Full of Grace and Truth

Day 120: John 1:1-28

“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.” - John 1:14 ESV

John, one of the 12 original disciples and a Son of Thunder (Mark 3:17), opens his gospel with more information about Jesus' identity than we can even begin to fully comprehend. There are many who believe he was in his 80s or 90s while writing this book, which adds a certain something to it as we read its chapters and verses. It was the last of the four biographies of Jesus' life to be written.

He has the advantage to start from a different angle, and he will time and time again focus on Jesus as being the Son of God.

Most Christians in our world today struggle with balancing grace and truth. John believed Jesus was full of both. Our Savior extended grace (favor) to so many people that the Israelites had written off as lost causes. Yet He didn't just affirm their behavior and tell them to live their truth. Instead, Jesus invited them to live a brand new life apart from their destructive behavior. It was His truth that they needed to experience, not a fantasy of their own making.

This is our challenge for today. We must remain immovable when it comes to the tension between grace and truth, and this is what the Bible calls love.

'The expression ‘grace and truth’ (charis kai alētheia) is found only twice in the NT, here and in 1:17. It is almost certainly the evanglist’s rendering of a similar expression ‘kindness and faithfulness’ (eleos kai alētheia) that is used frequently in the LXX as a translation of the Hebrew expression ḥesed we’ĕmet."
- Kruse, C. G. (2003). John: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 4, p. 70)

For a great example of what this looks like in today's world, please check out Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach.