Jesus’ Grace and Truth reveal God’s glory

John 1:14-17

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”’) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  

The Sunday before Lent is often called Transfiguration Sunday – and in the lectionary (which I don’t use) the passages to preached on relate to the Transfiguration. This year we are working our way through the gospel of John on Sundays – and the Transfiguration is not among the stories that John records. (The Transfiguration was that moment when Jesus was on the top of a high place and Moses and Elijah joined him – and Jesus turned dazzling bright – his glory revealed. A profoundly mystical moment.)

While there is no Transfiguration narrative in John, the theme of Jesus’ glory, which is central to the Transfiguration, is very prominent in John’s gospel. We see it here in this passage at the very start of the gospel. The glory of God is seen in Jesus Christ who has come to live among us in the flesh. The glory of God in Jesus is seen in part by the fact that he is full of grace and truth (vs. 14). Jesus is in himself, in his person, the truth; and secondly, his life is what it means to live grace. The theme of grace holds this short passage together, for while Moses brought the law and was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus, Jesus’ glory outshines Moses for Jesus brought grace and truth.

Law, as we will see in passages we will be reading the at the start of Lent, can only get you so far. It takes grace to truly shine the glory of God in the world, for grace is God’s special gift in the world. Grace is central to God’s glory.

PRAYER:

Lord God, your glory shines in Your Son, Jesus Christ. We see that glory most clearly in the grace upon grace he has poured into our lives. We rejoice in the grace we have received, the gift of your glory in the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.