ACC ~ John 1 v10 - 13

OVERVIEW:

Christ came into the world for our salvation (BEDE). But it is also true that God had the incarnation in mind even before the fall with the purpose of uniting us to himself (MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR). Christ was in the world and yet transcends it. By “world” John means those too closely nailed to worldly things instead of to the cross of Christ (CHRYSOSTOM). The world does not know him because it has been blinded by the gods of this world (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The world is too busy enjoying the creature in place of the creator. When we love God, we are made into “gods,” but when we love the world we give up God’s name for that of the world (AUGUSTINE).

Not only Israel but the whole of humanity did not receive Jesus (CHRYSOSTOM), since all had lost their relationship with God and their knowledge of him through their fall into sin (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The only begotten Son of God did not want to remain alone, so he came to his own, wanting brothers and sisters who can share his inheritance with him (AUGUSTINE). Those who receive him receive the power to become children of God by embracing the Word and receiving adoption (THEODORET) through the Son of God (BASIL). John does not say that “he made them sons of God” but that “he gave them the power to become sons of God,” in order to show the zeal needed to keep the image impressed on them at baptism (CHRYSOSTOM).Those who are considered among the children of God should know this is not accomplished through their ability but through the grace of God (AUGUSTINE). To be called a son or daughter of God, as opposed to only a servant, is a great honor for the saints (JOHN OF DAMASCUS). God wants to make you a god, not by nature but by adoption, so that you share his immortality. You are given the right to become a child of God, that is, the right to be cured from simply being human to being numbered among the sons and daughters of God (AUGUSTINE) through the power of God (THEODORE).We were not born from God in the same way as his only begotten Son (AUGUSTINE), although the Son of God does elevate our nature, giving us a splendid robe with our divine adoption. He is a Son by nature; we are sons and daughters by grace (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM), having received our second birth from God and the church. In other words, God considered you important enough to come and help you by taking on your flesh and making you immortal (AUGUSTINE).

1:10 | Christ Came into the World That He Made

FOR THE SAKE OF OUR SALVATION

BEDE: The eternal Son of God who was in the world and through whom the world was made has come for a time into the world and for no other reason than our salvation, that is, that he might give us the understanding to perceive the true God. For no one was able to come to life without perception of the divinity; no one was able to perceive God unless he himself taught us. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN 5.20. [1]

[1] CS 82:227.

THE PURPOSE OF THE INCARNATION ESTABLISHED BEFORE THE FALL

MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR: [The incarnation of the Logos] is the blessed end on account of which everything was created. This is the divine purpose, which was thought of before the beginning of creation and which we call an intended fulfillment. All creation exists on account of this fulfillment, and yet the fulfillment itself exists because of nothing that was created. Since God had this end in full view, he produced the natures of things. This is truly the fulfillment of providence and of planning. Through this there is a recapitulation to God of those created by him. This is the mystery circumscribing all ages, the awesome plan of God, superinfinite and infinitely preexisting the ages. The Messenger, who is in essence himself the Word of God, became man on account of this fulfillment. And it may be said that it was he himself who restored the manifest innermost depths of the goodness handed down by the Father; and he revealed the fulfillment in himself, by which creation has won the beginning of true existence. For on account of Christ, that is to say, the mystery concerning Christ, all time and that which is in time have found the beginning and the end of their existence in Christ. For before time there was secretly purposed a union of the ages, of the determined and the Indeterminate, of the measurable and the Immeasurable, of the finite and Infinity, of the creation and the Creator, of motion and rest—a union that was made manifest in Christ during these last times. QUESTIONS TO THALASSIUM 60. [1]

[1] PG 90:621. Augustine too posits other advantages for the incarnation of Christ besides our salvation (see On the Trinity 13.17).

