge that he was unworthy
to perform for him the office of the
humblest servant."-Barnes.

ness, and announcing the approach of one who was divinely commissioned to enlighten and bless mankind, ver. 9, and Luke iii. 1-6. And when that messenger appeared, John pointed him out, as the Son of God, ver. 29-34. To bear witness of the Light. Either of the divine revelation which was about to be made by Jesus; see Luke iii. 16, where the baptism with the Holy Ghost may denote the purifying effect wrought on the heart through the power of truth; or, perhaps, by a slight change of figure, the Light may be supposed here to denote Jesus, who was the medium of that divine revelation, or the mediator of a better covenant. If the latter be the true meaning, then this passage may be regarded as the first distinct or direct reference to 9. That was the true Light, &c. Jesus, as an individual, in this gospel. "The true light, which shines on every But others suppose that Light is used for man, was coming into the world. That the divine energy which is "the source is, the Power of God, the Logos; so of the light, the revealer of religious called because he is the source of the truth."-Norton. This best harmonizes light, the revealer of religious truth." with ver. 10. Through him. That Norton. Jesus is sometimes figurais, through John. It was the object of tively styled the "light of the world," his mission to arouse men from their because through him that light was lethargy by announcing the speedy manifested; he proclaimed to men the manifestation of God's mighty power glorious revelation of truth, by appointand grace in the person and revelation ment of God, aided by the divine enerof his well-beloved Son. This he did; gy. For a similar reason, he gave the he produced a great sensation among same appellation to his disciples, stylthe Jewish people, and induced them to ing them the "light of the world," expect that the Messiah was at hand; Matt. v. 14. Yet to neither of these, but, unfortunately for them, they were does the apostle seem to refer in this so entirely blind to his true character, place; but rather to that divine energy, that, when he appeared, they neither which, having created all things, would acknowledged him nor believed his rev- also enlighten every man. For this elation, ver. 10, 11. Not that Light, purpose was the revelation of truth debut-witness of that Light. The di- signed. And it is to be observed, that vine energy, the source of light, was not the true Light, here mentioned, will not manifested in John, but in him to whom be partial in its operation, but will enJohn gave witness. He testified that lighten all. This is in strict accordthe kingdom of God was near, when the ance with the revealed will of God, that power of God should be visibly display- all men shall come to the knowledge of ed on earth. "The testimony of John the truth, and that all shall know the was peculiarly valuable, on the follow- Lord, from the least unto the greatest. ing accounts: (1.) It was made when 1 Tim. ii. 4; Heb. viii. 11. We are not he had no personal acquaintance with to understand that all had been enJesus of Nazareth, and of course there lightened, when the apostle wrote, even could have been no collusion, or agree- of his own generation. The word lightment to deceive men: John i. 31. (2.)eth, though in the present tense, has the It was sufficiently long before he came, force of the future also. The idea is, to excite general attention, and to fix that the work had been commenced;

10 He was in the world, and the | the sons of God, even to them that world was made by him, and the believe on his name: world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become

that it was then in operation; and that it should be fully completed, and all men be enlightened, in due time.

10. He was in the world, &c. That is, the divine energy, which created the world, was manifested in the world, and was not recognized by men. The reference may be to the manifestation of God's wisdom and power in the works of his hands, as in Rom. i. 20; or, more probably, to its manifestation in Jesus Christ, which is described in ver. 14.

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and

"Lit

power, &c. "Whoever received the Word, the Life, the Light from on high, to him was given a sonship to God, in whom the word, life, and light centred, and from whom they radiated. By faith the good became his sons, not being such by Jewish descent, or by belonging to any particular race, or having any special birth, but by being born of God, born into that spiritual life, which constituted them true children of the Father of spirits."-Liver11. He came unto his own, &c. "He more." Not of blood, &c. came to his own home, and his own erally, not of (particular) races; aima family did not receive him."-Camp- (atua) being here used in the sense of bell. "He came to his peculiar posses- race, as in Acts xvii. 26, and by profane sion, and his peculiar people received writers. Blood in English is used in a him not."-Norton. The idea is suffi- similar sense; as in the expression, ciently plain, according to either trans-They were of the same blood.' The lation. The Jews had long been called the chosen people of God, his own in a peculiar sense. To them was this diVine energy manifested, both in the works of creation and in the character and conduct of our Lord Jesus Christ; yet they did not recognize the divinity; in the language of another apostle, "they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened." Rom. i. 21. He says this of the Gentiles; but, with a very slight modification, it was equally true of the Jews. The divine power, manifested by Jesus, they ascribed to Beelzebub, the fancied prince of evil; and thus instead of receiving and glorifying it as the Holy Spirit, they blasphemed against it. See note on Matt. xii. 31, 32. Thus did the mass of the people reject the proffered blessing.

