Verse 7... Yes, all have faith in him. [16] Just as Jesus Christ took on flesh in order that by appearing in the Godhead alone He might not lose all, so He used the testimony so that John's contemporaries, hearing a kindred voice, might more easily believe in Him of Whom it was testified: all this was arranged for the salvation of men. So John bore witness that all should believe; And not all believed, because faith does not come by force, but by free will.

Verse 8. Not that light, but let it bear witness to the Light. [17] He also explains the reason for the embassy: he did not come to shine, since he was not the light, but to bear witness to the Light. The Evangelist also says this so that no one should think that the one who bears witness is greater and more reliable than the One of Whom he testifies, as is often the case. And since John's testimony was recent, so that a similar assumption may not arise regarding Him of Whom he testified, the Evangelist says:

Verse 9. Be the true Light, Who enlightens every man that cometh into the world. [18] He has always been, according to the theological teaching about Him set forth above. As God, He has always existed, and as a man, He began His being. If He enlightens every person who comes into the world, how is it that so many unenlightened people remain? As much as depends on Himself, He enlightens everyone, but some remain unenlightened of their own will. The grace of light, like the sun, has been poured out on everyone, but those who do not want to use this grace are themselves guilty of not being enlightened. He called this light true, as incomparable with no other, and surpassing any other, as light par excellence. True light... It is called the true image, and the true wisdom, and the true life, etc., not to blame other holy images, or the wisdom of the Divine Scriptures, or the present life, let alone the life to come, but thus the expression always indicates something incomparable to anything else in its superiority. Into the world, or in other words: coming into the true world of virtues.

Verse 10. In the world of be...,[19] not as limited to a certain place, but as filling everything. Having said, "In the world," so that no one would suppose that He is contemporary with the world, as happened with Paul of Samosad, the Evangelist added:

Verse 10... And the world was there... [20] It is self-evident that the Creator was before creation.

Verse 10... And His peace is not known. [21] The world is here called those who think only of worldly things, who are attached to the world, who are addicted to sensual affairs, and who cannot understand anything higher; but those who were not like that knew Him even before He appeared in the flesh. Therefore, in the thirteenth chapter (verse 17) of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ said to the Apostles: "Many prophets and righteous women desire to see what they see, and not see, and to hear, what you hear, and not hear. [22] If they did not know him, they would not have wanted to see what was said, or to hear it. Thus, they knew Him, and they also knew the mystery of His incarnation, but only in their minds, and they also wanted to see His miracles with their senses, to hear His teaching, and in general to see Him in human form. It is understandable that the Evangelist, indignant at the blindness of those who did not know Him, said: "And the world was thus known, and His world is not known, i.e. the created did not know their Creator."

Verse 11. In Her own coming, and Her own did not receive Him. [23] The Word explains this still further. His own is the world, as His creation and as created in His image. He came to them as a man, and as God, He was in the world. This is also explained in another way: since Jesus Christ came in the flesh from the Jews, His own way of life is their way of life, and His own is the Jews, as related to Him and of the same tribe. That is why He says: "I am sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15:24). [24] He did not come to His own need, for God needs nothing, but for the salvation of His own; and did not receive Him of His own, although He had come to do them good; but in their madness they rejected the Saviour, as if he were an enemy.

Verse 12. And when the women received Him, He gave them the region to be children of God, believing in His name. Those who received Him,[25] having accepted His teaching, gave them the region to be children of God; but He did not immediately make them children of God, so that they would not lose grace through negligence, but only gave them the power to be, so that through their suffering they would become such children. But do not all have the power to be children of God? Not all, but only those who are given this power; but it is given only to those who believe in Him. Therefore, the Evangelist, explaining to whom the Word gave this authority, added: to those who believe in His name, that is, in Him. It is up to Him to bestow such authority, and it is up to them to use it. It is one thing to be adopted by God through baptism, and another thing to be a child of God through the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments: this is the beginning, and this is the end; this is a gift of God, and this is a matter of diligence.

