João 1
Matthew Henry · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 1
Henry says "This honour John had above all the prophets, that, whereas they spoke of him as one that should come, he saw him already come. Such a difference there is between present faith and future vision. Now we love one whom we have not seen then we shall see him whom our souls love, shall see him, and say, This is he of whom I said, my Christ, and my all, my beloved, and my friend." Merrill Tenney has an interesting note on Man - The Greek term anēr is introduced here; it means “man” with emphasis on maleness—an emphasis that is lost in the more generic anthrōpos. This use of anēr intimates the headship of Christ over his followers in the sense of the man-woman relationship in marriage (TDNT, 2:563). (EBC) John was created in time. Jesus was the Creator of time (and John!) After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me - This is the third time in this opening chapter (especially verse 15 - "‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’”) that the Baptist emphasizes Jesus' preeminence and priority. After me is another way for John to say he was only the forerunner, the voice crying in the wilderness, pointing the Jews to the "main attraction," Christ Jesus. And for the most part, Jesus' actual ministry came after John's preparatory ministry. Notice that he affirms both the humanity (a Man) and deity (existed before me). John existed in the womb 6 months before Jesus (Lk 1:36+), and yet John says Jesus existed before him. John was created in time. Jesus was the Creator of time (and John!) Jesus would later affirm His preexistence declaring "before Abraham was, I Am (Ego Eimi - as in Lxx of Ex 3:14+ description of Jehovah). (Jn 8:58) Note also that Jesus is call God in Jn 1:1-2 and here is called Man. He is the God-Man. (Related Resource: Does the Bible support the pre-existence of Jesus? | GotQuestions.org) John
João 1
Henry - Those who have said the most honourable things of Christ will never see cause to unsay them but the more they know him the more they are confirmed in their esteem of him. John still thinks as meanly of himself, and as highly of Christ, as ever. THOUGHT - This is true humility, the basis for greatness in preaching, teaching, or any other work we do for Christ. When you are content to do what God wants you to do and let Jesus Christ be honored for it, God will do great things through you. (LASB) John 1:31 "I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water." BGT John 1:31 κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα φανερωθῇ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον ἐγὼ ἐν ὕδατι βαπτίζων. NET John 1:31 I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel." NLT John 1:31 I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel." ESV John 1:31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." NIV John 1:31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel." GNT John 1:31 κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα φανερωθῇ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον ἐγὼ ἐν ὕδατι βαπτίζων. KJV John 1:31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. YLT John 1:31 and I knew him not, but, that he might be manifested to Israel, because of this I came with the water baptizing. ASV John 1:31 And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, for this cause came I baptizing in water. CSB John 1:31 I didn't know Him, but I came baptizing with water so He might be revealed to Israel." NKJ John 1:31 "I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." NRS John 1:31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." NAB John 1:31 I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel." NJB John 1:31 I did not know him myself, and yet my purpose in coming to baptise with water was so that he might be revealed to Israel.' GWN John 1:31 I didn't know who he was. However, I came to baptize with water to show him to the people of Israel." I did not recognize Him: Joh 1:33 Lu 1:80 2:39-42 but: Joh 1:7 Isa 40:3-5 Mal 3:1 4:2-5 Lu 1:17,76-79 I came baptizing in water: Mt 3:6 Mk 1:3-5 Lu 3:3,4 Ac 19:4 Map of ministry of John the Baptist John 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Mark 1:7-12 (see commentary) And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. 8 “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11 and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” 12 Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. COMMENT: Notice the sequence - Jesus is baptized by John. The Spirit descends on Him. The Father declares He is His beloved Son. The Trinity is manifest. Jesus immediately leaves for 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. As stated previously, all of these events preceded the Baptist's testimony about Jesus in John chapter 1. John the Baptist Preaches "Repent" MESSIAH TO BE MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL I did not recognize Him - The Baptist repeats this in Jn 1:33. John is now going back in time, to the time when he did not know Who Jesus was. John is not saying he had never met Jesus because he had in one sense "met" Him when Mary visited "the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby (FUTURE JOHN THE BAPTIST) leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.(Lk 1:40-41+). However "Whether John knew Jesus personally before the baptism we do not know." (Robertson) So in what sense did John not recognize Jesus? The context helps us understand in what sense John did not recognize Jesus, for at His baptism he saw the Spirit descending as a dove and remaining upon Jesus and then fully understood that this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. In short he came to understand that Jesus was the Messiah. As Spurgeon said "The secret sign of the descent of the Spirit, in dovelike form, upon our Lord, was given to John; and as soon as he saw it, he knew of a surety that Jesus was the Sent One, the Messiah, and that he must point him out to the people."
