Commentaries:
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John 1:11

He came to His own means "He came to His own home." It can indicate that "He came to His own people" or "He came to His own town," but certainly, the connotation is that He came among those who were His. It did not matter who it was, whether it was His own family (His own brothers did not believe in Him; John 7:5), His own race of people (the Jews certainly rejected Him), or anyone on earth, except those who accepted Him. Everybody rejected Him. Even His own disciples abandoned Him at the last moment.

John W. Ritenbaugh
John (Part Three)



John 1:11-13

Just because we see does not mean that we will believe because there is a spiritual aspect to this sort of seeing and believing. This passage indicates that "His own" showed not even a flash of recognition as to His true identity.

Consider the incongruity of this. We frequently hear of personalities in the public eye affecting some kind of a mode of dress or lifestyle that will set them apart and make them instantly recognizable. In this regard, compare Jesus Christ, the most unique Personality that ever lived in the history of mankind! He was a one-of-a-kind, the only human who ever lived life sinlessly. Yet, even those of His generation who saw Him could not identify Him, God in the flesh!

This suggests that one must be predisposed to believe, to have the ability to "see." It is interesting to note that, to those who exercised this faith, "He gave the power [right, authority, ability] to become the children of God" (verse 12). Only those who "see" and then "receive" Christ can enter into a relationship with God that results in nothing less than the creation of a new being.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Do You See God? (Part One)


 
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