Grace & Truth
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Good morning!! This morning we are continuing our study in the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 14-18. Let’s begin by reading this passage.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
I love this passage. It is so short, but so full of what I need, so full of what we need.
But, Grace and Truth… does it still amaze me? Or, has it become so common that I don’t get excited about it anymore?
Let’s pray and look at this more closely.
Prayer
The Word
The Word
Have you ever read this opening to John and thought, “What?”
What in the world is John not just saying he is writing about Jesus? Why does he use this vague reference to ‘the Word’?
Do you remember who John originally wrote to? Ephesians.
In Ephesians, we know there was a mixture of Gentile and Jewish people who became believers.
John uses a term that they both culturally knew, and gives it great meaning.
To the Greeks, the Word is the ‘supreme, eternal reason’ behind the universe. Everything else—the world, and their gods—had beginnings. But there was this reason which was eternal and behind all that exists. This ‘eternal reason’ was the force that originated and permeated and directed all things.
To the Jews during this time, the Word and Wisdom were growing in usage. The Word was the action of God’s will. God spoke, things happened! They were focusing on passages like Psalm 29 which Micah read with us in worship this morning, and Psalm 33:6
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
Other places they saw that The word of the Lord came to the prophets. And as Isaiah prophesied of the Lord,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
What followed is that the Jewish commentaries, the Targums used this expression for God. Targums were their oral commentaries which eventually came to be written down. They were paraphrases of the scriptures with explanations. In the Targums, out of reverence for God, they would refer to God in different names, for example, “The Holy One”. One of those names was, “The Word.”
For example, in Exodus 19:17...
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
In the Targums, this reads, Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with The Word.
To the Jews and the Greeks, “The Word” was divine, eternal, and behind it all creation.
John is taking this concept that was familiar to both, and directing them to realize that the Word was none other than God!!
God is the one who speaks and acts! God is the one who is behind all things! God is the one who is the source of all reason and wisdom. God is the one who not only made, but upholds all things in his power! God is the all powerful one who speaks, and his words do not return void, but accomplish all He intends!
Now keep in mind the setting of Exodus 19. God, the Word is meeting with Israel. He descends in glory and power upon Mt. Sinai. Imagine the fire, as the rock that is Mt. Sinai is miraculously burning! See the billowing smoke and thick cloud that envelopes the mountain as the Lord descends in power and glory. Feel the mountain and earth trembling before the Lord. Hear the thunder, hear the trumpet that is blaring louder and louder announcing the Lord’s presence!
God speaks… what? The Law.
The people are… afraid. No one can approach the mountain for God is holy, and they are unholy. To come near him brings death. Exodus 19:21, “the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish.””
What a glorious scene. This setting of God’s coming in power and glory continues through the rest of Exodus.
But now, John says there is something more. Something better!
Became flesh
Became flesh
What was so glorious at Mt. Sinai, what was so powerful that it spoke the world into existence, what spoke us into existence, what revealed the glory and majesty and wisdom of God, the WORD, became flesh!
This is radical! To the Jews and the Greeks, the flesh is in contrast to the spirit. God is spirit, holy, righteous, powerful. We are flesh, unholy, unrighteous, weak, sinful.
Yet, here is God, the Word, becoming flesh. In the beginning was the Word, eternally existing. Now, in a moment in time, becoming flesh.
This is amazing! That the God who, as Solomon described at the dedication of the temple,
“But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
God cannot be contained by the universe, and is so different from us! He created us to be with us, and we, in Adam and since Adam, have constantly pulled away from him. Now, he comes in the flesh.
He related to man ever since the creation revealing himself in what he has made, in speaking directly to him, in visions, in dreams, through prophets. Now, he comes in the flesh!!!
He comes in seeming weakness, though He is all powerful!
Why in the flesh? Because he loves us and continues to reach out to us. He really wants to reach us, and goes to this great length to reveal himself to us! To identify with us, and help us identify with him!
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
He comes in the flesh so we can related to him. We honestly cannot relate to things we don’t know or understand. So, God who is Spirit, who is holy and so totally different than we are, eternal, three in one, all powerful, all wise, all knowing, all righteous, all just, we just cannot relate!
But, another man, one who deals with life from birth to death with all of the struggles in between, now that we can relate to.
God loved us so much, he came in the flesh.
Made his dwelling among us
Made his dwelling among us
Remember Sinai? God came down, but was unapproachable. Even when he was in the tabernacle, and later the temple, he was there and gone. And, when he was there, he was unapproachable.
Now, here comes all of God, in the flesh. And he is living with men! Eating, drinking, walking, sleeping, talking, living with people! Not only living, but wanting people to come!
Come to me all who are weary, and heavy laden! Let the children come to me! Come to me all who thirst! Come to me for real food! Come!!
No longer is there this gulf. He is dwelling among us! And this wasn’t just when he came in the flesh. This is the great promise Jesus gives to all his followers.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
And, the great promise of all of scripture which will be fulfilled in eternity, in the new heavens and earth!
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
This is for us now, and our great hope for the future! No other religion in the world has this closeness! No other religion offers this great communion with God!!
That is what Jesus, the Word, God himself came to establish! He has established it! We are not alone! God is with us!
We have seen his glory
We have seen his glory
When God came on Mt. Sinai, it was glorious! It was magnificent! An awesome, praiseworthy display of his magnificence. But if that was glorious, Jesus coming in the flesh is so much better!
What are examples of his glory? the miracles?
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
What about
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
And,
When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.
The greatest thing Jesus did which showed his glory was when He, the God of the universe, the creator who has done so much for mankind, knowing what would happen, still came, still loved, and gave his very life into the hand of his creation to allow them to brutally kill him! He did this to save the very ones who were so undeserving, so deserving the very opposite of salvation! Which leads us to...
Full of grace and truth
Full of grace and truth
Grace - that which causes joy
Truth
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
Truth is truth, but it also denote faithfulness. He is true. He will not go back on his word. He remains true!
Grace in place of grace already given
Law given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ
2 Corinthians 3 speaks to this.
Made him known
Made him known
All of this was to make him known.
Homework
Read Psalm 51. Pray each morning that God would “restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:12 Ask that He would revive the hearts of each of us at EFBC to be amazed by Grace and Truth—be amazed by Jesus!
Read John 1:17, and then 2 Corinthians 3. What, in your own words is the difference between the law and grace? Is the law bad? According to 2 Corinthians 3:9, what does the law bring? What does the ministry of the Spirit bring?
Read John 1:1-18. Now focus on John 1:16. What does it mean when it says, grace upon grace, or grace in place of grace already given? You may want to refer to Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 15:10, 2 Corinthians 12:6-10, 1 Peter 1:13.
Read John 1:14. Contemplate how Jesus became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Why did he do that? Why take on human flesh and weakness? Consider Hebrews 2:10-18. Now, write out in your own words why Jesus took on flesh.
Read John 1:18 again. Jesus came to make God known. God wants us to know Him. That is why He created us. That is the very definition of eternal life in John 17:3. Do you and I really know Him? We take time to get good at so many other things. We boast in how we excel in so many other things. (What are some things you tend to boast about?) Read Jeremiah 9:23-24. What is it we should truly boast about that would be worthwhile?