João 1:9
Henry explains enlightens every man this way - (1.) By his creating power he enlightens every man with the light of reason; that life which is the light of men is from him; all the discoveries and directions of reason, all the comfort it gives us, and all the beauty it puts upon us, are from Christ. (2.) By the publication of His Gospel to all nations He does in effect enlighten every man. John Baptist was a light, but he enlightened only Jerusalem and Judea, and the region round about Jordan, like a candle that enlightens one room; but Christ is the true Light, for He is a light to enlighten the Gentiles. His everlasting Gospel is to be preached to every nation and language (Rev 14:6). Like the sun which enlightens every man that will open his eyes, and receive its light (Ps 19:6), to which the preaching of the Gospel is compared. See Ro 10:18. Divine revelation is not now to be confined, as it had been, to one people, but to be diffused to all people (Mt 5:15). (3.) By the operation of his Spirit and grace He enlightens all those that are enlightened to salvation; and those that are not enlightened by Him perish in darkness. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is said to be in the face of Jesus Christ (2Cor 4:6), and is compared with that light which was at the beginning commanded to shine out of darkness, and which enlightens every man. I like Matthew Henry's summary statement - "Whatever light any man has, he is indebted to Christ for it, whether it be natural or supernatural." Henry Morris on enlightens every man - Even though some people live and die without ever hearing of Jesus, the witness imprinted by Him on His creation is such conclusive evidence that there is a Creator Who is omnipotent, omniscient, holy and loving, that those who reject or ignore it are "without excuse." See Romans 1:20; Psalm 19:1-6; etc. He has also placed the light of conscience in each person (Romans 2:14-15), but that too is rejected in most instances… In one way or another, all men could, and should, have been aware of the power of God in creation (Romans 1:20) and the grace of God in salvation (Acts 14:17), so that they are "without excuse" if they fail to seek Him. He is "the true Light, which coming into the world and enlightens every man" (John 1:9), but "men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). F B Meyer on enlightens every man - The Word was the Light of unfallen man in Paradise.--In the glades of Eden two trees were planted; the one the tree of life, the other of the knowledge of good and evil. It is impossible not to see in these a lively representation of Him who is Life and Light, and who, from the first, must have been the organ and channel of Divine communication to mankind… The Word was Light in the World amid the long dark ages which preceded the Incarnation… There has never been an age in which the Divine Light has not shone over our world. Not Gospel light, not the light of revelation, not the light as we have it; but still, Light. And whatever light existed was due to the presence and working of the Lord Jesus. He shone in the good He did; giving rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, and in the food and gladness with which He filled men's hearts, so that He left not Himself without witness (Acts 14:17). He shone in the clear testimony given since the creation, through the works of nature, to the everlasting power and divinity of God (Ro 1:20). He shone in the intuitions of truth, which we call conscience, and which are his voice in the human breast, and are so evidently referred to here as the true light, lightening every man coming into the world (Ro 2:14-15). He shone also in those great movements towards righteousness, which seem to have swept from time to time over the heathen world (Jonah 3:4-10). Whatever of truth there was in any of these must have been due to Him. It was of the heathen that the Apostle spoke when he said : "That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them" (Ro 1:19)… Finally, the Light became incarnate.--Too bright to be beheld, the Light of God curtained Himself in human flesh, as the face of Moses beneath his veil, or the Shekinah beneath the folds of the tabernacle. Such is the direct force of the word translated dwelt in John 1:14. It might be better rendered tabernacled. But of this more afterwards. And it is not possible to do more than take one brief glance at that bright world which awaits us, when, in the ages of eternity, our blessed Lord will be still the Everlasting Light. For it is written that the heavenly city will not need sun nor moon to shine in it, because "its lamp is the Lamb" (Rev 21:23). And so, from the first creation of man till the new creation; from the garden of innocence to the city of matured and tested holiness; from the origin of the race in its lonely and single representative to the untold myriads of his progeny who shall stand in the unsullied purity of robes washed white--always and everywhere, the Word of God is the Light of men, the true