John 1:11

11. unto his own] In the Greek the first ‘own’ is neuter, the second is masculine, and this difference should be preserved: He came unto His own inheritance; and His own people received Him not (see on Joh_6:37). In the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Mat_21:33-41) the vineyard is ‘His own inheritance,’ the husbandmen are ‘His own people,’ the Jews. Or, for ‘His own inheritance’ we might say ‘His own home,’ as in Joh_19:27, where the Greek is the same. The tragic tone is very strong here as in Joh_1:5; Joh_1:10.

received] A stronger word than ‘knew.’ The exact meaning of the Greek word is ‘to accept what is offered.’ Mankind in general did not recognise the Messiah; the Jews, to whom He was specially sent, did not welcome Him. See on Joh_19:16.

Once more there is a climax;—‘He was’ (Joh_1:9); ‘He was in the world’ (Joh_1:10); ‘He came unto His own inheritance’ (Joh_1:11).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 1:11. Τὰ ἴδια, His own) From the world, the whole, the discourse goes down to the part. Formerly there belonged to Messiah, as peculiarly His own, τὰ ἴδια, whatsoever belonged to Israel—its land, city, and temple: οἱ ἴδιοι, His own people, the Israelites; Mat 8:12, “The children of the kingdom.” The time, moreover, of His coming into the world and to His own is one and the same, namely after the coming of John; Joh 1:6-7.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_1:11. More particular statement of the contrast. Observe the gradual ascent to still greater definiteness: ἦν, Joh_1:9; ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, Joh_1:10; εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθε. Joh_1:11.

εἰς τὰ ἴδια] to His own possession, is, with Erasmus, Luther, Beza, Calvin, Bengel, Lampe, and many expositors, also Lücke, Tholuck, Bleek, Olshausen, De Wette, B. Crusius, Maier, Frommann, Köstlin, Hilgenfeld, Luthardt, Ewald, Hengstenberg, Godet, and most interpreters, to be explained of the Jewish people as specially belonging to the Messiah (Sir_24:7 ff.), as they are called in Exo_19:5, Deu_7:6, Psa_135:4, Isa_31:9, Jehovahs possession; from Israel salvation was to spread over all the world (Joh_4:22; Mat_8:12; Rom_1:16). This interpretation is required by the onward progress of the discourse, which by the use of ἦλθε excludes any reference to the world. (Corn. a Lapide, Kuinoel, Schott, Reuss, Keim), as was proposed along with this by Chrysostom, Ammonius, Theophylact, Euth. Zig., and conjoined with it by Augustine and many others. He was in the world; and now follows His historical advent, He came to His own possession. Therefore the sympathy of Gods people, who were His own people, should have led them to reach out the hand to Him.

οἱ ἴδιοι] the Jews. παρέλαβον] they received Him not, i.e. not as Him to whom they peculiarly belonged. Comp. Mat_1:20; Mat_24:40-41; Herod, i. 154, vii. 106; Plato, Soph. p. 218 B. Observe that the special guilt of Israel appears still greater (οὐ παρέλαβον, they despised Him) than the general guilt of mankind (οὐκ ἔγνω). Comp. the οὐκ ἠθελήσατε of Mat_23:37; Rom_10:21. In the negative form of expression (Joh_1:10-11) we trace a deeply elegiac and mournful strain.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 1:11 . εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἧλθεν , “He came to His own”. In the world of men was an inner circle which John calls τὰ ἴδια , His own home. (For the meaning of τὰ ἴδια cf. Joh 19:27 , Joh 16:32 , Act 21:6 , 3Ma 6:27-37 , Est 5:10 , Polybius, Hist. , ii. 57, 5.) Perhaps in this place “His own property” might give the sense as accurately. Israel is certainly signified; the people and all their institutions existed only for Him. (See Exo 19:5 , Deu 7:6 , “The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people, a peculium , unto Himself”; also Mat 21:33 .) οἱ ἴδιοι , those of His own home (His intimates, cf. Joh 13:1 ), those who belonged to Him, αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον “gave Him no reception”. The word is used of welcoming to a home, as in Joh 14:3 , πάλιν ἔρχομαι καὶ παραλήμψομαι ὑμᾶς πρὸς ἐμαυτόν . Even those whose whole history had been a training to know and receive Him rejected Him. It is not said of “His own” that they did not “know” Him, but that they did not receive Him. And in the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen our Lord represents them as killing the heir not in ignorance but because they knew him.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

[See also the "General Considerations on the Prologue" in the comments of Joh 1:18.]

