John 1:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Nor should it examine what has been spoken. The power of Him who spoke it is sufficient proof of what was said.

And do you ask us how this is possible, when we say that He who created souls and bodies is without beginning and infinitely surpasses every creature? Who in full reason and sound mind would say this?

You have heard that He was the true Light. Why then do you strive in vain to embrace this endless life with your mind? It is impossible.

Why do you search what cannot be searched? Why do you test what cannot be comprehended? Why do you investigate what is unknown?

Consider the very source of the sun’s rays. You cannot do this. Yet in that case you are neither vexed nor grieved by your weakness.

Why then are you so bold and rash in matters far greater? John, the son of thunder, sounding through the spiritual trumpet, heard from the Spirit that He was the Light and investigated no further.

But you, not having his grace and reasoning only by your feeble arguments, strive to step even beyond the boundary of his knowledge. For this reason you will not attain even the measure of his knowledge.

Such is the devil’s treachery. He leads those who trust him beyond the limits set for us by God, as though we could possess much greater knowledge.

After deceiving us with such hopes and depriving us of the grace of God, he not only gives us nothing more. How could he, being the devil? He also does not allow us to return to the former limits, where we were safe.

He makes us wander everywhere and nowhere permits us to stand. In this way he brought the first-formed man to expulsion from paradise.

By giving him the hope of greater knowledge and honor, the devil deprived him even of what he had peacefully enjoyed before.

Man not only failed to become equal to God, as the devil promised him, but fell under the yoke of death.

Through eating from the tree he not only gained nothing more. In the hope of greater knowledge, he lost no small part of the knowledge he had before.

He began to be ashamed of his nakedness and to hide it, though before the deception he was above such shame.

Even his seeing his nakedness and feeling the need to cover himself with clothing, together with other still greater sorrows, were consequences of the deception.

That we may not suffer the same, let us obey God and remain in His commandments, examining nothing beyond them. Otherwise we shall be deprived even of the blessings already given to us, as these heretics were punished.

As soon as they began to search out the beginning of beginningless life, they lost even what they could have possessed. They did not find what they sought, for that is impossible. Meanwhile they fell away from the right faith in the Only-begotten.

But let us not transgress the eternal boundaries set by our Fathers. Let us follow the laws of the Spirit in all things.

When we hear that He was the true Light, let us investigate nothing further. Nor is it possible for anyone to go beyond this saying.

If God begot in the manner of man, there would necessarily be some division between the begetter and the begotten. But since this begetting is ineffable and proper to God alone, leave aside ordinary notions of before and after.

These are expressions of time, while the Son is the Creator of all ages.

Some say, Therefore God is not Father to the Son, but brother. Tell me, what need is there for such a conclusion?

If we said that the Father and the Son have divided being in Their beginning, perhaps you would have the right to say this. But we avoid such impiety.

We say that the Father is without beginning and unbegotten, while the Son is without beginning and begotten of the Father. What need is there to draw such an impious conclusion from this teaching? There is none.

The Son is the radiance. And radiance is understood inseparably from the nature of which it is the radiance.

For this reason Paul also called the Son by this name, that we might suppose no division between the Father and the Son (Heb 1:3). This is what the name expresses.

By such an image the Apostle corrects the absurd thoughts that enter the minds of senseless people.

When you hear of radiance, says the Apostle, do not think that the Son has no hypostasis of His own. Such a thought is impious and belongs to the madness of the Sabellians and Marcellians.

We do not teach this. We say that He has His own hypostasis.

Therefore, after calling Him radiance, the Apostle adds that He is also the image of the hypostasis of the Father (Heb 1:3). By this he expresses both His own hypostasis and His consubstantiality with Him whose image He is.

As I have already said, there is no single expression sufficient to convey to men this whole teaching about God. It is desirable, at least, to combine several expressions and draw from each what is fitting.

Thus we can render worthy doxology to God. I say worthy, that is, according to our strength.

But if anyone thinks he can speak worthily of the very essence of God, and strives to prove that he knows God as God knows Himself, he has no knowledge of God at all.

