John – Chapter 1:14b-18
v.14b πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας “the full Gift of the Truth” – This section concludes the Prologue. The emphasis upon grace and truth summarizes and describes the character and work of Jesus. This work is not newly ascribed to God but is precisely the same declaration God proclaimed to Moses: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex 34:6). Consider also Psalm 25:10, “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness.” That Jesus is “full” of the self-description as God to Moses is to show that He is fully God in the flesh. “Grace and truth” are particularly named because these attributes are central to our salvation. Jesus is complete expression of divine love and faithfulness. Charitas is the Greek for the Hebrew chesed, translated as “steadfast lovingkindness” and most evident in the death of Jesus for sinners. Aletheia, truth, is a unique emphasis throughout John’s Gospel. Consider John 8:32, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Or John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” And at Jesus’s trial before Pilate, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Truth is the reality of God’s will, chiefly His purpose and plan for our salvation. v.15 “John bears witness to Him” – The work and identity of the Baptist, previously introduced in v. 6-7, is key and will be the subject of v.19-28. Apart from eyewitness testimony, what the Evangelist confesses is easily brought into question. And the Baptist and Evangelist both continue to confess, “has cried out.” “He who is following me has become my superior, because in comparison to me He was first” John isn’t simply speaking of chronology. He is speaking of rank. Despite Jesus “coming after” John, Jesus is John’s superior due to Jesus’s superior work (the Christ) and preeminence (Son of God). This relationship is the content of John 3:25-30, here briefly introduced. v.16-17 “And from His fullness we have all received, indeed, a gift in place of a gift” – Rather than being a continuation of…