THE WORD IS IN THE WORLD YET TRANSCENDS IT

CHRYSOSTOM: “He was in the world,” but not as though he was of equal duration with the world. Away with such an idea! This is why he adds, “And the world was made by him.” In this way, John leads you up again to the eternal existence of the Only Begotten. For anyone who has heard that this universe is his work, even if he is not very smart or despises the glory of God, will certainly (whether he wants to or not) be forced to confess that the maker comes before his works. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 8.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:29*.

THE MEANING OF “THE WORLD”

CHRYSOSTOM: “And the world did not know him.” By “the world” here, he means the multitude that is corrupt and closely attached to earthly things—the common, turbulent, foolish people. For the friends and admired [1] of God all knew him, even before his coming in the flesh. Concerning the patriarch, Christ himself speaks by name, “that your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” [2] … “The world,” he says, “did not know him,” but those of whom the world was not worthy knew him. And having spoken of those who did not know him, he quickly informs us of the cause of their ignorance. For he does not absolutely say that no one knew him but that “the world knew him not.” He is speaking about those persons who are, as it were, nailed to the world alone and who always worry about the things of the world. For this is how Christ referred to them, as when he says, “O Holy Father, the world has not known you.” [3] The world then was ignorant, not only of him but also of his Father. For nothing so darkens the mind as to be closely attached to present things. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 8.1-2. [4]

[1] Gk thaumastoi.

[2] Jn 8:56.

[3] See Jn 17:25.

[4] NPNF 1 14:30-31*.

WHY ARE ANY IGNORANT OF CHRIST?

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Just as the light of the sun rises upon all, but the blind cannot see its light, we do not say that there is a deficiency with the sun’s ray, but rather, it is because of the disease of the sight…. We ought to conceive of the Only Begotten in the same way that he is “very Light.” But the god of this world, as Paul too says, has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, lest the light of the knowledge of God should be seen by them. [1] We say then that humankind was subjected to blindness in this way, not that it reached a total deprivation of light (for the God-given understanding is surely preserved in his nature), but that he was quenching [the desire to see God] with his foolish manner of life and that by turning aside to the worse he was wasting and melting away the measure of the grace. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.9. [2]

[1] 2 Cor 4:4.

[2] LF 43:101**.

THE WORLD’S IGNORANCE OF THE WISDOM

AUGUSTINE: He is said to have come to us, not by traveling through space but by appearing to mortals in human flesh. He came, then, to that place where he already was, because he was in the world and the world was made by him. But, because of their eagerness to enjoy the creature in place of the Creator, people have been conformed to this world and have been fittingly called “the world.” Consequently, they did not know wisdom, and, therefore, the Evangelist said, “the world knew him not.” CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION 1.12. [1]

[1] FC 2:35*.

TWO WORLDS

AUGUSTINE: Which world was made through him that did not know him? I mean, it wasn’t the world that was through him that did not know him. What is the world that was made through him? Heaven and earth. How can it be that the heavens did not know him, when during his passion the sun was darkened? How that the earth did not know him, seeing that it quaked as he hung there? But “the world did not know him,” the world whose prince is the one of whom it is said, “Behold, the prince of this world is coming, and in me he can find nothing.” [1] Bad people are called “the world,” unbelievers are called “the world.” They got the name from the thing they love. By loving God, we are made into gods. So by loving the world we are called “the world.” SERMON 121.1. [2]

[1] Jn 14:30.

[2] WSA 3 4:234.

1:11 | His Own Did Not Receive Him

ALL OF HUMANKIND DID NOT RECEIVE HIM

CHRYSOSTOM: Speaking of the ancient times, [John] had said that “the world knew him not.” Afterwards, he comes down in his narrative to the times of the proclamation [of the gospel] and says, “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him,” now calling the Jews “his own,” as his particular people, or perhaps even all humankind, as created by him. And as above, when perplexed at the folly of the many and ashamed of our common [fallen human] nature, [John] said that “the world was made by him,” and having been made, did not recognize its Maker. So here again, being troubled beyond what he could bear [1] … he makes his accusation in an even more striking manner, saying, “His own did not receive him,” even when “he came to them.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 9.1. [2]

[1] Gk dusanaschetōn

[2] NPNF 1 14:32**.

