10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
In verses 10 and 11 John expressed two kinds of negative volition toward the Light:
The “world” or the general mass of humanity (v. 10)
The Jewish nation (v. 11)
10 He was in the world,
The Word became incarnate in the world of men. He stepped into human society. The “world” here is not that of creation but the world of people who were in darkness. This is the primary usage throughout the gospel of John.
and the world was made through Him,
The Word created the world. Christ was the Agent of creation. He was God who became man (Jn 1:14).
and the world did not know [acknowledge] Him.
The “world” here is the culture and systems in which people live. The world did not acknowledge the Light nor did it accept Him as the Word or God. It did not recognize its Creator.
“Know” in the Greek carries the idea of relationship; it is more than intellectual knowledge about the facts. The world in general did not acknowledge Jesus as its own.
The Greek tense of the word “know” indicates that the world responded to the Word in negative summary fashion. The world was full of its own schemes for life and pursuits.
PRINCIPLE:
The world in general has a dark relationship with its Creator.
APPLICATION:
There has never been a person to whom God did not reveal Himself. He does this through general revelation, but non-believers reject that revelation and even suppress it (Ro 1:18). He also did this through the Light of the world. There is a supreme tragedy in human depravity because it unspeakably rejects the Light, the repudiation of light that is ultimately real and genuine (2 Co 4:3-4).