Ver. 11. “He came to His own and they that were His own received Him not.”

A relation of gradation might be established between this verse and the preceding, if this verse were applied to the rejection of the natural revelation by the heathen: “And there was something still worse!” But the asyndeton is unfavorable to this sense, which we have already refuted. It leads us rather to find here a more emphatic reaffirmation of the fact indicated in Joh 1:10 : “The world did not know Him.” Yes; that rejection took place, and where it seemed the most impossible—in the dwelling-place which the Logos had prepared for Himself here below! The words His home, His own, by setting forth the enormity of the Jewish crime, characterize it as the climax of the sin of humanity. The word ἦλθε, came, refers to the public ministry of Jesus in Israel. Τὰ ἴδια, literally: His home (comp. Joh 19:27). Before coming to the earth, the Logos prepared for Himself there a dwelling-place which peculiarly belonged to Him, and which should have served Him as a door of entrance to the rest of the world. Comp. Exo 19:5, where Jehovah says to the Jews: “You shall be my property among all peoples,” and Psa 135:4 : “The Lord hath chosen Jacob for Himself.” Malachi had said of Jehovah, in describing the Messianic advent as His last appearance: “And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple; behold, he cometh” (Joh 3:1).

But this door was closed to Him, and even by those who should have opened it to Him: οἱ ἴδιοι, His own, His servants, the dwellers in His house, which He had Himself established. In the same way as τὰ ἴδια His home designates Canaan together with the entire theocratic institution,οἱ ἴδιοι, His own, designates all the members of the Israelitish nation. Paul also calls them οἰκεῖοι, members of the household, domestici, familiares, in contrast with ξένοι and πάροικοι, strangers and sojourners. Never, it seems, had the Jews better deserved that title of honor from Jehovah, “His people,” than at the moment when Jesus appeared. Their monotheistic zeal and their aversion to idolatry had reached at that epoch the culminating point. The nation in general seemed to form a Messianic community altogether disposed to receive “Him who should come,” as a bride welcomes her bridegroom. The word παραλαμβάνειν, receive to oneself (Joh 14:3), well expresses the nature of the eager welcome which the Messiah had a right to expect. That welcome should have been a solemn and official reception on the part of the whole nation hailing its Messiah and rendering homage to its God. If the home prepared had opened itself in this way, it would have become the centre for the conquest of the world. Instead of this, an unheard of event occurred. Agamemnon returning to his palace and falling by the stroke of his faithless spouse—this was the tragic event par excellence of pagan history. What was that crime in comparison with the theocratic tragedy! The God invoked by the chosen nation appears in His temple, and He is crucified by His own worshipers. Notice the finely shaded difference between the two compound verbs, καταλαμβάνειν, to apprehend, Joh 1:5, which corresponds with the light as a principle, and παραλαμβάνειν, to welcome, which characterizes the reception given to the master of the house. Respecting the καί, and, the same observation as in Joh 1:5; Joh 1:10. The writer has reached the point of contemplating with calmness the poignant contrast which the two facts indicated in the two propositions of this verse present.

Two explanations opposed to that which we have just been developing have been offered. Some interpreters,Lange, for example, refer the coming of the Word indicated in this verse, to the manifestations of Jehovah and the prophetic revelations in the Old Testament. Others, as Reuss, while applying the words “He came,” just as we do, to the historical appearing of Jesus Christ, think that the ἴδιοι, His own, are not the Jews, but “men in general, as creatures of the pre-existent Word” (Hist. de la theolchret t. II., p. 476). Reuss even describes the application of the words τὰ ἴδια, οἱ ἴδιοι, to the Jews, as “a strange error of the ordinary exegesis.” He is, however, less positive in his last work; he merely says: “An interpretation may be maintained according to which there is no question here of the Jews. So far as the first view is concerned, it is excluded by the word ἦλθε, He came, which can only designate, like the same word in Joh 1:7, an historical fact, the coming of Christ in the flesh. We shall see, moreover, that the following verses cannot be applied to the time of the Old Covenant, as must be the case according to the sense which Lange gives to Joh 1:11. Reuss’ interpretation seems to him to be required, first, by a difficulty which he finds in the ὅσοι, all those who, of Joh 1:12, if by His own, of Joh 1:11, the Jews are to be understood—we shall examine this objection in its proper place—and then, by the general fact that, according to our Gospel, “there are no special relations between the Word and the Jews as such.” We believe that we can prove, on the contrary, that the fourth Gospel, no less than the first, establishes from the beginning to the end an organic relation between the theocracy and the coming of Christ in the flesh. The following are some of the principal passages which do not allow us to question this: Joh 2:16, “The house of my Father;” Joh 4:22, “Salvation is from the Jews;”5:39, “The scriptures bear witness of me;”5:45-47; Joh 8:35; Joh 8:56; Joh 10:2-3; Joh 12:41; Joh 19:36-37. All these sayings are incompatible with the thought of Reuss and prove that the expressions His abode, His own, are perfectly applicable to the land of Israel and the ancient people of God.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Word showed himself again, when he came in the flesh.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