light, that is the archetypal light, of which all other lights are types and illustrations. (John 1:9 The Word as Light - F B Meyer) John Phillips on every man - Every person. All without distinction. All have some light. Those who have received no written revelation have the light of creation and conscience. God gave the Jews the added light of covenant and commandment. Now God has given the world the light of Christ. No one escapes one or another of the sources of light God has made available. The Holy Spirit sees to that (Ed: Although His work in salvation in the OT is not clearly stated, there is little doubt that He was present and active in the salvation of OT saints!). God holds people responsible for the light they have. In lands that have known the full blaze of the light of Christ, people are without excuse (Ed: But frankly they are also without excuse in the deepest, darkest jungle for they have rejected the clear manifestation of God in Natural Revelation, cf Ro 1:20, see also general revelation and special revelation). (BORROW Exploring the Gospels. John ) (Bolding and italics added) Related Resource - Can a person be saved through general or natural revelation? Bruce Barton (et al) on enlightens every man - The word everyone (every man) here could be nationalistically inclusive, referring to both Jews and Gentiles, or it could refer to all individuals. Every person has life from God, thus they have some light; creation reveals God’s power and divinity (John 1:3; Acts 14:17; Ro 1:19-20; 2:14-16); and our conscience also bears witness to God’s existence. (Life Application New Testament Commentary) One thing is absolutely certain and that is that "Spiritual blindness can be cured only by the Great Physician." Enlightens (Illumine) (5461)(photizo from phos = light <> from phao = to shine) means to give light or to cause light to shine upon some object, in the sense of illuminating the object. Figuratively, it means to cause something to be fully known by revealing clearly and in some detail. It means to shed light upon or to illuminate. Photizo is in the present tense describing continuing illumination. This is John's only use of photizo in the Gospel. Photizo - 11x in 11v - Luke 11:36; John 1:9; 1Cor 4:5; Eph 1:18; 3:9; 2Ti 1:10; Heb 6:4; 10:32; Rev 18:1; 21:23; 22:5 Paul speaking of Jesus' incarnation says that our holy calling which was granted to us in Christ before time began has "now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light (aorist tense) through the gospel." (2Ti 1:10) Vine - Primarily light is a luminous emanation, probably of force, from certain bodies, which enables the eye to discern form and color. Light requires an organ adapted for its reception (Mt 6:22). Where the eye is absent, or where it has become impaired from any cause, light is useless. Man, naturally, is incapable of receiving spiritual light inasmuch as he lacks the capacity for spiritual things, 1Co 2:14. Hence believers are called ‘sons of light,’ Luke 16:8, not merely because they have received a revelation from God, but because in the New Birth they have received the spiritual capacity for it. Marvin Vincent quotes a line from Tennyson's "In Memoriam"… Our little systems have their day; They have their day and cease to be: They are but broken lights of Thee, And Thou, O Lord, art more than they." Every (3956)(pas) means each, each part of a totality, all in the sense of each part. Vine says pas "radically means "all." Used without the article it means "every," every kind or variety… Used with the article, it means the whole of one object. In the plural it signifies "the totality of the persons or things referred to." Used without a noun it virtually becomes a pronoun, meaning "everyone" or "anyone." In the plural with a noun it means "all." One form of the neuter plural (panta) signifies "wholly, together, in all ways, in all things," Acts 20:35; 1 Corinthians 9:25 . The neuter plural without the article signifies "all things severally," e.g., John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 2:10; preceded by the article it denotes "all things," as constituting a whole, e.g., Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 3:9." APPLICATION of John 1:9 (from Charles Simeon) 1. What light you have received from the Lord Jesus Christ?— I ask not what proficiency you have attained in worldly knowledge; for that, however excellent, can never save the soul. But I ask, “Has God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, shined in your heart, to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [2Cor 4:6.]?”— his is saving knowledge: this alone can save you [Jn 17:3.]. And this can be obtained from none but the Lord Jesus Christ, whose office it is to “open the blind eyes [Isa 35:5-6. Mt 11:5.],” and to “make you wise unto salvation by faith in him.” To every one amongst you, then, I say, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light [Eph 5:14.].”] 2. How far you are reflecting around you the light you have received?