John 1:16-18
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (AV)
Exodus 33:17-20
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. “But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
And so we’ve come to the final part of John’s prologue from John’s Gospel, which we have been studying for the last few weeks. These last few verses are so full of content that it is quite difficult to speak on them, but I will do my best.
John had made that amazing statement, that amazing claim: In the beginning was the Word, and that the Word was not only with God, but was God from the beginning. I remember being in the British Library some years ago, and there was a special exhibition on it. There was a tiny, tiny piece of manuscript — I think it’s called Papyrus 66 — normally, I believe, in Geneva. Whether this was just a copy of it or not, it was quie small and it contained the very first few verses in Greek of In the beginning was the Word. I think it was second century. I thought it was an amazing thing to see.
So John makes this claim, and then through his Gospel he gives his reason for that claim. In the opening verses he brings God into focus through Jesus. Who is the person of God? Is he out of focus, shadowy, unreal, unapproachable? Is he to some an impersonal force? Or even irrelevant to modern thinking? Has AI overtaken all our spiritual needs? John’s claim is that God revealed himself in flesh and blood in the person of Jesus Christ, who lived among the people. They were witnesses of his life, his words, his passion, his death, and above all his resurrection. And more than everything else, they were witnesses of his abiding word.
John reveals Jesus Christ as a life-giving force which those who come to believe in him can also receive. He said, I am come that they might have life, and have it to the full — not life in merely physical terms or experiences, but as children of God, receiving God’s gift of grace and experiencing his love.
It is a mystery, this revelation that God should reveal himself in human terms. Our problem is so often that we rely on the visual. To see God himself, the Bible warns us, would turn us to dust. Yet we live in a seeing world. We like our screen time. We like instant rolling news, the camera on the spot as events unfold. I think Jesus would have been very newsworthy if cameras had existed. And yet we are given no physical description of him. What we receive is his word.
John describes his glory and the experience of God coming out of the shadows, out of the cloud of the Old Testament, through being in the presence of Christ. God was coming into focus. In verse 16 John writes, From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
The disciples had the privilege of sharing Christ’s physical presence and the sound of his voice as he taught, preached, and sometimes admonished. They fed on his word and later brought it back to memory, guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit. They felt blessed to be in his presence, not realising at the time how everlasting that experience would become. Gradually his nature was revealed, and finally at the resurrection they knew that this mystery was not for them alone. His blessings were not just for them; they had to be shared.
God’s grace is not a once-for-all gift; it is continually renewed. We have all received blessing after blessing. It is an undeserved gift — a gift of kindness and love. So why do we refuse such a gift?
In verse 17 we read, The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Two important words there: given and came. God gave the law through Moses, as we have been studying in Leviticus. It was holy and just and good, but the people were not obedient, and the law became a burden and a death sentence. As Matthew tells us, the teachers of the law tied up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders.
Grace, however, came through Jesus. God’s kindness received those who would otherwise have deserved separation and death. There were no external requirements — no “do this” or “do that”. All that was required was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the living Word from the beginning. Now we should live as God intended.
In verse 18 we read that no one has ever seen God. Even Moses had to hide from his presence. Isaiah saw God’s glory but not his face. When the disciples experienced the transfiguration, they saw his radiant features, but then a cloud enfolded them. It was only a glimpse.
The King James Version speaks of the Son as being in the bosom of the Father. It is an image of closeness and intimacy. Sometimes I sit on our two-seater sofa with one of the children or grandchildren and we snuggle up to look at a book or watch something. We are close — not side by side, but in the bosom of the family. That is the image here: the closest place to the heart. The Son, close to the heart of God, reveals what is in the heart and mind of the Father.
God remains invisible, but he has come into focus. He is no longer unknown or unknowable. From this point John begins to record the will and purpose of God made known through Jesus Christ. His Gospel is more than a portrait of Jesus’ life. Jesus makes claims about himself: I am the way, the truth, and the life. Real life is not in the quality of the here and now; it is eternal life given to those who believe in him.
So we are in Lent. Some of us give things up — chocolate, whisky, and so on. It may be good for health and well-being, but taking something up may be even more worthwhile. Bishop David Sheppard once said that instead of giving something up, why not take something up? A good start would be to read the rest of John’s Gospel — always familiar, always revealing something new and true — and by reading it we can further put God into focus through Jesus Christ.
A final word from John’s letter: We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make your joy complete.