his own--"His own" (property or possession), for the word is in the neuter gender. It means His own land, city, temple, Messianic rights and possessions.

and his own--"His own (people)"; for now the word is masculine. It means the Jews, as the "peculiar people." Both they and their land, with all that this included, were "HIS OWN," not so much as part of "the world which was made by Him," but as "THE HEIR" of the inheritance (Luk 20:14; see also on Mat 22:1).

received him not--nationally, as God's chosen witnesses.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. He came unto his own] τα ιδια - to those of his own family, city, country:-and his own people, οιιδιοι-his own citizens, brethren, subjects.

The Septuagint, Josephus, and Arrian, use these words, τα ιδιοι and οι ιδιοι, in the different senses given them above.

Received him not.] Would not acknowledge him as the Messiah, nor believe in him for salvation.

How very similar to this are the words of Creeshna, (an incarnation of the Supreme Being, according to the theology of the ancient Hindoos!) Addressing one of his disciples, he says: "The foolish, being unacquainted with my supreme and divine nature, as Lord of all things, despise me in this human form; trusting to the evil, diabolic, and deceitful principle within them. They are of vain hope, of vain endeavours, of vain wisdom, and void of reason; whilst men of great minds, trusting to their divine natures, discover that I am before all things, and incorruptible, and serve me with their hearts undiverted by other beings." See Bhagvat Geeta, p. 79.

To receive Christ is to acknowledge him as the promised Messiah; to believe in him as the victim that bears away the sin of the world; to obey his Gospel, and to become a partaker of his holiness, without which no man, on the Gospel plan, can ever see God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. He came into his own. Here is displayed the absolutely desperate wickedness and malice of men; here is displayed their execrable impiety, that when the Son of God was manifested in flesh to the Jews, whom God had separated to himself from the other nations to be His own heritage, he was not acknowledged or received. This passage also has received various explanations. For some think that the Evangelist speaks of the whole world indiscriminately; and certainly there is no part of the world which the Son of God may not lawfully claim as his own property. According to them, the meaning is: “When Christ came down into the world, he did not enter into another person’s territories, for the whole human race was his own inheritance.” But I approve more highly of the opinion of those who refer it to the Jews alone; for there is an implied comparison, by which the Evangelist represents the heinous ingratitude of men. The Son of God had solicited an abode for himself in one nation; when he appeared there, he was rejected; and this shows clearly the awfully wicked blindness of men. In making this statement, the sole object of the Evangelist must have been to remove the offense which many would be apt to take in consequence of the unbelief of the Jews. For when he was despised and rejected by that nation to which he had been especially promised, who would reckon him to be the Redeemer of the whole world? We see what extraordinary pains the Apostle Paul takes in handling this subject.

Here both the Verb and the Noun are highly emphatic. He came. The Evangelist says that the Son of God came to that place where he formerly was; and by this expression he must mean a new and extraordinary kind of presence, by which the Son of God was manifested, so that men might have a nearer view of him. Into his own. By this phrase the Evangelist compares the Jews with other nations; because by an extraordinary privilege they had been adopted into the family of God. Christ therefore was first offered to them as his own household, and as belonging to his empire by a peculiar right. To the same purpose is that complaint of God by Isaiah:

The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib, but Israel knoweth me not, (Isaiah 1:3;)

for though he has dominion over the whole world, yet he represents himself to be, in peculiar manner, the Lord of Israel, whom he had collected, as it were, into a sacred fold.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) He came, as distinct from the “was” of the previous verse, passes on to the historic advent; but as that was but the more distinct act of which there had been foreshadowings in every appearance and revelation of God, these Advents of the Old Testament are not excluded.

