Episode 8 - He has given them the right to become God's children

John 1:11-13

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

In our continuation of this introduction to John’s gospel, the author is speaking of the Word who created all things and in him is life and who was the true light that came into the world. 

Now, John tells us that he “came to his own.” This translation (ESV) and some others continue with the next statement that “his own people did not receive him.” While I don’t have a problem with this translation, it is worth noting that in the original language, the word “people” is not present. The Greek just says, “his own did not receive him.” The reason I think this is worth noting is expressed in the question, “If all things were made by him, what is his own?” The obvious answer would be “everything and everyone.”

If that’s the case, why do some translations qualify the statement by adding the word “people?” The answer lies in the Hebrew Scriptures or what Christians often refer to as the Old Testament. In Genesis, God calls a man named Abram to obey an instruction to leave his home and Abram obeyed God. God further leads and builds Abram’s faith and changes his name to Abraham. God makes Abraham a promise that he will become a father of many nations and through a line of descendants; Isaac, Jacob (renamed Israel) God would establish a people group called the Hebrews or the Jews. They were to be a special people to God. So, it’s reasonable to understand that when John says, “He came to his own” he meant his own people group, the Jews. 

Personally, I like the tension we’re left with by John just saying, “He came to his own. But, his own did not receive him.” There’s a sense in which the statement is true whether it’s meant to represent the Hebrew people or mankind as a whole since as creatures of the Word, we all belong to him.

Now John transitions to people who do receive him. Who are they? They are people who believe in his name. What is his name? John hasn’t told us yet. What he does tell us is that those who receive him by believing in his name, God has given them the right to become (from the word “ginomai” that we saw in verse three which means to become or to be created)  his children. John qualifies that these children are not children born in the normal human way of being born, but solely by God’s will and power. 

The Christian Scriptures make it very clear that becoming part of God’s family is outside the ability of human will and power. It requires God’s will and power and this passage provides strong support for that belief. Therefore, even though as creatures we rightly belong to God, we are not part of God’s family by default. Why? As we’ll see developed more throughout this book, we tend to be in that chaotic darkness and do not recognize the true light. We need God’s power to respond to the light.