Post by M.R. Hagerty on Feb 2, 2023 21:03:35 GMT -7
John 1:14-18, Luke 1:1-4
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (John 1:14-18.)
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4.)
The Genealogies of Jesus
Luke 3:23
23 . . being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, . .
[76 generations from Joseph back to Adam]
Matthew 1:1-17
1-17 “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham, . .
Abraham forward to Joseph, 42 generations
. . . 14 generations from Abraham to David . . .
. . . 14 generations from David to the Babylonian Exile . . .
. . . 14 generations from the Exile to Messiah . . .
_____________________________________________________________
Commentary
John 1:14-18
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . . 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
John mentions actual flesh for two reasons: 1) to proclaim that God purposed that the Son should live among men as a human being and experience all the feelings, pains and thoughts of the human creation; and 2) to repudiate the Gnostic heresy that Jesus was merely a phantom or very effective apparition but never possessed a fleshly body.
The Gnostics didn’t disagree that God had the power to do so, but denied God’s willingness to contaminate His divine Nature by becoming one with human flesh. Here, John not only puts this idea to rest but also in I John 1:1 where he goes further in saying they actually handled him, which could not have been possible with an apparition.
That Christ was “full of grace and truth” is not to say that all the grace and truth to be had was in Him, since this was also said of Mary at the annunciation. Rather, it aligns with what Jesus declared, “No man comes to the Father but by me.”
Grace is something that is being introduced into the backdrop of Judaism. Judaism really didn’t have the same concept of grace. The animal sacrifices were a form of grace by alleviating the death of the sinner. But these were tied to the legalism of the Law in which the believer observed things approved and avoided things condemned. In NT Grace, one has a free gift that is totally the work of God on behalf of the believer and is not based on any concept of performance or merit. Man does not participate in the operation of Grace, only in so far as receiving it from God as unmerited favor. This was new to the Old Testament mind.
The importance of its appearance and mention in the Gospels is really what the good news of the gospel is all about. The backdrop of the OT was one of performance before God, the doing of works in the interest of pleasing God; and the perennial disappointment of not meeting the requirements of the Law. There was a sort of corporate sigh among the Jews, a sigh that spoke of the toil, tediousness and inability to permanently fix the problem in man.
The good news of the gospel is that such toil and legalism is over. One has come to forever remedy man’s endemic problem once and for all and at last. So Christ was the very fullness of that Grace.
He was the fullness of truth because He was God Incarnate and knows the beginning from the end in all things. He sees all facts and circumstances from every angle possible, perceives accurately every motive and thought. We see this later on with His disciples when He perceives their motives in making certain comments. The same occurred when in the midst of crowds of people or the Pharisees. He knew their thoughts and then spoke such that He cut them to the quick.
In the judgment before Christ, we anticipate that we will not be able to prevaricate or rationalize. He will know the truth about what we did and why, and there will be no arguing or contention about the meaning of actions or words.
But more than this, John is saying that Jesus came to put mankind right with the truth about the world as it really is. There is a realm beyond this physical temporal world of business, family, the tending of crops and the making of money. That realm is far more important to our lives than anything else we presently see. We are born to be related to that realm, so best we encounter it and understand it. That is why His message is about the Kingdom as foremost, not the silly questions man can pose to someone who claims to come down from God.
“grace upon grace” is a way of describing the many graces that comprise Grace overall. The gift of Grace is multi-faceted and its gift goes on surprising us as we live for Him. So beyond the general provision of Grace in salvation, one experiences unmerited favor in so many other areas that it is as though new grace is being piled on grace already received.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (John 1:14-18.)
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4.)
The Genealogies of Jesus
Luke 3:23
23 . . being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, . .
[76 generations from Joseph back to Adam]
Matthew 1:1-17
1-17 “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham, . .
Abraham forward to Joseph, 42 generations
. . . 14 generations from Abraham to David . . .
. . . 14 generations from David to the Babylonian Exile . . .
. . . 14 generations from the Exile to Messiah . . .
_____________________________________________________________
Commentary
John 1:14-18
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . . 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
John mentions actual flesh for two reasons: 1) to proclaim that God purposed that the Son should live among men as a human being and experience all the feelings, pains and thoughts of the human creation; and 2) to repudiate the Gnostic heresy that Jesus was merely a phantom or very effective apparition but never possessed a fleshly body.
The Gnostics didn’t disagree that God had the power to do so, but denied God’s willingness to contaminate His divine Nature by becoming one with human flesh. Here, John not only puts this idea to rest but also in I John 1:1 where he goes further in saying they actually handled him, which could not have been possible with an apparition.
That Christ was “full of grace and truth” is not to say that all the grace and truth to be had was in Him, since this was also said of Mary at the annunciation. Rather, it aligns with what Jesus declared, “No man comes to the Father but by me.”
Grace is something that is being introduced into the backdrop of Judaism. Judaism really didn’t have the same concept of grace. The animal sacrifices were a form of grace by alleviating the death of the sinner. But these were tied to the legalism of the Law in which the believer observed things approved and avoided things condemned. In NT Grace, one has a free gift that is totally the work of God on behalf of the believer and is not based on any concept of performance or merit. Man does not participate in the operation of Grace, only in so far as receiving it from God as unmerited favor. This was new to the Old Testament mind.
The importance of its appearance and mention in the Gospels is really what the good news of the gospel is all about. The backdrop of the OT was one of performance before God, the doing of works in the interest of pleasing God; and the perennial disappointment of not meeting the requirements of the Law. There was a sort of corporate sigh among the Jews, a sigh that spoke of the toil, tediousness and inability to permanently fix the problem in man.
The good news of the gospel is that such toil and legalism is over. One has come to forever remedy man’s endemic problem once and for all and at last. So Christ was the very fullness of that Grace.
He was the fullness of truth because He was God Incarnate and knows the beginning from the end in all things. He sees all facts and circumstances from every angle possible, perceives accurately every motive and thought. We see this later on with His disciples when He perceives their motives in making certain comments. The same occurred when in the midst of crowds of people or the Pharisees. He knew their thoughts and then spoke such that He cut them to the quick.
In the judgment before Christ, we anticipate that we will not be able to prevaricate or rationalize. He will know the truth about what we did and why, and there will be no arguing or contention about the meaning of actions or words.
But more than this, John is saying that Jesus came to put mankind right with the truth about the world as it really is. There is a realm beyond this physical temporal world of business, family, the tending of crops and the making of money. That realm is far more important to our lives than anything else we presently see. We are born to be related to that realm, so best we encounter it and understand it. That is why His message is about the Kingdom as foremost, not the silly questions man can pose to someone who claims to come down from God.
“grace upon grace” is a way of describing the many graces that comprise Grace overall. The gift of Grace is multi-faceted and its gift goes on surprising us as we live for Him. So beyond the general provision of Grace in salvation, one experiences unmerited favor in so many other areas that it is as though new grace is being piled on grace already received.