TEXT
"[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [15] (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") [16] For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Why is it important that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us?”
On Sunday Ryan said, “If we want to display the glory of Christ in our day-to-day lives, we must seek to be full of grace and truth.” As Christians, how can effectively live out both grace and truth? Which do you find it more difficult to display: grace or truth?
How does verse 16 teach us that God’s grace will never run out? Why do we need to always remember that his grace never runs out?
MANUSCRIPT
At the start of this gospel, we found John introducing us to the Word, the one who was present at the beginning. In doing so, he was teaching us that the Word was not simply an impersonal force. The Word was a personal being who was present before time. He was the one who all things were made by, through, and for.
In our passage today, we see John identify who the Word is. In these verses, John points his finger at Jesus and says, "I have seen the creator of all things, and it was glorious! The word has become flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen him." And in these verses, John begins to describe the glory of Jesus that he witnessed firsthand. The glory of Jesus is full of grace and truth.
So, the overarching truth that I want you to see today is this: No matter where you are or who you are, there is grace for you today.
And under the umbrella of this truth, there are three themes we will take note of today is as follows:
During the Christmas season, we celebrate the coming of the almighty and personal God.
During the Christmas season, we worship the One who perfectly balances grace and truth.
During the Christmas season, we remember the grace we've experienced in Jesus.
So, let's dive in.
"[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [15] (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") [16] For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
GOD HAS COME
At the start of verse 14, we see that the creator of all things "has become flesh and dwelt among us." The Greek word for "dwelt" is skēnoō, and it means "tabernacle." So, "The word has become flesh and tabernacled among us."
If you have any knowledge of the Old Testament, the word "tabernacle" should ring a bell. The tabernacle was a portable palace created for God to dwell among his people (25:8) as they traveled toward Canaan, the promised land. It was essentially a large tent that they would set up in their camp where the LORD would dwell. So, after calling and saving his people from slavery in Egypt, we see God dwelling with his people in the tabernacle (a temporary dwelling place of God) while they wander through the wilderness. And as he dwelled with his people, they would see a cloud covering the tent, and the LORD's glory would fill the tabernacle. When the cloud would be taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.
So, in the Old Testament, we see that God was not distant from his people. He tabernacled/dwelt with his people, even in the wilderness. Although God's people wandered through the wilderness for 40 years, they didn't do so alone. God was with them in the middle of their journey. Where the LORD stayed, they stayed. When the LORD left, they left. Israel journeyed with God.
John here connects the dots between the tabernacle in the wilderness and Jesus. The one who tabernacled amongst his people in a tent has now tabernacled amongst his people in the flesh. The one who dwelt with his people in a tent has now dwelt with his people in the flesh.
God has never been a distant God. He has always been with his people, even in the difficult seasons of wandering through the wilderness. So, during the Christmas season, we celebrate the coming of the almighty yet personal God. In the manger we see the almighty creator of all pursuing his people. In the manger, we see the preexistent one taking on flesh. In the manger, we see the one who existed outside of time enter into time.
GRACE AND TRUTH
The one who tabernacled amongst his people in a tent has now tabernacled amongst his people in the flesh. And John says, "We have seen him with our own eyes! We have looked upon him and touched him with our hands!" He says they have "seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Glory is a term we use often but have difficulty defining. Glory means splendor or brightness or kingly majesty or a most glorious condition. And John says that Jesus' glory is full of grace and truth.
This idea of grace is God extending divine favor upon someone. Concerning you and me, it is an undeserved favor of God placed on your life. It is God extending to us something we do not deserve. Truth, on the other hand, is something that is factual and accurate. It is something that is absent falsehood.
And John is saying that the radiant and majestic glory of Jesus was full of grace and truth. Jesus was seen as one who was not just a little gracious; he was full of grace, not lacking an ounce of grace. And he was not partially true; he was full of truth, not lacking a drop of honesty.
What a remarkable balance. The Christmas season is a time when we worship the one who is full of grace and truth. He's not gracious at one moment and truthful the next. He doesn't set aside grace when it's time to be truthful, nor does he set aside truth when it's time to be gracious. When he's gracious, he's truthful. When he's truthful, he is gracious. He's full to the brim of both grace and truth. Not an ounce of either is ever lacking.
Can we pause here for a moment and drink from the well of application? You and I are not Jesus. Therefore, you and I are not naturally "full of grace and truth." Some of us are naturally bent toward one of these two things. Some of us hate confrontation and gravitate toward grace while neglecting truth. Others have no problem being mean people in our pursuit of truth. We naturally gravitate toward one of these two camps.
But, to be a Christian means you now have Christ dwelling in you. Therefore, with the help and power of the Holy Spirit, you're called to become people full of grace and truth. If we want to display the glory of Christ in our day-to-day lives, we must seek to be full of grace and truth. As Christians, truth should always be accompanied by grace, and grace should always be accompanied by truth.
As we continue to read in verse 15, the author John goes back to John the Baptist to validate this fact about Jesus' glory." "John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'" We're not going to spend much time here since we've already looked at John the Baptist and his proclaimed message. But, the Word who became flesh is the one John the Baptist spoke about, which we know to be Jesus.