His own is neuter, and the same word which is used in Joh_19:27, where it is rendered “his own home.” (Comp. Joh_16:32, margin, and Act_21:6.) What then was the “home?” It is distinguished from the “world” of Joh_1:10, and it cannot but be that the home of Jewish thought was the land, the city, the temple bound up with every Messianic hope. Traces of this abound in the Jewish Scriptures. Comp. especially Mal_3:1, “The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple.” (See also Luk_2:49, Note.)

His own in the second clause is masculine—the dwellers in His own home, who were His own people, the special objects of His love and care. (See Exo_19:5; Deu_7:6; Psa_135:4; Isa_41:9, and Notes on Eph_2:19 and Tit_2:14.) We turn from the coldness of a strange world to the warmth and welcome of a loving home. The world knew Him not, and He came to His own, and they despised Him!

Received him not is stronger than “knew him not” of Joh_1:10. It is the rejection of those for whom no plea of ignorance can be urged, of those “who see, and therefore their sin remaineth” (Joh_9:41).

There has been an increasing depth in the tone of sadness which cannot now grow deeper. As the revelation has become clearer, as the moral power and responsibility of acceptance has been stronger, the rejection has passed into wilful refusal. The darkness comprehended not; the world knew not; His own received not.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He came unto his own,.... Not all the world, who are his own by right of creation; for these, his own, are opposed to the world, and distinguished from them; and his coming to them designs some particular favour, which is not vouchsafed to all: nor yet are the elect of God intended; though they are Christ's own, in a very special sense; they are his by his own choice, by his Father's gift, by his own purchase, and through the conquest of his grace, and are the objects of his special love; and for their sake he came in the flesh, and to them he comes in a spiritual way, and to them will he appear a second time at the last day unto salvation: but they cannot be meant, because when he comes to them they receive him; whereas these did not, as the next clause affirms: but by his own are meant the whole body of the Jewish nation; so called, because they were chosen by the Lord above all people; had distinguishing favours bestowed upon them, as the adoption, the covenants, the promises, the giving of the law, and the service of God; and had the Shekinah, and the symbol of the divine presence in a remarkable manner among them; and the promise of the Messiah was in a particular manner made to them; and indeed, he was to be born of them, so that they were his kindred, his people, and his own nation: and this his coming to them is to be understood not of his incarnation; though when he came in the flesh, as he came of them, so he came to them, particularly being sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and was rejected by them as the Messiah; yet his incarnation is afterwards spoken of in Joh 1:14 as a new and distinct thing from this; and to understand it of some coming of his before his incarnation, best suits with the context, and the design of the evangelist. Now Christ, the word, came to the Jews before his incarnation, not only in types, personal and real, and in promises and prophecies, and in the word and ordinances, but in person; as to Moses in the bush, and gave orders to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt: he came and redeemed them himself with a mighty hand, and a outstretched arm; in his love and pity he led them through the Red Sea as on dry ground; and through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night; and he appeared to them at Mount Sinai, who gave unto them the lively oracles of God:

and his own received him not; they did not believe in him, nor obey his voice; they rebelled against him, and tempted him often, particularly at Massah and Meribah; they provoked trim to anger, and vexed, and grieved his holy Spirit, as they afterwards slighted and despised his Gospel by the prophets. Of this nonreception of the word by the Jews, and their punishment for it, the Targumist on Hos 9:17 thus speaks:

"my God will remove them far away, because, , "they receive not his word"; and they shall wander among the people.

And so they treated this same "Logos", or word of God, when he was made flesh, and dwelt among them. Somewhat remarkable is the following discourse of some Jews among themselves (e):

"when the word of God comes, who is his messenger, we shall honour him. Says R. Saul, did not the prophets come, and we slew them, and shed their blood? (compare this with Mat 23:30.) how therefore now, , "shall we receive his word?" or wherefore shall we believe? Says R. Samuel, the Levite, to him, because he will heal them, and deliver them from their destructions; and because of these signs we shall believe him, and honour him.

But they did not,

(e) Ben Arama in Gen. xlvii. 4. apud Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. Ver. l. 3. c. 5,

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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

Ver. 11. He came unto his own] His peculiar picked people; as "touching the election, beloved for the Father’s sake," Rom 11:28; (ownness makes love), though the more he loved the less he was beloved. This may be the best man’s case, 2Co 12:15. Learn we to deserve well of the most undeserving. God shines upon the unthankful also, Luk 6:35. Christ came to the "stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears," Act 7:51. His comfort was (and may be ours), "Though Israel be not gathered, yet I shall be glorious," &c., Isa 49:5.

