He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Ver. 10. He was in the world] Here the evangelist goes on where he left: resumes, and proceeds in his former argument, John 1:5 .
And the world was made by him] This is the second time here set forth, and reinforced, that we may the better observe and improve it. See the like, Revelation 4:11; "For thou hast created all things, and by thee they are and were created," without help, tool, or tiresomeness, Isaiah 60:18. That one word of his, fiat, made all: shall we not admire his architecture?
And the world knew him not] Man is here called "the world," andMark 16:15, he is called "every creature." This little world knew not Christ, for God had hid him under the carpenter's son; his glory was inward, his kingdom came not by observation. And because the world knew not him, therefore it knoweth not us,1 John 3:1. Princes the saints are in all lands, Psalms 45:16, but they he obscured, as did Melchizedek. The moon (say astronomers) hath at all times as much light as in the full; but often a great part of the bright side is turned to heaven, and a lesser part to the earth. So it is with the Church.