NEITHER ISRAEL NOR THE WORLD KNEW ITS ILLUMINATOR

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Evangelist pursues his plea that the world did not know its illuminator, that is, the Only Begotten, and from the worse sin of the children of Israel, he hurries to clench the charges against the Gentiles and shows the disease of ignorance alike and unbelief that lay upon the whole world…. For it was not surprising that the world did not know the Only Begotten, he says, seeing that it had left the understanding that befits humanity and was ignorant that it is and was made in honor, being compared with the beasts that perish, as the divine psalmist also said. [1] It also was not surprising that the very people who, above all, were supposed to belong to him rejected him when he was present in the flesh. They would not receive him when he came among them for a salvation that was offered to all, rewarding their faith with the kingdom of heaven. But observe how exact his language is about these things. For he accuses the world of having no idea of the one who enlightens it, elaborating for it a pardon so to speak just on this account and preparing beforehand reasonable causes for the grace given to it. But of those of Israel who were considered among those especially belonging to him, he says they “received him not.” For it would not have been true to say “knew him not,” when the older law had preached about him and the prophets who came after led them by the hand to the apprehension of the truth….

For the world, or the Gentiles, having lost their relation… with God through their downfall into evil, also lost the knowledge of him who enlightens them. But the others, who were rich in knowledge through the law and called to a governance pleasing to God, were at length voluntarily falling away from it, not receiving the Word of God who was already known to them and who came among them as to his own. For the whole world is God’s own, in regard to its creation, and its very existence comes from him and through him. But Israel will more rightly be called his own [2] and will gain the glory both because of the election of the holy patriarchs and because he [i.e., Israel] was named the beginning and the firstborn of the children of God. For “Israel is my son, my firstborn,” [3] says God somewhere to Moses…. But when [Christ] was not received, he transfers the grace to the Gentiles. And the world, which knew him not at the beginning, is enlightened through repentance and faith, whereas Israel returns to the darkness it came from. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.9. [4]

[1] Ps 49:20 (48:21 LXX).

[2] Gk tō tēs idiotētos apokeklēsetai logō.

[3] Ex 4:22.

[4] LF 43:102-3**.

1:12 | Adopted Children of God

THE ONLY SON OF GOD DOES NOT WANT TO REMAIN ALONE

AUGUSTINE: John adds, “As many as received him.” What did he afford to them? Great benevolence! Great mercy! He was born the only Son of God and was unwilling to remain alone. Many, when they do not have sons, in advanced age adopt a son. In this way they obtain by an exercise of will what nature has denied to them. This is what people do. But if any one has an only son, that person rejoices the more in him, because he alone will possess everything, and he will not have anyone to divide with him the inheritance, so that he should be poorer. This is not how God does things. That same only Son whom he had begotten, and by whom he created all things, is the one he sent into this world so that he might not be alone but might have adopted brothers and sisters. For we were not born of God in the manner in which the Only Begotten was born of him, but we were adopted by his grace. For he, the Only Begotten, came to loose the sins in which we were entangled and whose burden hindered our adoption. Those whom he wished to make his brothers and sisters are the ones he himself freed and made joint heirs…. He was not afraid of having joint heirs, because his inheritance does not become less if its possessors are many. Those very persons, since he is the possessor, become his inheritance, and he in turn becomes their inheritance. [1] … Let us possess him, and let him possess us. Let him possess us as Lord; let us possess him as salvation, let us possess him as light. What then did he give to them who received him? “To them he gave power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name,” that they may cling to the wood and cross the sea. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.13. [2]

[1] Ps 2:7, 8; 16:5 (15:5 LXX, Vg).

[2] NPNF 1 7:17**. See also Hilary of Poitiers On the Trinity 11.15.