— This is done by all the planets, moving in their orbits: and this must be done by all who profess to receive their light from Christ. All must “be as stars in his hands [Rev 1:16.]:” all must “reflect his virtues ["proclaim the excellencies" =1Pe 2:9. manifest as letters of Christ = 2Cor 3:3.]:” and, though it must of necessity be, that “one star should differ from another star in glory,” yet “must all shine as lights in a dark world [Php 2:15-16.];” and, in all who are truly and savingly enlightened, “their light will shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day [Pr 4:18.].” Let it be seen then, my brethren, by your life and conversation, “Whose you are, and Whom you serve.” Let Christ be your pattern in all things: endeavor to “walk in the light, as He is in the light [1Jn 1:7.]:” so shall you be found “children of the light and of the day [1Th 5:4-5.]” and “Christ shall be glorified in you,” both in this world and in the world to come [2Th 1:12]. (Christ the Only True Light - John 1:9) ><>><>><> Use of John 1:9 as a PROOF-TEXT for PREVENIENT GRACE - DeWaay quotes Millard Erickson "Many Arminians, recognizing human inability as taught in Scripture, introduce the concept of prevenient grace, which is believed to have a universal effect nullifying the noetic results of sin [how thinking is affected], thus making belief possible. The problem is that there is no clear and adequate basis in Scripture for this concept of universal enablement. The theory, appealing though it is in many ways, simply is not taught explicitly in the Bible." (Introducing Christian Doctrine - Millard J. Erickson) This does not mean proponents of the concept do not look for proof texts. The most common one proposed is: “There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man” (John 1:9) Those who teach prevenient grace often prefer the King James translation: “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (Jn 1:9KJV) As some interpret this, Christ gives light to everyone at their birth. The Greek could be translated as Christ coming into the world or every man coming into the world. But in the context of John 1, it is Christ Who is coming into the world in the Incarnation that is central. (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John) Likewise, the context of John is not teaching that Christ enlightens every person at their birth. John 3:19 says this: “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.” Since Jesus is the light that comes into the world, John 1:9 should be translated and interpreted accordingly. And, if Jesus actually enlightened every person at their birth, how is it that they love darkness? A much better interpretation is that Jesus, in His Incarnation, brought God’s light into the dark world. The world is aware of this light through the fact that God displayed His saving purposes publicly. But in its sinfulness, the world preferred darkness. John 1:9 does not teach prevenient grace. Thomas Schreiner also disagrees with the interpretation of John 1:9 that claims it teaches prevenient grace: “The light that enlightens every person does not entail bestowment of grace, nor does it refer to the inward illumination of the heart by the Spirit of God. Rather, the light exposes and reveals the moral and spiritual state of one’s heart. … John 1:9 is not, therefore, suggesting that through Christ’s coming each person is given the ability to choose salvation.” (The Grace of God The Bondage of the Will) Schreiner provides a good summary of various ways the passage has been interpreted and also discusses other passages sometimes used to support prevenient grace. His conclusion is that the concept of prevenient grace cannot be justified by Biblical exegesis. Schreiner is surprised at how little exegetical effort to justify it has been put forth by people who claim to believe this doctrine. (Bob DeWaay - Critical Issues Commentary- Recovering Reformation Theology) ><>><>><> Max Lucado on John 1:8-9 - Max Lucado, in his book "It's Not About Me- Rescue From the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy" points out something true about the moon that should be true of all believers--it reflects the light of something greater. He says: "What does the moon do? She generates no light. Contrary to the lyrics of the song, this harvest moon cannot shine on. Apart from the sun, the moon is nothing more than a pitch-black, pockmarked rock. But properly positioned, the moon beams. Let her do what she was made to do, and a clod of dirt becomes a source of inspiration, yea, verily, romance. The moon reflects the greater light." (6) "Such a shift comes so stubbornly, however. We've been demanding our way and stamping our feet since infancy. Aren't we all born with a default drive set on selfishness? I want a spouse who makes me happy and coworkers who always ask my opinion. I want weather that suits me and traffic that helps me and a government that serves me. It is all about me." (7) Just as John the Baptist lived to testify to Christ (the light), so to should we. ><>><>><> Henry