12, 13. But as many as received him. As many as acknowledged that the divine energy was displayed in the miracles, and consummate wisdom of Jesus, and in the glorious doctrines of his gospel. The fact is here recognized, that some did believe, that some did exercise faith, that some did receive this testimony of God, though the multitude rejected it. To them gave he

meaning of the whole thirteenth verse is, that the blessings of the gospel were not confined to any particular race, as that of the Jews; and that none received them on the ground of natural descent, as children of Abraham and the other patriarchs."-Norton. But perhaps the idea, intended to be conveyed by the evangelist, was simply that the sonship of which he was speaking, was not the result of natural generation, in any sense, but was purely spiritual. Of this spiritual or new birth, as it is familiarly termed, I shall speak further in another place.

It

14. And the Word was made flesh. Here is undoubtedly a direct reference to our Lord, and a declaration that the divine energy was imparted to him. was by this that he was able to speak as none other had spoken, and to perform such miracles as none could perform without divine assistance. John iii. 2; vii. 46, Campbell translates, "The word became incarnate ;" and adds:-" In the language of the synagogue, the term sarx (oaos,) was so often employed to denote a human being, that the evangelist's expression would not sound so harshly in the ears of those accustomed to that idiom, as the literal version of the word does in

we beheld his glory, the glory as

of the only begotten of the Father,) ours." The phrase is rendered, the apostle, and always with reference to Power of God became a man, by Norton, the Lord Jesus. See ver. 18; iii. 16, who says, "The word sarx, (ouo,) in 18; 1 John iv. 9. It has been supposed its primitive meaning flesh, is often to signify figuratively, well-beloved, and used to denote man. When it is said not to indicate, according to its literal that the Logos, or the Power of God, force, an only child. Yet, it must not became a man, the meaning is that the be forgotten, that the same word is Power of God was manifested in and used by Luke three times, in all which exercised through a man. It is after- its meaning is evidently literal, and it is ward, by a figurative use of language, universally understood to indicate an identified with Christ, in whom it is con- only child. Luke vii. 12; viii. 42; ix. ceived of as residing." If the last quoted 38. The only other place, in which this remark imply that Jesus was an ordinary word is found, is Heb. xi. 17; where it man, distinguished from others merely seems rather to denote a dearly beloved by an unusual share of divine wisdom child, as Abraham had another at that and power, I would distinctly and em- time." If its meaning in the text be phatically record my dissent. For the figurative, it is perfectly consistent with rest, I concur in the opinion expressed the many tokens of love and approbain both notes; that the evangelist de- tion openly manifested by the Father signed to announce the manifestation towards his Son. See Matt. iii. 17; of the Word, that is, the divine energy, xvii. 5; 2 Pet. i. 17. If it be used in in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The its literal sense, then we may undersame energy which had been displayed stand the apostle to describe Jesus, as in creating the world, and giving natu- the only person in human form, who ral life to men, had now been manifest- was begotten by the direct and miracued in Jesus Christ, being visible both lous agency of the divine spirit; or that in his language and conduct; it was so he was the only one, on whom was bestrongly impressed on his whole char-stowed that peculiar sonship, by which acter, that, by a figure less bold than many which are common in the scriptures, he might be styled an incarnation of the divine energy. God imparted to Jesus that energy by which the world was made, so abundantly, that he became "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person." Heb. i. 3. It has been supposed, that the peculiar phraseology here used, was made flesh, or became flesh, was designed as a condemnation of an opinion, held by the Docetæ, that the body of Jesus was not literally flesh and blood, but imaginary. But, whatever may have been the original nature and dignity of the spirit which dwelt therein, it is plainly the doctrine of the scriptures that the body was composed, like ours, of material substance, literal flesh and blood. And dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, &c. That is, Jesus Christ, in whom resided this divine energy, dwelt on earth, and manifested the divine glory to men. The beloved John had been a chosen witness of such manifestations of glory, more than once. See Matt. xvii. I-9; Mark v. 37-43. Only begotten of the Father. The word here rendered only begotten, is used five times by this