THE GIFT OF ADOPTION

THEODORET OF CYR: “I have said, ‘You are gods and all sons of the most high, but as human beings you die.’” [1] He says this to those who did not accept the gift of adoption [2] but who dishonor the taking of flesh through the pure birth of the Word of God, deprive humanity of the ascent to God and show ingratitude to God’s Word who was made flesh for them. For this is why the Word became a human being and the Son of God became a Son of man: that the human being, by embracing the Word and receiving adoption, might become a son of God. DIALOGUE 1.20. [3]

[1] Ps 82:6-7 (81:6-7 LXX).

[2] See Rom 8:15, Gal 4:5, Eph 1:5.

[3] FC 106:70-71.

DIVINE ADOPTION THROUGH THE SON OF GOD

BASIL THE GREAT: When the soul has been clothed with the Son of God, it becomes worthy of the final and perfect stage and is baptized in the name of the Father himself of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to the testimony of John, gave the power to be made the sons of God. CONCERNING BAPTISM 1.2. [1]

[1] FC 9:380.

THE BAPTISMAL SEAL OF SONSHIP

CHRYSOSTOM: Why, then, did he not say that “he made them sons of God,” instead of “he gave them power to become sons of God”? He did so to show how much zeal is needed to keep the image of sonship that was impressed on us at baptism and to keep it all the way through without spot or soiling. At the same time, he also wanted to show that no one will be able to take this power from us, unless we first deprive ourselves of it…. For even in these mystical blessings, [1] it is, on the one hand, God’s part, to give the grace, on the other, a person’s to supply faith. What follows needs much perseverance. In order to preserve our purity, it is not sufficient for us merely to have been baptized and to have believed; we must display a life worthy of it if we want to continually enjoy this brightness. This then is God’s work in us. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10.2-3. [2]

[1] Of baptism.

[2] NPNF 1 14:36-37**.

BY GRACE WE ARE MADE GOD’S OFFSPRING

AUGUSTINE: When any person… is… considered to be among the children of God, such an achievement must not be considered to have been accomplished by their ability alone. This ability they have received through the grace of God, because they did not possess it in a nature that had become corrupted and depraved. ON NATURE AND GRACE 64.77. [1]

[1] FC 86:83*.

THE HONOR BESTOWED ON THE SAINTS

JOHN OF DAMASCUS: The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God. … “Therefore they are no longer servants, but children: and if children, heirs also, heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ.” [1] ORTHODOX FAITH 4.15. [2]

[1] Gal 4:7; Rom 8:17.

[2] FC 37:367*.

GOD WANTS TO MAKE YOU A “GOD” BY ADOPTION

AUGUSTINE: I mean, you are not being told not to be a human, in the sense that you are to be a beast, but rather that you are to be among those to whom “he gave the right to become children of God.” God, you see, wants to make you a god; not by nature, of course, like the one whom he begot; but by his gift and by adoption. [1] For just as he through being humbled [2] came to share your mortality; so through lifting you up he brings you to share his immortality. SERMON 166.4. [3]

[1] See Gal 4:5-6.

[2] See Phil 2:8.

[3] WSA 3 5:209*.

FAITH FIRST, THEN SIGHT

AUGUSTINE: Now turn your attention to the doctor of our salvation who has come to us, our Lord Jesus Christ. He found us blind of heart, he promised us a light that “eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it come up into the heart of [a] man.” [1] This is what the angels see, what they enjoy. I mean, just as healthy people see what the blind do not see, so angels see what people do not see. Why doesn’t [a] man see it? Because he still wants to be “man.” So let man [humankind] himself start getting cured, so that from being “man” he may be numbered among the sons of God, because “he gave them the right to become children of God,” that is, he gave them the right to be cured, to have the mistiness of heart wiped away, because “blessed are the pure in heart, because it is they who shall see God.” [2] SERMON 360B.15. [3]

[1] 1 Cor 2:9.

[2] Mt 5:8.

