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John 1:4
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

John 6:32
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

every.

John 1:7
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that allmen through him might believe.

John 7:12
And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.

John 12:46
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

who gives light to everyone
This part of the verse emphasizes the universal scope of Christ's revelation. The light of Christ is not limited to a specific group but is available to all humanity. This aligns with the biblical theme of God's desire for all people to come to the knowledge of truth (1 Timothy 2:4). It also reflects the fulfillment of prophecies such asIsaiah 49:6, where the Servant of the Lord is a light to the nations. The phrase underscores the inclusivity of the Gospel message.

was coming into the world
This indicates the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the moment when the Word became flesh (John 1:14). The phrase "coming into the world" signifies the historical event of Jesus' birth and His entrance into human history. It highlights the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah's arrival (e.g.,Micah 5:2,Isaiah 7:14). The world, in this context, often represents humanity in its fallen state, in need of redemption and enlightenment. Jesus' coming into the world marks the pivotal point in God's redemptive plan.

- John begins by drawing our attention to a singular, definitive Light—Jesus Christ. Earlier he said, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4), so the “true” Light is contrasted with every lesser, temporary, or misleading light.

- Jesus later declares, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness” (John 8:12). This shows that His light is not merely intellectual insight but saving, guiding life.

- Scripture consistently ties light to God’s character: “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Therefore, calling Jesus the “true Light” affirms His full deity and moral purity.

- Practical takeaway: every counterfeit promise of enlightenment must be evaluated against Christ Himself, the absolute standard (Psalm 36:9;2 Corinthians 4:6).

- The verse insists on the universal scope of Christ’s illumination. This echoesJohn 12:32, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself”.

- His light reaches all in at least two ways:

• General revelation—creation and conscience testify about God (Romans 1:19-20; 2:14-16).

• Gospel proclamation—“He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

- While not all receive Him, none are left without witness. The light shines; human response determines whether it becomes salvation or judgment (John 3:19-21).

- This universality fuels missions: believers carry His light “so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

- The verb points to a historical event: the incarnation. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

- Christ “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7) and entered the very world He created (Colossians 1:16).

- His coming fulfilled prophecy (Isaiah 9:2; 60:1-3) and arrived “when the fullness of time had come” (Galatians 4:4-5).

- Purpose of His arrival:

• To reveal the Father (John 14:9).

• To destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

• To provide atonement by tasting death for everyone (Hebrews 2:14-17).

- Incarnation assures us that God is not distant; He stepped into our darkness to rescue us.

John 1:9 packs profound truth into a single sentence: Jesus, the only authentic Light, radiates God’s life and truth to all humanity and did so by personally entering our world. Because He illuminates every heart and offers salvation to every soul, the proper response is to receive and follow Him, walking in His light and reflecting it to others.

The true Light was not "true" as opposed to "false," but "true" as answering to the perfect ideal, and as opposed to all more or less imperfect representations. The meaning of the Greek is quite clear. The difficulty arises from the fact that in English there is but one word to represent the two ideas. The word for the fuller meaning of "ideally true" is not confined to St. John, but is naturally of very frequent recurrence in his writings. The adjective is used nine times in this Gospel, and not at all in the other three. A comparison of the passages will show how important it is to get a right conception of what the word means, and will help to give it. (SeeJohn 4:23;John 4:37;John 6:32;John 7:28;John 8:16;John 15:1;John 17:3;John 19:35.) But, as ideally true, the Light was not subject to the changing conditions of time and space, but was and is true for all humanity, and "lighteth every man." . . .

(b)The illumination of the archetypal Light before incarnation. There are at least three grammatical translations of this verse. Either

(1) with Meyer, we may give toη΅ν the complete sense of existence, presence, and include in it the full predicate of the sentence; thus: "Existing, present (when John commenced his ministry), was the veritable Light which enlighteneth every man coming into the world." But the clause, "coming into the world," would here not only be superfluous, but moreover, while used elsewhere and often of Christ's incarnation, is never used of ordinary birth in the Scriptures, though it is a rabbinical expression.

(2) Lange, Moulton, Westcott, Godet, applying theἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον to thelight rather than toman, translate it, "That was the true Light which lighteth every man, by coming into the world, or that cometh into the world." The difficulty of this is that it makes the coming into the world, in some new sense, the occasion of the illumination of every man, although the evangelist has already spoken (ver. 4) of the Life which is the Light of men. A third method is to make theἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸνκόσμον the true predicate of the sentence, and translate thus:The veritable Light which illumines every man was coming (ever coming)into the world; and there is a sense and manner of his coming which transcends all others, about which he is to speak at length. This might receive another meaning ifη΅ν ἐρχόμενον were equivalent toη΅λθε; then a positive reference would here he made to the historic fact of the Incarnation. But it seems to me the evangelist is drawing a contrast between the continuous coming into the world of the veritable Light and the specific Incarnation of ver. 14. Consequently, the author here travels over and connotes a wider theme, namely, the operation of that archetypal Light, that veritable Light which differs from all mere reflections of it, or imitations of it, or luminous testimonies to it. The difference betweenἀληθής andἀληθινός is important.Ἀληθής is used inJohn 3:33 and John 5:31, and very often to denote the true in opposition to the false, the veracious as distinct from the deceptive.Ἀληθινός is used in the Gospel (John 4:23, 37;John 6:32;John 7:28;John 15:1;John 17:3), First Epistle (1 John 5:20), and Apocalypse (Revelation 3:7), and hardly anywhere else (see Introduction), for the real as opposed to the phenomenal, the archetypal as opposed to the various embodiments of it, the veritable as distinct from that which does not answer to its own ideal. Now, about this veritable light, in addition to all that has been said already, two things are declared. . . .

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