John 1:10 says, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him," or "did not recognize Him" (NIV). There are three supreme things in this verse: (1) The Supreme Fact of History: Christ "was in the world" (v. 10a); (2) The Supreme Truth of History: "The world was made through him" (v. 10b); and (3) The Supreme Tragedy of History: "The world did not know him" (v. 10c).
Everything starts with this fact—that Christ "was in the world" (v. 10a). John means more than just a fleeting visit. God walked on earth for 33 years. He was a flesh and blood man, born of a woman, with a human nature just like ours, only without sin. He was born as we are born, and grew up through all the stages of childhood—infancy, toddler, young child, teenager, and young adult. He wasn't a robot or an angel or some kind of strange alien from a distant galaxy. He was one of us and walked among us.
There has always been a great divide among people—and not an even divide either. The majority has never recognized Jesus for who He really is. When He came the first time, Herod hated Him, the scribes ignored Him, and there was no room for Him in the inn. Only the shepherds and the Wise Men—the poor and the foreigners—welcomed Him to earth.
It is the same today. Christmas has almost disappeared from our culture. Where we used to say "Merry Christmas," now we say "Happy Holidays" for fear of offending someone. Where students used to have "Christmas holidays," we now have "Winter break." And we have nearly sanitized the birth of Christ out of every public school in America. Christmas has become the "C" word—unmentionable in polite company. So nothing has changed. Christ came to the world He created, and the world had no idea who He was.
John continues, "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him" (v. 11). But the world's ignorance is not the worst of it. John tells us that Christ came to "that which was his own" (v. 11a, NIV). You could easily translate this as "His own home." He is moving from the general (the world) to the specific (the nation of Israel). He came to His own home—the Holy Land, and to His own people—the nation of Israel, and they did not receive Him.
Perhaps you've heard it said that "home is where, when you go there, they have to take you in." Jesus came "home" to His own people—and they wouldn't take Him in. He came to the people who should have known Him best—and they wanted nothing to do with Him. They should have known better. They knew He was coming—God had told them over and over again many times in many ways. They had ample warning. Even some pagan astrologers in Persia figured it out when they saw His star in the east (Matt. 2:1-5).
Moses said, "He's coming." David said, "He's coming." Isaiah said, "He's coming." Jeremiah said, "He's coming." Daniel said, "He's coming." Micah said, "He's coming." Zechariah said, "He's coming." Malachi said, "He's coming." Every book, every chapter, every page of the Old Testament testifies to one great truth—"He's coming." That's the whole theme of the Old Testament—that God would one day send the Messiah to the earth to deliver His people Israel. And when Jesus finally arrived, they didn't believe it. And some of them decided to put Him to death.
Think of the long history of Israel. Over and over again they rebelled against God's law. Time and again they killed the prophets who delivered God's message. Is it any wonder they crucified the Son of God?
He came to His own people—to the one place where He might be welcomed—to His "hometown" and to "His own family"—and they did not want Him. They did not receive Him. They did not believe Him. Finally, they crucified Him. And that rejection continues in large part to this very day.
John adds, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (vv. 12-13). The news is not entirely bad. While it is true that the world ignored Him and His own people rejected Him; not everyone ignored Him and not everyone rejected Him. Some people recognized Him and welcomed Him into their lives as Lord and Savior. It is useful to recall that all the apostles and 100% of the earliest disciples were Jewish. Even in the midst of general rejection, many followed the Lord.
Verse 12 is one of the greatest verses in all of the New Testament because it tells us how to be saved. There are three key words in verse 12:
(1) "Received" (v. 12a) means to welcome a visitor into your home. It is what you do when you have planned a Christmas party and asked your guests to arrive at 6:30, but then you hear the doorbell ring at 5:50, and you're not ready yet. So you walk to the door, open it, smile and say, "Please come in." You "receive" your guests even though they have come early. To "receive" Christ means to welcome Him as an honored guest and to have Him make your heart His home.
(2) "Believe" (v. 12c) means more than just saying a prayer or signing a card. It has the idea of believing that Jesus is the Son of God from heaven and trusting Him with all your heart. It means resting on Him so completely that He is your only hope of heaven.
(3) "Right" (v. 12b) means "honor" or "privilege." The moment you receive Christ into your life, God gives you the honor of becoming a member of His family. This teaches us that not everyone is a child of God. All are created by God, but not everyone in the world is a child of God. Sometimes people carelessly say, "We're all God's children," but the Bible says no such thing. God only gives the privilege of being His children to those who by personal faith receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Verse 13 explains how we become God's children. There are three "nots" and one "but"—and all four are important:
(1) "Not of blood" (v. 13a). Grace doesn't automatically run from one generation to another. You aren't a Christian just because your parents were Christians or because your grandfather was a pastor. And you won't get brownie points with God just because you come from a good family and have a fine education. Family background doesn't count when it comes to salvation.
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