Receive Jesus

 

John 1:11-13 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

 

Word Study – “Received” in this passage is the Greek word “paralambanō”, meaning (1) to take one's self, to join to one's self. (2) to accept or acknowledge Jesus to be such as He professes to be [the Christ, the Son of the living God] and not to reject, not to withhold obedience. “Christos”, the Christ – the anointed One. Christ was [and is] the Messiah, the Son of God. 

 

Bible Commentator Matthew Henry states, Jesus Christ came to his own; not only to the world, which was His own, but to the people of Israel, that were peculiarly his own above all people [you are either a Jew or a Gentile]; of them he came, among God’s people he lived, and to them he was first sent. He came to his own, to seek and save them. He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, for it was he whose own the sheep were.

 

His own received Him not; they rejected Him. Those who were “His own” should have bidden Him welcome. They had the oracles of God, which told them beforehand when and where to expect him, and of what tribe and family He should arise. They knew Him not; yet received Him not; did not receive his doctrine, did not welcome him as the Messiah, but fortified themselves against him. The chief priests, were ring-leaders in this contempt put upon him. He came to them, to seek and save them, and so to court their respect. Note, Many who in profession are Christ’s own, yet do not receive Him, because they will not repent and part with their sins, nor have him to reign over them.

 

Though his own received him not, yet there were those that received him: But as many as received Him. Though the body of that nation persisted and perished in unbelief, yet there were many of them that were wrought [shaped and formed] upon to submit to Christ, and many more that were not of that Israelite fold. Observe here, the true Christian’s description and property; and that is, that he receives Christ, and believes on His name; the latter explains the former. 

 

Note, First, to be a Christian indeed is to believe on Christ’s name; it is to assent to the gospel discovery, and consent to the gospel proposal, concerning Him. His name is the Word of God; the King of kings, the Lord our righteousness; Jesus the Savior. Now to believe on His name is to acknowledge that he is what these great names bespeak Him to be, and to acquiesce [agree, accept, consent, yield, submit, and comply] in it, that He may be so to us. Secondly, Believing in Christ’s name is receiving him as a gift from God. We must receive His doctrine [teaching] as true and good; receive His law as just and holy; receive His offers as kind and advantageous; and we must receive the image of His grace, and impressions of His love, as the governing principle of our affections and actions.

Let's continue what it means to "receive Jesus" and "believe on His name in the next post.

In Christ, Brian