GRACE UPON GRACE
As we continue to read in verse 16, we see John take an abstract idea and make it personal— "For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace."
The word "for" links what is about to be said with what was previously said. And, in looking at the context, we see that John is linking what he's about to say in verse 16 with what he previously said in verse 14. From "the fullness [of his grace and truth], we have all received grace upon grace."
So, one of the beauties of the Christian faith is that it is not abstract; it's personal. It's not just something we study; it's something we experience. We don't just read God's Word and witness his grace as if it's a foreign concept. Instead, we are active recipients of his grace through faith in Jesus.
It's one thing to stand and watch someone being pulled out of a fire; it's another thing to be the one rescued from the fire. Well, the reality of the Christian faith is that we're not just eyewitnesses of God's grace; we're active recipients of his grace. We are firsthand recipients of the grace of Jesus.
GRACE UPON GRACE
When you hear the phrase "grace upon grace," I want you to think about waves crashing on a shore. The beauty of the ocean is that no matter what day you go to the beach, there will always be waves crashing on the shore of the ocean. You have wave upon wave settling on the shore. In the same way that waves never stop crashing on the shore of an ocean, the grace we receive in Christ will never run out. His help is never-ending. It's inexhaustible. There are layers upon layers to his grace: wave upon wave, grace upon grace.
William Barclay says, "We need one grace in the days of prosperity and another in the days of adversity. We need one grace in the sunlit days of youth and another when the shadows of age begin to lengthen. The church needs one grace in the days of persecution and another when the days of acceptance have come. We need one grace when we feel we are on top of things and another when we are depressed and discouraged and near to despair."
So, no matter what situation you find yourself in today, there is grace for you in Christ. No matter where you are or who you are, there is grace for you today. Are you a single mom trying to raise your kids the best you can? There is grace for you. Did you just receive a promotion and are doing really well financially? There is grace for you. Did you just lose your job? There is grace for you. Are you hobbling through sicknesses? There is grace for you. Are you struggling with sin, wondering if you've out-sinned the Lord? There is grace for you.
The Bible promises us that "God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble." So, if you're ever left wondering if God's grace for you will run out, please know that his ocean of grace will never dry up! There has never been a time when he has not been gracious.
THE LAW AND GRACE
We see that being played out right before our eyes in verse 17, "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Verse 17 begins the same way that verse 16 begins. John is linking what he is about to say in verse 17 with what he has just previously told us in verse 16. Therefore, we know this is a continuation of a previous point.
So, first, John is seeking to tell us that giving the law was an act of grace. God gave the law to his people. Therefore, the law (in a sense) is not anti-grace; it is a form of grace. God did not have to give the law, but he did. The law was a gift.
God graciously gave the law to teach his people the truth. He gave his law to inform his people what actions please and don't please him. The law says, "If you do X, things will go well for you. But, if you do Y, things will not go well for you."
But, the law was incapable of extending to us grace. It was simply a teacher, an instructor, a revealer of God's will for his people. The law can extend truth. But, it cannot extend grace. So, the law's ultimate purpose is to lead us to the one full of grace and truth, Jesus. What Moses does in part, Jesus does in full. Where Moses presented the law, Jesus came to fulfill it. Jesus kept the law and loved God perfectly.
So, we can experience a grace that is not absent truth in Christ. We can experience a grace that is rooted in truth. Meaning: God hasn't simply turned a blind eye to our sin and said, "Ah, well, that's not that big of a deal." No, our sin has been dealt with viciously (in its totality) on the cross. On the cross, Jesus took upon himself the condemnation the law says we deserve. So, the truth of the law points us to the gracious work of the cross.
By the grace and mercy of God, we can become sons and daughters of the most high God through faith in Jesus. And, by God's grace, we can receive the Holy Spirit, who will begin to sanctify our hearts, making us more and more like him, graciously giving us the desire to walk in obedience. And the beauty of walking with Jesus is that when we fall short, we're not met with condemnation; we're met with grace upon grace. The Christian life is a life rooted in grace. The Christian life is a grace-filled life.
The grace of Jesus is exactly what you need every second of every day.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul tells the church of his struggle with a thorn in his flesh. He continually pleaded to the Lord for the Lord to remove it. Yet, how does God respond? Not by removing the thorn. Instead, he says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness."
So, there may be things that we long for the LORD to change about our lives— "Lord, please give me more money. Lord, please give me better health. Lord, please take this desire away from me completely." And he may not do it. But he will always give us the grace we need to make it through.
Even in our lowest moments, God's power can be made perfect in our weakness. Therefore, we (like Paul) can boast in our weaknesses so that the power of Christ might rest on us. For the sake of Christ, we can be content with weaknesses, insults, hardship, persecutions, and calamities. Because of the grace of Jesus, we can be strong even when we are weak.
So, walk confidently with Jesus today. Rest securely is the grace of Jesus today. May we boast joyfully in the grace of Jesus today. During the Christmas season, we remember the grace we've experienced in Jesus.