11 He[36] came unto his own, and his own received him not. [36] Acts 3:26; 13:46. =10, 11.= Notice the rhetorical climax in these verses; he _was in_ the world; he _came_ unto his own; the world _knew_ him not; his own _received_ him not. The _world_ is here humanity in general, Jew and Gentile, both of whom united in Christ’s crucifixion; the Jew, represented in the high-priest who deliberately rejected him (John 11:47-50), the Gentile, represented in Pilate and the soldiers, who simply did not know him. _His own_ are the Jewish people, Jehovah’s peculiar possession (Exod. 19:5; Deut. 7:6; Psalm 135:4; Isaiah 31:9), to whom he first came and by whom he was rejected before he was preached to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46; Rom. 1:16). It was only the world of _men_ that knew him not; nature knew and obeyed him whenever he commanded her obedience, as in the turning of water into wine, the stilling of the tempest, etc. The verbs in this sentence are in the imperfect tense, and the reference is to the incarnation of Christ and his earthly life. Observe that the Jewish nation which rejected the Messiah is rejected by God (Matt. 8:12), and that the disciples of Christ are not to know the world which knew not their Lord and Master (1 John 2:15-17). 12 But as many[37] as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, _even_ to them[38] that believe on his name: [37] Isa. 56:4, 5; Rom. 8:14, 15; 1 John 3:1. [38] Gal. 3:26.