John Calvin Commentary John 1:9

"There was the true light, [even the light] which lighteth every man, coming into the world." — John 1:9 (ASV)

The true light was. The Evangelist did not intend to contrast the true light with the false, but to distinguish Christ from all others, so that no one might imagine that what is called light he shares with angels or men. The distinction is that whatever is luminous in heaven and on earth borrows its splendor from some other object; but Christ is the light, shining from itself and by itself, and enlightening the whole world by its radiance, so that no other source or cause of splendor is to be found anywhere. Therefore, he gave the name the true light to that which by nature has the power of giving light.

Which enlightens every man. The Evangelist chiefly insists on this point to show, from the effect that every one of us perceives in him, that Christ is the light. He could have reasoned more ingeniously that Christ, as the eternal light, has a splendor that is natural and not derived from any other source; but instead of doing so, he sends us back to the experience we all possess. For since Christ makes us all partakers of his brightness, it must be acknowledged that this honor of being called light strictly belongs to him alone.

This passage is commonly explained in two ways. Some restrict the phrase every man to those who, having been renewed by the Spirit of God, become partakers of the life-giving light. Augustine uses the comparison of a schoolmaster who, if he happens to be the only person who has a school in the town, will be called the teacher of all, even though many people do not attend his school.

They therefore understand the phrase in a comparative sense: that all are enlightened by Christ, because no one can boast of having obtained the light of life in any other way than by his grace. But since the Evangelist uses the general phrase, every man that comes into the world, I am more inclined to adopt the other meaning, which is that from this light the rays are diffused over all mankind, as I have already said.

For we know that men have this peculiar excellence that raises them above other animals: they are endowed with reason and intelligence, and they carry the distinction between right and wrong engraved on their conscience. Therefore, there is no one whom some perception of the eternal light does not reach.

But as there are fanatics who rashly strain and torture this passage to infer from it that the grace of illumination is equally offered to all, let us remember that the only subject treated here is the common light of nature, which is far inferior to faith. For no one will ever, by all the acuteness and sagacity of his own mind, penetrate into the kingdom of God. It is the Spirit of God alone who opens the gate of heaven to the elect. Next, let us remember that the light of reason, which God implanted in men, has been so obscured by sin that, amidst the thick darkness, shocking ignorance, and gulf of errors, there are scarcely any shining sparks that are not utterly extinguished.