John 1:11-13 "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." What is
meant by this statement? I suppose there are many interpretations as with many
other statements in the Bible. Let me use a simple example as to how I see this
declaration concerning Jesus. Last night I began to pray and ask the Lord to
show me the best way to explain my view of this particular verse of Scripture.
Then, I believe, He opened my thoughts concerning something that will take
place. Yesterday, a very good friend sent me an email telling me he had ordered
a book on a particular subject. He said I should "receive" the book
on Monday or Tuesday. I just showed one view of receiving; that is, to take
into possession.
I should be able to take into possession this book on Monday or Tuesday. As the
Lord brought this email to my memory, He began to speak to my heart concerning
this word, receive. It is one thing to take into possession, but there is
another depth of receiving that should accompany that. I will receive (take
into possession) the book on Monday or Tuesday. But after I take the book into
possession, I must "receive" the contents of the book and put it into
practice. In other words, I will need to read what is in the book in order to
fully "receive" the knowledge of its contents.
The word, received, in our text carries the meaning of associating with and to
become familiar. The people of that day received Jesus as the Son of the
carpenter. Some of them received Him as a prophet. Others received Him as a miracle
worker. Still yet, others received Him as a good man. But what is the context
in which this verse is written? Remember, I have spoken about taking verses in
context before? John has just told us that this Jesus is the Living Word
of God. He is God in flesh. He is the Light of the world. When it came to the
day of standing before Pilate and the crowd of people, the multitude
"received Him not" as being the Son of God, God in flesh. They
preferred darkness to the Light which is only found in Jesus Christ. If you
will have it as such, they "received" the package, but did not
receive (associate themselves with) the contents.
But those who did receive Him, as He truly is the very Son of God, were given
power to walk, talk, understand, and reason as children of the Most High God.
They were given a special hope, or assurance, that our God reigns. How were
they brought to this point? It wasn't because they were more intelligent and
able to reason this to be the Son of God. It wasn't because of their genealogy.
It wasn't because they were stronger than the others. They were blessed to
receive and believe because they were "born of God".