Knowing this, let us hold firmly to what was handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word. Let us examine nothing further.

Two dangers threaten those sick with this disease. One is that they labor in vain, seeking what cannot be found. The other is that they provoke God by striving to transgress the limits He has set.

There is no need to tell you what wrath this arouses in God, for you all know it. Therefore, let us withdraw from the folly of the heretics and attend to His words with trembling, that He may always guard us.

"But to whom will I look," He says, "except to the meek and humble, the silent one who trembles at My words" (Isa 66:2).

Nothing prevents us today from touching again on these words. Last time the exposition of doctrines did not allow us to follow fully all that was read.

Where are those who say that the Son is not true God? Here He is called "the true Light," and elsewhere Truth itself and Life itself.

We shall examine those latter words more clearly when we come to them. For now we must speak to your love about the Light.

If He "enlightens every man coming into the world," why do so many remain unenlightened? Surely because not all have known the faith of Christ.

How then does He "enlighten every man"? According to each one’s receptivity.

If some, by their own will, close the eyes of the mind and do not wish to receive the rays of this Light, their darkness does not come from the nature of the Light. It comes from their malice, for they willingly deprive themselves of the gift.

Grace is poured out upon all. It is not alien to Jew, Greek, barbarian, Scythian, free man, slave, man, woman, elder, or youth. It is equally near to all and calls all with equal honor.

But those who do not wish to make use of this gift must justly ascribe such blindness to themselves.

When the entrance is open to all and no one blocks it, if some remain outside through self-chosen hardness, they perish for no other reason than their own wickedness.

If the evil creator is darkness, he cannot illumine anyone. Therefore we are creations of the true Light.

And how, someone will say, does He illumine every man, when we see some darkened? As far as depends on Him, He illumines all.

Tell me, are we not all rational? Do we not all know by nature what is good and what is opposed to it? Do we not have the ability, through reflection on creatures, to know the Creator?

Therefore the reason given to us, which teaches us by nature and is called the natural law, may be called the light given to us by God. If some have made evil use of reason, they have darkened themselves.

Others resolve this objection as follows. The Lord, they say, illumines every man who comes "into the world," that is, into a better state, and who strives to adorn his soul rather than leave it disordered and shapeless.

And what is the lampstand for the lamp? Hear about the lampstand. If you are to be a lamp, you will also have a lampstand. The Cross of Christ is the great lampstand. Whoever wishes to shine will not disdain the wooden lampstand.

Therefore, why did he come? "To bear witness to the Light" (Jn 1:7). Why? "That all might believe through him" (Jn 1:7). And to what Light did he bear witness? "That was the true Light" (Jn 1:9).

Why was "true" added? Because an enlightened man is also called light, but the true Light is He Who Himself enlightens. Even our eyes are called lights. Yet if no lamp is lit at night, or if the sun shines by day, these lights are open in vain.

So John also was a light, but not the true Light. If he had not been illumined, he would have remained darkness. Through illumination he became light.

Had he not been illumined, he would have remained darkness, like all the ungodly. To them, once they had believed, the Apostle said: "You were once darkness" (Eph 5:8).

But now, since they believed, what are they? "But now," he says to them, "you are light in the Lord" (Eph 5:8). If he had not added "in the Lord," we would not have understood what was said.

He says, "Light in the Lord," that is, you were darkness not in the Lord. "You were once darkness"; here he did not add, "in the Lord." Therefore darkness is in you, but light is in the Lord.

So also John "was not the Light, but was sent to bear witness to the Light" (Jn 1:8).

Where, then, is this Light Himself? "That was the true Light, which enlightens every man coming into this world" (Jn 1:9). If He enlightens every man coming into this world, then He enlightened John himself.

Thus He Himself enlightened the one who, by His will, was to speak of Him. Understand, beloved. He was coming to weak souls, to sick hearts, to the eyes of the soul covered with a veil. To them He came.