And his own received him not] Nay, they peremptorily and pertinaciously "denied the holy One and the just; and desired a murderer to be given unto them," Act 3:14. For the which their inexpiable guilt, they are, as it were, cast out of the world by a common consent of nations, being a dejected and despised people. Howbeit, we long and look daily for their conversion, their resurrection, as St Paul calleth it, Rom 11:15. And Augustine argueth out of the words, Abba, Father, that there shall one day be a consent of Jews and Gentiles in the worship of the one true God. There are those who say out of Dan 12:11, that this will occur A.D. 1650. Fiat, fiat. Do it, do it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He came unto his own - His own “land” or “country.” It was called his land because it was the place of his birth, and also because it was the chosen land where God delighted to dwell and to manifest his favor. See Isa 5:1-7. Over that land the laws of God had been extended, and that land had been regarded as especially his, Psa 147:19-20.

His own - His own “people.” There is a distinction here in the original words which is not preserved in the translation. It may be thus expressed: “He came to his own land, and his own people received him not.” They were his people, because God had chosen them to be his above all other nations; had given to them his laws; and had signally protected and favored them, Deu 7:6; Deu 14:2.

Received him not - Did not acknowledge him to be the Messiah. They rejected him and put him to death, agreeably to the prophecy, Isa 53:3-4. From this we learn,

That it is reasonable to expect that those who have been especially favored should welcome the message of God. God had a right to expect, after all that had been done for the Jews, that they would receive the message of eternal life. So he has a right to expect that we should embrace him and be saved. Yet, it is not the abundance of mercies that incline men to seek God. The Jews had been signally favored, but they rejected him. So, many in Christian lands live and die rejecting the Lord Jesus. People are alike in every age. All would reject the Saviour if left to themselves. All people are by nature wicked. There is no more certain and universal proof of this than the universal rejection of the Lord Jesus.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

His own. This regards principally the Jews. Jesus came to them as into his own family, but they did not receive him. It may likewise be extended to the Gentiles, who had groaned so long a time in darkness, and only seemed to wait for the rising sun of justice to run to its light. They likewise did not receive him. These words, though apparently general, must be understood with restriction; as there were some, though comparatively few, of both Jews and Gentiles, who embraced the faith. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He came unto his own; Christ came into the world, which being made by him, was in the most proper sense his own; or, to the Israelites, which were as his own house, land, and possession, Psa 85:1; Joh 16:32. The Greek word is in the plural number, and used in the places before mentioned, as also Act 21:6; sometimes signifying men’s proper country, sometimes their proper house. But it is a further question, what coming is here spoken of: though it be generally (or by many at least) interpreted of Christ’s coming by his incarnation, yet that seemeth not to be the sense; partly, because that coming is spoken of, Act 21:14; and partly, because in that sense the Jews did receive him; nor was it in their power to hinder his manifestation in the flesh. The coming therefore here mentioned seemeth to be intended of his coming by his prophets, John the Baptist, and his own personal preaching of the gospel.

