Episode 10 - Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ - John 1:16-18

John 1:16-18

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. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

In our last episode, John says of the Word who became flesh that he was “full of grace and truth.” (v 14) Now in verse 16 he explains that this is not just a quality of the Word. John is not just explaining what the Word is like. John informs his audience that he (the Word) gives an abundance of grace to mankind out of that fullness. In other words, it’s emphasizing God’s generous mercy to mankind. How do we know that?

Notice that verse 17 almost seems like John is changing the subject because he starts speaking about the law. But, verse 17 is just an explanation of how we have received God’s “grace upon grace.” 

He first says “For the law was given through Moses.” The book of Exodus explains that God gave His law to the Israelites through His prophet Moses. It’s God’s law, God’s truth. Moses was the person God chose to deliver it to the people. The law itself reveals God’s grace because, first, it’s God making His righteous standard known to mankind. The problem is that mankind has never been able to keep it. The apostle Paul makes this very clear in his letter to the Romans. This brings us to a second way in which God’s grace is demonstrated to mankind in the law. God provides a way for people to obey him by faith and atone for their sins through the sacrificial system God required of the Jews. Paul and the author of Hebrews later explain that this sacrifice, which was performed frequently, could not truly and perfectly take away sin. But, that God “passed over the sins previously committed” (Romans 3:25) until God himself provided the perfect sacrifice to provide forgiveness of sins of people. In other words, God was patient and merciful to not bring swift and perfect justice upon everyone when they violated God’s law.

John continues by finally revealing the identity of the Word who is the true light that came into the world and in whom was life and who became flesh and dwelt among His own creatures and who revealed his glory to John and others. He says, “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” 

There’s something here that I do not want you to miss. Remember how in Episode 3 I made a big deal about the word “ginomai”? It means to “be created” or “to come into being.” In John 1:3 there is an emphasis that “not one thing that has come into being has come into being apart from him (the Word).” This verb in its various forms occurs nine times just in this prologue; the first eighteen verses of John. It’s important because of the Creation theme that John clearly establishes beginning in the first verse. Here in verse 17 is its final occurrence in the prologue (the first eighteen verses of chapter one). The word “came” in this translation is from the Greek word ginomai. He’s saying that Jesus Christ is responsible for the origin of God’s grace and truth. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the Word. In Jesus Christ is life. He is the true light that came into the world. He became flesh and dwelt with John and others. Jesus Christ, John tells us, is God. He didn’t become God. He was in the beginning with God and was God and was involved in every aspect of Creation. This is a bold claim. But, the rest of this book is intended to prove that from John’s perspective. 

This brings us to verse 18. In the ESV, it begins, “No one has seen God.” Moses was only allowed a glimpse of the trailing edge of God’s glory. No mere man could look at God and live according to our account in Exodus of what God told Moses.

But, John continues, “the only God.” In Greek, the word for “only” is the same word a few verses back which I said meant “the unique one.” Who is that? It’s Jesus Christ. John just told us that. So, he’s using that term again alongside the Greek word “Theos” meaning “God.” He’s saying “the unique one, God.” That’s John making certain we get the point that Jesus is God.

Then John gives us more information about Jesus. He is at the Father’s side. This has echos back to verse one, doesn’t it? Back there we read that the Word was in the beginning “with God,” but that the Word is also God. Notice that John never speaks of God in the plural sense; as though there are multiple Gods. Yet there is a sense of plurality spoken of concerning God. The Word was with God. Now, the unique one who is God is at the Father’s side. What we have here is teaching that lends itself to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. It’s the strong adherence to the Biblical teaching that there is only one true God. Yet, historical Christian faith has taught that there is a plurality within the Godhead; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I won’t go into this deeper here. Just recognize this mysterious thing the author is writing and realize that he didn’t live a few hundred years after Jesus. He was not some co-conspirator that invented the doctrine of the Trinity as some people have suggested as a criticism of that doctrine. 

Finally, there’s one last thing John has to say about Jesus in this prologue. Not only is he at the Father’s side, but Jesus has also made him (the Father) known. Jesus has fully seen the Father and knows the Father and became flesh and dwelt among men for the purpose to make the Father known. We will see how he does this as we get further into this book.