This morning I am reflecting on the first chapter of John's Gospel. I love his gospel, the imagery and phasing he uses, but mostly I love the way he describes Jesus, as one who clearly knew him. He was clearly writing with a purpose, and was writing later than the others, and addressing many of the false ideas that were already popping up in the church.
Here is the introduction to the Gospel of John from John Gill's exposition of the Bible.
"The author of this Gospel is John, the son of Zebedee and Salome, the brother of James the greater; he outlived the rest of the disciples, and wrote this Gospel after the other evangelists; and in it many things are recorded, which are not in the other Gospels; as various discourses of Christ, and miracles done by him; several incidents in his life, and circumstances that attended his sufferings and death: the occasion of it is generally thought to be the errors of Ebion and Cerinthus, who denied the divinity of Christ, asserted he was a mere man, and that he did not exist before his incarnation; and the design of it is to confute them: and it is easy to observe, that he begins his Gospel with the divinity of Christ; asserts him to be God, and proves him to be truly and properly so, by the works of creation, which were wrought by him, as well as shows that he was really man. Clemens calls this Gospel of John, pneumatikon euaggelion "a spiritual Gospel", as indeed it is; consisting of the spiritual discourses of our Lord, on various occasions, both at the beginning, and in the course of his ministry, and especially a little before his sufferings and death: and the same writer observes, that John, the last of the evangelists, considering that in the other Gospels were declared the things relating to the body of Christ, that is, to him, as he was after the flesh; to his genealogy and birth as man; to what was done to him, or by him, in his infancy; to his baptism, temptations, journeys, &c. at the request of his familiar friends, and moved by the Spirit of God, composed this Gospel. Moreover, it is observed by some, that the other three evangelists only record what was done by Christ, in one year after John the Baptist was cast into prison, as appears from Matthew 4:12 wherefore John, at the entreaty of his friends, put these things into his Gospel, which were done or said by Christ, before John was cast into prison. He was called very early by Christ, though young; and was with him throughout the whole of his ministry, and was an eye and ear witness of what he here relates, and his testimony is to be received; he was the beloved disciple, he leaned on the bosom of Jesus, and had great intimacy with him; and might be privy to some things, which others were not acquainted with; and though he was a Galilean, and an unlearned man, Acts 4:13 yet being endowed with the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, he was abundantly qualified to write this book: for what some ancient writers say of him, that he was a priest, and wore a plate, that is, of gold upon his forehead, cannot be true, since he was not of the tribe of Levi; and besides, only the high priest wore that upon his mitre; unless they mean, as seems most likely, that he was a Christian bishop: perhaps the mistake may arise from John the Baptist, who was of the priestly order, and is called by some Jewish writers, John the high priest. When and where this Gospel was written, is not certain; some say in Asia, after he had wrote his Revelation in Patmos; and others say particularly, that it was wrote at Ephesus; the title of it in the Syriac version, signifies much, which runs thus;"the holy Gospel, the preaching of John, which he spoke and published in Greek at Ephesus.'And to the same purpose is the title of it in the Persic version;"the Gospel of John, one of the twelve apostles, which was spoken in the city of Ephesus, in the Greek Roman tongue.'"
That is such a helpful introduction, and helps set the stage for my reflection this morning. I am going to start just past his opening, looking at John's statements found early in the chapter, describing the gifts of God given to us in Christ Jesus. Here are the verses - John 1:14,16-18 NIV:
[14] "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."
[16] "Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] 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."
First, I should say other translations will quote verse 16 as "grace upon grace" rather than the phrasing found here, but the original Greek seems to be more akin to the way the NIV translates it here, grace in place of grace. The Greek word is "charis" and it is defined as follows:
1) grace
a) that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
2) good will, loving-kindness, favour
a) of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
3) what is due to grace
a) the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace
b) the token or proof of grace, benefit
1) a gift of grace
2) benefit, bounty
4) thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward
We could in our modern English possibly replace grace with gift, and while that is often done, we see here the depth of the meaning is beyond simple gifts. There is something tangible, something that is soul-touching about grace. It is not just a nice gift that we can admire, but rather has to do with our well being at our deepest level.
John writes that this grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. He very simply identifies this grace and truth in verse 18, the revelation of the Father by the only one who can truly reveal Him, His Son Jesus. What an interesting thought - this grace, this great gift is an understanding of who the Father is, and how He thinks and how He speaks.
John records several times where Jesus made astounding statements about His intimacy and obedience to the Father. Here are some of his statements found in John's Gospel:
John 5:19-20 NIV:
[19] "Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. [20] For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed."
John 7:16 NIV:
[16] "Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me."
John 8:19,28-29 NIV:
[19] "Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
[28] "So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. [29] The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”
John 10:34-38 NIV:
[34] "Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are “gods” ' ? [35] If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came---and Scripture cannot be set aside--- [36] what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? [37] Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. [38] But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
John 12:44-45,49-50 NIV:
[44] "Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. [45] The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me."
[49] "For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. [50] I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
John 14:9-11 NIV
[9] "Jesus answered: “Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? [10] Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves."
Thus, this morning I am encouraged to dive deeper into this grace and truth, this revelation of the Father, seen through Jesus' life and words, His actions and love for us all! I am encouraged to read deeper, to think deeper, to look deeper into Jesus, to see in him the exact representation of the Father (Heb 1:3) and to believe that the Father is exactly as Jesus represents Him.
Amen!
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