And his own received him not; whom in this way of coming they did not receive, believing neither the testimony given by his prophets, nor by the Baptist, nor by himself, Joh 5:43.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. To his own—This word own is in the plural neuter, and signifies own things, possessions, or properties. The second own is in the plural masculine, and signifies his own living beings; that is, men. As the landlord comes to his own estates, but his own tenants receive him not, so the Logos came to his own world of things, and his own world of creatures, men, did not receive him. This does not refer to his rejecters as Jews or as his countrymen, but to men, as his own responsible subjects.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is not without interest that the ideas contained in these verses did not need a second century to evolve them; they were current in Paul"s letters, a hundred years before the date assigned by some to this Gospel. Here the question arises Has no more direct approach been made to our race than that which is common to every man? Undoubtedly the whole theocratic dispensation would be ignored if this were not the case and consequently the evangelist continues the recital of the peculiarities and specialties of the approach of the Logos to the human understanding. He came unto his own possession (eiv ta idia). Here all expositors agree to see the special manifestation of the Logos to the house of Israel, which is called in numerous passages of the Old Testament, God"s own possession. (Exo_19:5 Deu_7:6 Psa_135:4 Isa_31:9) And his own (people) received him not (parelabon ; cf. katelaben of ver. 4, and egnw of ver. 10). Here, again, the most astonishing, direct and prominent illustration of such a statement is seen in the historic ministry of the Lord Jesus, in the terrible record of his rejection by his own people, by his own disciples, by the theocratic chiefs, by the assembled Sanhedrin, by the very populace to whom Pilate appealed to save him from murderous fury. But the significance of the prologue is to my mind missed, if the earlier agelong rejection of the ministry, and light of the Logos, nay, the perpetual and awful treatment which he continually receives from "his own possession," be not perceived. There was a Divine and special sense in which the perpetual coming of the Logos to the world was emphasized by his gracious self-manifestations to the people of Israel. The great Name of Jehovah, the Angel of the presence, the manifestations to Abraham, to Moses, to David, to Elijah, to Isaiah, and Ezekiel; the Shechinah glories, the whole ministry of grace to the house of Israel, was a perpetual coming to his own peculiar possession; but yet the sum total of their history is a continuous repudiation and lapse. They rejected the Lord, they fell in the wilderness, they were turned unto other gods, they went a-whoring after their own inventions. They knew not that God had healed them. The great things of his Law were accounted strange things to them (compare Stephen"s apology for an elaborate exposition of this thought). The same kind of treatment has continually been given by the world, and even by those who have boasted of standing in the special lines of his grace. This suggestion cannot he fully expanded here. Chrysostom in loco calls much attention to the argument of the Epistle to Romans. (Rom_2:12 Rom_9:30, 32 10:3, 12)

Vers. 11, 12. The rejected and received Saviour.

These words bring under our notice a most interesting subject the great subject of the first fifteen verses of this chapter, viz. the coming of the Son of God, the manifestation of the Eternal Word in the flesh. We have here one of the peculiar aspects of his coming in order to carry out the great scheme of human redemption. We have Jesus here

I AS COME TO HIS OWN.

1. This is a special coming. He was in the world before and after his Incarnation. But here we have a special description of his manifestation. "He came." He had to do with the Jewish nation for ages, but no previous movement of his could be accurately described in this language. He came now physically, personally, and visibly.

2. This is a special coming to his own. His own land the land of Palestine; his own people the Jewish nation. He came to the world at large, but came through a particular locality. He came to humanity generally, but came through a particular nation. This was a necessity, and according to pre-arrangement. The Jewish nation were his own people:

(1) By a Divine and sovereign choice. They were chosen out of the nations of the earth to be the recipients of God"s special revelations of his will, the objects of his special care and protection, and the special medium of his great redemptive thoughts and purposes. There was a mutual engagement.

(2) By a special covenant. God entered into a covenant with them by which they were his people, to obey and serve him; and he was their God, to bless and save them.

(3) By special promises. The central one of which was the promise of the Messiah and the blessings of his reign. This promise permeated every fibre of their constitution, and became the soul of their national and religious life.

(4) By a special training. They were divinely disciplined for ages for his advent. They were taught to expect him, and trained to receive him, and, under this training, their expectation grew into a passion. The Messianic idea was fostered among them by a long and careful training, by promises, by the occasional appearance of "the Angel of Jehovah," who was doubtless no other than the Eternal Word himself. They were trained by special privileges, revelations, and protection; by an economy of ceremonial rites and sacrifices, which all pointed to the Messiah as coming. In the light of these facts he was their own Messiah. and they were his own people; and it was necessary, as welt as natural, that he should come to his own. There was a special attraction and affinity felt on his part, and there ought to be on theirs. Had he appeared in any other land than that of Israel, or identified himself with any other nation than the Jewish, he would not have come according to the volume of the book written of him. But there were the most cogent reasons, the fittest propriety, and the most absolute necessity that he should come to his own, and he came.

3. This was a special coming to all his own. Not to some, but to all. Not to a favoured class, but to all classes rich and poor, learned and unlearned. The unlearned and poor being the large majority of the nation as well as the world, he identified himself rather with them; for he could reach the higher classes better front below, than the lower classes from above. He taught all without distinction, offered the blessings of his coming to all without the least partiality, and invited all to his kingdom by the same road, viz. repentance and faith.

II AS REJECTED BY THE MAJORITY. "And his own received him not." A few received him; but they were exceptions, and they received him individually, not nationally; as sinners and aliens, and not as his own. So complete was the rejection that it is a sad truth, "his own received him not." Their rejection of him:

1. Was a sad dereliction of duty. A duty they owed to their God and Defender; a duty most sacred, important, and obligatory. A duty for the performance of which they had been chiefly chosen, specially blessed, preserved, and prepared for ages; but when the time came, they sadly failed to perform it. "His own received him not.