And how could such a soul see what is perfect? Often we learn of the rising of the sun, which we cannot look at with our eyes, by some body that has been illumined.

Even those whose eyes are diseased can see a wall, a mountain, a tree, or something similar when it has been illumined and filled with sunlight. Through something illumined, the sun's rising is revealed to those whose sight is not yet strong enough to behold it.

So it was with all those to whom Christ came. They did not have sufficient sight to see Him. He covered John with His rays, and through him the Enlightener was revealed.

John confessed that he was the one illumined and enlightened, not the One Who illumines and enlightens. Through him was revealed the One Who enlightens, the One Who illumines, the One Who fills.

Who is this? He is the One "Who enlightens," he says, "every man coming into the world" (Jn 1:9). For if man had not departed from there, he would not need enlightenment.

But here he needs enlightenment because he departed from there, where man could always have been embraced by the Light.

The true Light is also called the true image, true wisdom, true life, and the like. This is not said to disparage other holy images, the wisdom of the Divine Scriptures, or the present life, much less the future life.

Rather, such an expression always indicates something incomparable with anything else by reason of its superiority. "Into the world" may also mean: into the true world of the virtues.

But both angels and men enlighten as teachers. They borrow light from God and communicate it to others. The true Light, that is, the Son of God and Word, borrows from no one.

Having light naturally from Himself, He enlightens creatively, giving us the powers through which we become rational, wise, and pious.

But if the Son of God illumines every man coming into the world, why do some remain unenlightened, unable to see the light? Just as God grants the sun as a common benefit to all, while the blind are not illumined by it because they lack sight.

So also God pours out saving grace upon all, yet not all become pious. The wicked turn away from such light by their own choice.

Or, just as a farmer scatters seed everywhere but gathers fruit only where there is good soil, so God sows the seeds of knowledge and truth in every human heart. Yet they bear fruit only in those who have a good disposition.

The preacher of God confirms this by the following words: "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him."

Thus the contrast here is this: John shone with light, and that light was true, not illusory or false, yet it was not his own. It was borrowed, or poured upon him from God.

The Word, the Messiah, is called the true Light as self-existent Light, Light according to His very essence, not borrowed Light. He is the source of every light and enlightenment.

"Why is 'true' added here to the word Light? Because a man illumined from above is also called light. But the true Light is the One Who illumines.

So John was light, but not the true Light. If he had not been illumined, he would have been darkness. By illumination from another, he became light" (Augustine).

"He illumines every man": that is, everyone who has not lost the capacity to receive this light or enlightenment from the Word (v. 12), whether Jew or Gentile (Jn 12:46).

"Coming into the world": according to the structure of the Greek phrase, this expression can be referred either to the word Light or to the word man.

In the first case the meaning is: the true Light, the Word and Messiah, illumines every man by coming into the world. In the second: the true Light illumines every man coming into the world, or being born.

Cyril of Jerusalem and blessed Augustine, among others, hold the first interpretation. The latter is almost universally accepted.

The first is preferred because the Messiah is sometimes called in this same Gospel the One coming into the world (Jn 6:14; 18:37), and the Light that came into the world (Jn 3:19; 12:46).

Also, with the word "man," the addition "coming into the world" or "being born" seems unnecessary. A similar transposition of words and phrases occurs often in John, for example here in Jn 1:12.

"How, someone will say, does He illumine every man, when we see some darkened? As far as depends on Him, He illumines all.

Tell me, are we not all rational? Do we not all know by nature the good and what is opposed to it? Do we not have the ability, through reflection on creatures, to know the Creator?

Therefore the reason given to us, which is also called the natural law, may be called the light given to us by God. If some have made evil use of reason, they have darkened themselves" (Theophylact; cf. Chrysostom, who understands this as grace).

Third, among the rabbis the expression "to come into the world" is usual in the sense of a man's birth. Fourth, it is also usual among the sacred writers: Job 1:21; Eccl 5:11; Wis 7:6; 2 Tim 1:6; and in John himself, Jn 16:21.