Verse 13. Who was born not of blood, nor of the lust of the flesh, nor of the lust of men, but of God. [26] He lowers the birth of men as natural, and exalts the birth of God as supernatural, so that, knowing the humiliation of the former and the greatness of the latter, and understanding the greatness of the beneficence, we may worthily thank and try not to lose it through negligence. Having said not of blood, the Evangelist, for greater explanation, added: nor of the lust of the flesh; then he interpreted it still more clearly, adding: "Nor from the lust of a man, since a man is flesh and blood; and by lust he here means the desire for carnal union. The divine seed entered in and strengthened the flesh animated by the thinking and rational soul, not as a fruit-giving force, but as a creative one, and not so that the image was formed little by little from increments, but being perfect in the beginning, it nevertheless grew like embryos. And the ancient Adam was immediately created in a perfect form.

Verse 14. And the Word was made flesh... [27] He could not otherwise show God's love for us than by mentioning the flesh and the fact that the Word descended to the lowest, since the flesh is inferior to the spirit. Having said that men were born of God, he says that the Son of God became man (this is the meaning of the expression: And the Word was made flesh), so that he who marvels at the first will be amazed at the second, as even more wonderful, because it serves as the foundation for the first. The Son of God became man so that people would become the sons of God. When you hear: "The Word was made flesh," do not think that the essence of God, which is unchangeable and unharmed, has changed, but that the Word, while remaining what it was, has become what it was not, or: while remaining God, it became man through the perception of the flesh, animated, of course, by a thinking and rational soul. Everything that happens happens in three ways: first, so that the nature of what existed before changes into the nature of what happened again; thus cheese comes from milk, and tiles from clay; secondly, in such a way that the former essence remains unchanged, but something happens by chance, so that brass becomes a statue, a man just or unjust, and so on; thirdly, in such a way that the former essence remains unchanged, but another essence is perceived; In this way, the commander becomes armed. But the Word was not made flesh in the first way, because His nature was not changed, nor in the second, because the flesh that came into being was not an essence; therefore, this saying must be understood in the third way: having put on the flesh like a military leader, the Word defeated the enemy of our nature. He said: it was (εγενετο — it became), in order to destroy the blasphemy of idle talkers, as if this flesh were illusory. By using the word εγενετο, the Evangelist attested that the Word was real, and not illusory. And so that you do not assume any change in the Divine essence, he says:

Verse 14... And dwelt in us... [28] It dwelt in our flesh, which is akin to us and received from us. Since that which indwells is different from that in which it indwells, the Word also remained distinct from the body in its essence and properties; however, after the indwelling and union, the perceiving Word and the received flesh are one, but both these natures, even after the union, are inexpressibly preserved unchanged and unmerged.

Verse 14... And we saw His glory...,[29] the glory of the Word, the power of the Godhead, shining through the flesh as through a veil. What kind of glory is this? His innumerable and manifold miracles: His brilliant and all-natural transfiguration, then during the Crucifixion – the unnatural eclipse of the sun, the terrible tearing of the veil, the terrible earthquake, the disintegration of stones, the opening of tombs, the rise of the dead, and most of all – the resurrection of the Lord, surpassing all word and mind, and everything that was God-worthy after that the apostles saw.

Verse 14... The glory of the Only-begotten of the Father...,[30] not such a glory as the glorified saints or angels, but the glory of the truly Only-begotten. For here it means the same thing that is true. The Only-begotten of the Father, i.e. by nature of the Son of God. The name "Only-begotten of the Mother" indicates in Him by nature the son of the Virgin, and the expression "Only-begotten of the Father" denotes in Him by nature the Son of God.

Verse 14... Full of grace and truth. [31] Asserting then that the Word made flesh was not diminished in the least by this, the Evangelist says that He was the Fulfillment of the grace of God and of truth, grace in the performance of miracles, and truth in doctrine, grace in omnipotence, and truth in the fact that He had nothing illusory.