Booger McLovin

While many apologists will attempt to show that Jesus was eternally God by using verses like John 1:1 or Colossians 1:16, I find that John 1:10 is as good of a verse as any other to show that John truly believed that Jesus was God.

Let’s begin by looking at the Greek to see the interlinear along with the possible variants one would have to contend with in order to defend their position on this verse.

John 1:10 Interlinear:
ἐν (en): in — Preposition
τῷ (tō): the — Article
κόσμῳ (kosmō): world — Noun
ἦν (ēn): he was — Verb
καὶ (kai): and — Conjunction
ὁ (ho): the — Article
κόσμος (kosmos): world — Noun
δι’ (di’): through — Preposition
αὐτοῦ (autou): him — Pronoun
ἐγένετο (egeneto): came into being — Verb
καὶ (kai): and — Conjunction
ὁ (ho): the — Article
κόσμος (kosmos): world — Noun
αὐτὸν (auton): him — Pronoun
οὐκ (ouk): not — Adverb
ἔγνω (egnō): knew/recognized — Verb

Summary Translation

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”

John 1:10 Textual Variants
The verse is found in almost identical form across the most important early witnesses, including:

• Papyrus 66 (P66): Circa 200 AD. One of the oldest and most complete manuscripts of the Gospel of John.
• Papyrus 75 (P75): Early 3rd century. Highly respected for its accuracy and close agreement with later major codices.
• Codex Sinaiticus (Aleph): 4th century. One of the two oldest “great” Christian Bibles, written in uncial script.
• Codex Vaticanus (B): 4th century. Widely considered one of the most reliable manuscripts for the Greek New Testament.

Interpretation
So let’s go through this phrase by phrase:

He was in the world – John provides a precursor to the “Word made flesh” in verse 14 by establishing that Jesus was physically present in the world. Using the imperfect tense, John emphasizes a continuous presence: the Creator was actively walking among His creation.

and the world was made through him – John intentionally echoes his phrasing from verse 3, reinforcing that Jesus is the agent of all creation. This is an inarguable statement: Jesus is not a created being, but the One through whom all existence came to be.

yet the world did not know him. – John concludes with a tragic irony. Despite being the Source of the world’s life, the world failed to recognize Him. This points to a profound spiritual blindness and foreshadows the rejection Jesus would face from His own people.

Conclusion
This verse is explicit in its claim: Jesus created all things. If “all things” were made through Him, then logically, Jesus Himself is uncreated. This reinforces the “In the beginning” divinity established in John 1:1, making it clear that the man from Nazareth is the eternal God.