2. Was most inexcusable. It is true that they knew him not to be the Son of God, the promised Messiah. This is stated by the apostle. But this is not a legitimate excuse; they ought to know him. They had the most ample advantages; they were familiar with his portraits as drawn by the prophets, and he exactly corresponded. His holy character, his mighty deeds, and his Divine kindness were well known, and even confessed by them. They had the mightiest proofs of his Messiahship and Divinity. So that they had no excuse for their ignorance, and consequently no excuse for their rejection.

3. Was cruelly ungrateful. Ingratitude is too mild a term to describe their conduct. It was cruel. Think who he was the Son of God, the Prince of Life, their rightful King, their promised and long expected Messiah, come to them all the way from heaven, not on a message of vengeance as might be expected, but on a message of peace and universal good will, to fulfil his gracious engagement and carry out the Divine purposes of redeeming grace. Leaving out the graver charge of his crucifixion, his rejection was cruelly ungrateful and ungratefully cruel. "His own received him not.

4. Was most fatal to them. They rejected their best and only Friend and Deliverer, who had most benevolently come to warn and save them come for the last time, and their reception of him was the only thing that could deliver them socially and spiritually; but "his own received him not." This proved fatal to them. There was nothing left but national dissolution and ruin, and that was soon the case; and they are the victims of their own conduct to this day. To reject Jesus is ultimately fatal to nations as well as to individuals.

5. Was most discouraging to him. To be rejected, and to be rejected by his own by those who it might be expected would receive him with untold enthusiasm. Better be rejected by strangers and spurned by professed foes, this would he expected; but to he rejected by his own is apparently more than he can bear. And not satisfied with leaving him an outcast in his own world, they banish him hence by a cruel death. What will he do? Will he be disheartened, leave with disgust, and hurl on the world the thunderbolts of vengeance? No; but stands his ground, and tries his fortune among strangers, according to ancient prophecy, "He shall not fail, nor be discouraged," etc.

III AS RECEIVED BY SOME. "But as many as received him," etc. He was received by a minority a small but noble minority. With regard to the few who received him we see:

1. The independency and courage of their conduct. They received him, though rejected by the majority, which included the most educated and influential. It is one thing to swim with the tide, but another to swim against it. It is easy to go with the popular current, but difficult to go against it. This requires a great independency of action and decision of character. Those who received Jesus at this time did this they received "the Despised and Rejected of men." They accepted the Stone rejected, and rejected of the builders. This involved admirable independency of conduct and courage of conviction.

2. The reward of their conduct. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power," etc.

(1) The closest relationship to God. His children: children first, then sons; the seed first, then the ripe fruit.

(2) The highest honour that men can enjoy. Children of God.

(3) This is the gift of Christ. "To them gave he power," etc. This word means more than power; it means right as well power first, then right. Men had neither to sonship, but Christ gave both. The fact is patent he gave the power. The title is good he gave the right.

(4) This is the gift of Christ consequent upon receiving him. "But as many as received him, to them," etc. And to none else. But to as many as received him he gave the power. There was not a single failure, not a single exception. They received the Son of God, and became themselves the children of God in consequence. They were not disappointed, but had reasons to be more than satisfied with their choice, and more than proud of their unexpected and Divine fortune. If Jesus were disappointed in his own, those who received him were not disappointed in Jesus only on the best side; for "to them gave he power," etc.

3. The explanation of their conduct. How did. they receive him while the majority rejected him? How came they possessed of such a high honour to become the children of God? The answer is, "They believed on his Name." It was by faith. We see:

(1) The discerning power of faith. Faith has a discerning power; it can see through the visible to the invisible, through the immediate present to the distant future. In this instance, faith saw through the outward the inward; through the physical it saw the Divine; through the outward humiliation and poverty it discovered a Divine presence. In "the Man of sorrows" faith saw the Son of God, and in "the Despised and Rejected of men" the Saviour of the world.

(2) The receptive power of faith. Jesus was received by faith. Faith saw, recognized, and consequently received, him as the Messiah. God speaks, faith listens; God offers, faith accepts.

(3) The regenerative and transforming power of faith. "They became the sons of God." How? By the given power of Jesus in connection with faith. Christ gave himself as a Divine Seed; faith received, appropriated, and nursed him so as to result in a Divine regeneration and birth. Faith transforms its object into its possessor; so that the believer in the Son of God becomes the son of God himself. This is a Divine process from beginning to end, in which faith a Divine gift plays a prominent part.