[3] WSA 3 11:375*.

REGENERATED THROUGH DIVINE POWER

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: For those, he says, who received him, their reception was not useless. He gave them something great and excellent; certainly, insofar as it is possible, he made them equal in honor by giving them the gift of sonship. They take advantage of that grace not by being reborn in the body according to the natural order of generation. Rather, they are given birth by divine power through a certain similarity and relationship with him. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 1.1.12. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:32.

1:13 | Born of God

THE SON OF GOD ELEVATES OUR NATURE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: They who, he says, have been called by faith in Christ to sonship with God put off the littleness of their own nature, adorned with the grace of him who honors them as with a splendid robe—they mount up to a dignity above nature. For no longer are they called children of flesh, but rather offspring of God by adoption.

But note how extremely careful the blessed Evangelist is in his words. For since he was going to say that those who believe are begotten of God, he needs to exercise additional caution. He needs to do this in case anyone should suppose that they are in truth born of the essence of God the Father and arrive at an exact likeness with the Only Begotten. Or they might think that “from the womb before the Daystar I begat you” [1] is something less appropriately said of the Son too. If they went down this path, the Son too, at length, would be brought down to the nature of creatures, even though he is said to be begotten of God. This is why he needs this additional caution. For when he had said that power was given to them to become sons of God from him who is by nature Son—and thus here for the first time introduces what is by adoption and grace—he avoids danger by adding afterwards they were begotten of God. He does this so that he might show the greatness of the grace that was conferred on them, gathering as it were into a kinship of nature [2] that which was alien from God the Father and raising up its connection to the nobility of its Lord through his own heartwarming love for it. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.9. [3]

[1] Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX).

[2] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1

[3] LF 43:105-6**. See also Cyril’s De Sancta Trinitate, dialog 7.

JESUS IS SON OF GOD BY NATURE

CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: The Father, being very God, begot the Son like himself, very God; not as teachers beget disciples, not as Paul says to some, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” [1] For in this case [Paul is speaking about] he who was not a son by nature becoming a son by discipleship. But in the former case [of Jesus], he was a son by nature, a true son—not as you, who are to be illuminated, are now becoming sons of God: for you also become sons but [do so] by adoption of grace, [not by nature]. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 11.9. [2]

[1] 1 Cor 4:15.

[2] NPNF 2 7:66*.

THE FIRST AND SECOND BIRTH

AUGUSTINE: And how do they become children of God? “Who are born not of blood, nor of the will of a man nor of the will of the flesh, but of God.” Pay close attention: these here have been born of God, having received power to become children of God. They have been born of God, not of blood, such as is the case with the first birth, the case with the birth in misery coming from miserable parents. But those who have been born of God, what was it that they were first born of? From a mixing of blood, from the blood of male and female, from a mingling of the flesh of male and female, that is what they were born of. But now, how is it they are born of God? The first birth was from male and female; the second birth is from God and the church. SERMON 121.4. [1]

[1] WSA 3 4:236.

GOD CONSIDERED YOU IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO COME AND HELP YOU

AUGUSTINE: These, then, “were born not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” But that human beings might be born of God, God was first born of them. For Christ is God, and Christ was born of men. It was only a mother, indeed, that he sought on earth because he already had a father in heaven. He by whom we were to be created was born of God, and he by whom we were to be re-created was born of a woman. Do not be amazed then that you are made a son or daughter by grace, do not be amazed that you are born of God according to his Word. The Word himself first chose to be born of man so that you might be born of God unto salvation. You can say to yourself, “God had a reason for wanting to be born of man, because he considered me as someone important, someone that he might make immortal, someone like me who was born as a mortal.” When, therefore, he said, “born of God,” in case we should, as it were, be filled with amazement and trembling at such grace—at grace so great as to exceed belief that people are born of God—as if assuring you, he says, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Why, then, do you marvel that people are born of God? Consider God himself born of men. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.15. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:18**