John 1:9

The true Light. All other so-called “light” than that which originates with Jesus Christ is false (cf. Isa. 50:11; James 1:17). However it is probable that John does not here use the word “true” in contradistinction to “false,” implying that all other lights are false and misleading, for Christ later spoke of John the Baptist as “a burning and a shining light [Gr. luchnos, “lamp,” “light bearer,” in contradistinction to phos, the light itself, see on v. 7]” (eh. 5:35). But John the apostle denies (eh. 1:8) that John the Baptist was “that Light” of which he here speaks. The difference between John the Baptist and Jesus was not the difference between false and true, but between partial and complete (see 1 Cor. 13:10). The witness of John might be likened to the brilliance of the planet Venus, or to that of Sirius (see on Isa. 14:12), but in Jesus the light of truth blazed forth like the noonday sun (see on Mal. 4:2; 2 Peter 1:19). John also sets Jesus forth as the “true bread” (eh. 6:32), the “true vine” (eh. 15:1), the true “door” (eh. 10:7-9), and as truth itself (eh. 14:6).

Lighteth every man. This does not mean that all men are necessarily illuminated by the light, but that if men are illuminated at all it must be by means of this light (cf. John 6:68; Acts 4:12). All the light that men have comes from Christ (DA 464, 465). The true light shines upon all men in the same sense that Jesus died for all men, but this does not mean that all men know about Him or that they will be saved. John here refers, not to a vague spark of light resident in the souls of all men, saints, sinners, and heathen alike, but to the light of a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ (see DA 317). John makes clear in vs. 10-12 that, for the most part, “the world knew him not” and “his own received him not.” These, then, were not illuminated by the “true Light.” As John hastens to add, it is only “as many as received him” and believed in Him who are here particularly designated (v. 12; cf. DA 317).

That cometh. In the Greek this clause may refer either to “every man” (KJV) or to “the true light” (RSV). In eh. 3:19 light is again referred to as coming into the world. In chs. 5:43; 7:28; 10:10; 16:28; 18:37 (cf. chs. 1:31; 6:14; 11:27) Jesus refers to His own coming, not as a babe in Bethlehem, but in His role as the Messiah. In eh. 12:46 Jesus says, “I am come a light into the world.”

In eh. 1:10, John states that Christ, “the true Light,” was in the world. Would it not be appropriate for him to mention His coming into the world in the preceding verse? Some have suggested that if the clause, “that cometh into the world,” refers to “every man,” it would be redundant, whereas if it refers to “the true Light,” it would seem to add meaning to the statement and prepare the way for the incarnation declaration of v. 14. However, the KJV reading is folly as valid grammatically.

The world. Gr. kosmos, generally the “world” from the viewpoint of its harmonious arrangement (see on Matt. 4:8). John uses kosmos some 80 times, as compared with only 15 in the three Synoptics, and by it designates the world of men, particularly those who oppose God and truth.