(4) Faith in Christ produced the same result in all. "As many as received him," etc. No matter as to position, education, or character.

CONCLUSIONS.

1. The minority are often right, and the majority wrong. It was so on the plain of Dura, in Babylon, and so here.

2. The minority, generally, are the first to accept great truths; the majority reject them. Think of scientific, reforming and redemptive truths. The Jewish nation rejected the Saviour; a few received him.

3. It is better to be with the minority when right, than with the majority when wrong. They have truth and right, and will ultimately win all to their way of thinking. The few that received Jesus are fast gaining ground. The Saviour of the minority win soon be the Saviour of all.

4. We should be very thankful to the minority for receiving the Saviour. Humanly speaking, they saved the world from eternal disgrace and ruin from sharing the fate of those who rejected him.

5. We should be infinitely more thankful to the Saviour that he did not leave the world in disgust and vengeance when rejected by his own. But inspired by infinite love, he turned his face to the world at large, stood by the minority, and the minority stood by him. The river of God"s eternal purposes cannot be ultimately checked. If checked in one direction, it will take another, and the result will be more glorious. Christ comes to us every day. Do we receive him? Our obligations are infinite. B.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He came - In the fulness of time, to his own - Country, city, temple: And his own - People, received him not.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

He came

i.e. He came unto his own things, and his own people received him not.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. εἰς τὰ ἴδια. The difference between neuter and masculine must be preserved: He came to His own inheritance; and His own people received Him not. In the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Mat 21:33-41) τὰ ἴδια is the vineyard; οἱ ἴδιοι are the husbandmen, the Chosen people, the Jews. Or, as in Joh 19:27, we may render εἰς τὰ ἴδια unto His own home: cf. Joh 16:32, Joh 19:27; Act 21:6; Est 5:10; Est 6:12. The tragic tone is very strong here, as in Joh 1:5; Joh 1:10.

παρέλαβον. A stronger word than ἔγνω. Παραλαμβάνειν is ‘to take from the hand of another, accept what is offered.’ Mankind in general did not recognise the Messiah; the Jews, to whom He was specially sent, did not welcome Him. There is a climax again in 9, 10, 11;—ἦν—ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν—εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθε.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11.] τὰ ἴδια here cannot well mean the world, or οἱ ἴδιοι mankind in general: it would be difficult to point out any Scripture usage to justify such a meaning. But abundance of passages bear out the meaning which makes τὰ ἴδια His own inheritance or possession, i.e. Judæa; and οἱ ἴδιοι, the Jews: compare especially the parable Mat 21:33 ff., and Sir. 24:7 ff. And thus ἦλθεν forms a nearer step in the approach to the declaration in ver. 14. He came to His own.

On παρέλ. see reff.,—and above on ver. 5.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθεν. This (see on 19:27) is literally “He came to His own home.” And the following words, “His own received Him not,” would well describe His rejection by His own kinsfolk and neighbours in Galilee, according to the saying that a prophet has no honour in his own country (Mar 6:4, Mat 13:57, Luk 4:24; cf. Joh 4:44). But the thought of this verse is larger. The world did not know Him, did not recognise Him for what He was (v. 10). But when He came in the flesh, He came (ἦλθεν) to “the holy land” (2 Macc. 1:7, Wisd. 12:3), to the land and the people which peculiarly belonged to Yahweh and were His own (Exo 19:5, Deu 7:6). In coming to Palestine, rather than to Greece, the Word of God came to His own home on earth. Israel were the chosen people; they formed, as it were, an inner circle in the world of men; they were, peculiarly, “His own.” He was “not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mat 15:24). “His own” intimate disciples did indeed receive him (see 13:1, 17:6, 9, 11 for οἱ ἴδιοι), but the thought here is of His own people, Israel. The Fourth Gospel is the Gospel of the Rejection; and this appears thus early in the Prologue (cf. 3:11, 5:43).

It is not said that Israel did not “know” Him, as is said of the “world” (v. 10); but Israel did not receive Him in welcome (cf. 14:3 for this shade of meaning in παραλαμβάνω). Like the Wicked Husbandmen in the parable (Mar 12:1, Mat 21:33, Luk 20:9), Israel knew the Heir and killed Him.

Comment to Avoid Misunderstanding of V. 11 (Vv. 12, 13)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.