He was

he was called the Son of God. ¶ Full
of grace and truth. It has been sup-
posed that John here condemns another
philosophic opinion, kindred to the fore-
going; namely, that grace and truth
were personal emanations from the ful-
ness of God, or æons, that is, immor-
tals. On the contrary, he asserts, that
grace and truth, as well as energy,
dwelt in Jesus, not as persons, or dis-
tinct beings, but as manifestations of
the divine nature. The more plain in-
terpretation by Barnes may be quite as
correct. "The word grace means favors,
gifts, tokens of beneficence.
kind, merciful, gracious, doing good to
all, and seeking man's welfare by great
sacrifices and love; so much so, that it
might be said to be characteristic of
him, or he abounded in favors to man-
kind. He was also full of truth. He
declared the truth. In him was no
falsehood. He was not like the false
prophets and false Messiahs who were
wholly impostors; nor was he like the
emblems and shadows of the old dis-
pensation, which were only types of the
true; but he was true in all things. He
represented things as they are, and thus
became the truth, as well as the way
and the life."

full of grace and truth.

15 ¶ John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh

15. John bare witness. An appeal is here made to the testimony of John the Baptist, in proof that he did not claim to be the Messiah, in whom the divine energy, or the Word, was manifested, but voluntarily and openly yielded this greater honor to Jesus. Of whom I spake. That is, when first preaching in the wilderness of Judea. See Luke iii. 16. He that cometh after me. Not only was John born before Jesus, but he also commenced his public ministry before him. In the order of time, therefore, Jesus came after John ; and this is the evident meaning of the phrase here. Is preferred before me. Is superior to me in dignity. Such was the constant testimony of John. He never claimed to be the Messiah, nor equal to the Messiah; but uniformly directed the attention of the people to him who was about to come in the name of the Lord, as a personage of higher dignity and greater authority than himself. Some have thought a priority of time was indicated here, with reference to the preexistence of Jesus; but this is an unnatural meaning of the phrase, and, moreover, renders the next clause of this verse tautological. The former interpretation is considered altogether preferable. T For he was before me. Some have interpreted this phrase as denoting preeminence in dignity, rather than priority of time. Thus Livermore: "That is, not in priority, but in preeminence; he was my chief, or principal. A similar phrase is used, Matt. xx. 27." The phrase referred to in Matthew can scarcely be called similar; to be sure, the word prōtos (@τоs) occurs in both; and here the similarity may almost be said to end, for the construction of the two passages is materially different. Besides, the preeminence is sufficiently indicated in the preceding clause; and there is no evident necessity of supposing that the same idea is here repeated. I much prefer the common interpretation, which makes this declaration similar in its force to that recorded in John viii. 58. The existence of Jesus, previous to his appearance on the earth, is often referred to

after me, is preferred before me; for he was before me.

16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. in the scriptures. See, for example, John iii. 13; viii. 58; xvi. 28; xvii. 5. Though he distinctly disclaims identity or equality with the Father, he just as distinctly asserts, that he was the Son of God in such a sense as no one else ever was, and that he existed with the Father in glory before his appearance on the earth. And it is most natural to suppose that this fact is referred to in the text. John acknowledges that while Jesus came after him, in the order of time, he was superior to him in dignity, and that he existed before him, to wit, in the bosom of the Father, or in the immediate enjoyment of his glorious

presence.

16. Of his fulness. The fifteenth verse being parenthetical, this connects with the fourteenth; and the fulness relates to the fulness of grace and truth there ascribed to Jesus. The word plērōma, (лiiqwμa,) here translated fulness, was a term in common use among the Gnostics, to indicate the aggregate of the supposed emanations from God, and also their habitation. "All these emanations and the Deity himself were denominated æons, that is, immortals. They constituted the pleroma of the Gnostics, by which seems to have been meant, 'the perfect manifestation of the Deity.' The word was likewise used to denote the spiritual world inhabited by them, as distinguished from the material universe."— Norton. We may understand the apostle to mean, that the attributes of God were not separated, and caused to exist in different persons, so to speak, but that, by the indwelling divine energy communicated to Jesus, or by its incarnation in him, he became the depositary also of all those attributes necessary to the full accomplishment of his work. The idea is not dissimilar to that expressed in Col. i. 19, where it is declared that "it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;" which is repeated in different terms in ii. 9: "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The same idea, substantially, is expressed in John iii. 34: "he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the