Thus, according to the meaning of the Evangelist's words, there is one Enlightener for everyone who appears in the world.

"The Word, the true Light," says Saint Cyril of Alexandria, "illumines everyone who appears in the world, since no man is illumined otherwise than by the light of truth, which is God Himself."

The Word is the Light not only for particular persons, generations, or peoples, but for all men of all places and times. He is Light for uncultivated and cultivated peoples alike (Jn 12:46; Tit 2:11; Gal 3:28; Col 1:20).

This excludes every other source of true enlightenment. But whether all in fact receive the enlightenment of the eternal Light is another question. The discourse about this follows below.

This does not mean that everyone has already been enlightened. No, many remain unenlightened by Him. It means that if anyone is enlightened, he is enlightened only by Him.

Whoever is not enlightened by Him displays only an appearance of enlightenment, however much he may be praised as enlightened. Outside the Lord Jesus there is no light, but all is gloom and thick darkness.

The enlightenment given by Jesus Christ is spiritual enlightenment. Spiritual darkness consists of ignorance of God and of His good intentions concerning us, joined with the absence of fear.

It also consists of the confusion of conscience and sinful impurities, joined with negligence and carelessness. It consists of the griefs of a heart tormented by passions and satisfied by nothing, joined with spiritual tastelessness and insensibility.

The Lord, and only the Lord, removes this threefold darkness and fills the soul with light on every side. From Him comes the fear of God, awakened by the word of truth delivered by Him.

This truth concerns God and our complete dependence on Him. From Him comes the pacification of conscience through the forgiveness of sins, by the power of His death.

From Him comes strength to resist everything that can trouble the conscience. From Him also comes the contentment of the heart, which is satisfied by Him alone.

He wipes away every tear, removes every burden, and grants every rest, according to His promise: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28).

Therefore anyone who cleaves to the Lord becomes so luminous that even outsiders can see it in the brightness of his gaze and in the joyful state of spirit reflected in words, deeds, and movements.

Their inner being is filled with light. They are bright through the taste of blessings already received and through the hope of receiving still better and greater ones.

They are bright with love and goodness, bright with piety and filial fear of God. All this is given to them by the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.

He taught us the truth, suffered for us, merited for us the Spirit of grace, and opened for us the doors of the Heavenly Kingdom. He has already entered there as Forerunner, drawing us all to Himself and awaiting all.

There are many self-appointed lights, but none of them drives away our darkness or gives true brightness. May the Lord grant all who seek enlightenment to find the true Light.

May they not be carried away by these phantoms, which do not enlighten, but darken more and more.

"I am the true vine," the Lord also says (Jn 15:1), that is, the one true vine, the eternal one. The true Light illumines every man, not only the Jew, but every man created according to the image and likeness of God.

Every man has been given a soul capable of receiving the Light, if only an evil will does not turn him away from the Light and make him seek darkness (cf. Jn 3:20).

It is further said that the true Light illumines every man "coming into the world." We cannot pass over in silence a particular reading of verse 9 allowed by some.

This reading refers the word erchomenon to the word light, and not to the word man. According to this reading, one would translate: "There was the true Light, coming into the world, which illumines every man."

But let us note that all the most ancient translations read the ninth verse as the Slavonic and Russian translations do. That is, they refer the word "coming" to the word "man."

Among translations known to us, this is how the Vulgate and the Biblia Sacra read it: omnem hominem venientem in mundum. So also Luther's translation, and Sacy's French translation according to the Vulgate.

So too the Sainte Bible of 1731 printed at The Hague, the English Authorized text and Revised Version of 1881, and the New Testament revised by David Martin, Brussels, 1861. Ostervald, however, holds the indicated change.

Every man entering the world is not left helpless by the Lord. He is enlightened by the light of divine revelation and by the spark of divine light within him, located in his conscience (cf. Rom 2:10-16, 27-29).

Therefore he is responsible when he closes his eyes so as not to see the light of revelation, goodness, and love. The following verses, 10-13, answer this thought. They separate those who received the Lord from those who did not receive Him.