The Gospel of John: John 1.16

Read and meditate on John 1.16.
The Word’s coming, coupled with John’s witness to Him, had the effect of bringing grace for grace to John and the people of his generation. Grace for grace! Is this what we have received? Is this what we experience? Is this what we bear witness to by our lives and words? Where the Word tabernacles in a person’s life, grace for grace – piles and stacks and waves of grace! – is the daily experience.
 
                                          ¹⁶And we
have of His fullness grace for grace received.

- John 1.16

Reflect
1.  John and the people of his generation (“we”) felt the impact of the Word-become-flesh in the form of grace for grace. What is it like to receive grace for grace? How can we know when we, like John, have received grace for grace? Complete this prayer: Lord, when Your grace envelops me, invades me, pervades and empowers me…

2.  This grace comes from the “fullness” of the Word-become-flesh. What does this suggest about how we should expect to continue receiving grace for grace? Lord, because I want to know grace for grace more truly and more consistently…

3.  The phrasing here is important. John says he received grace for grace – unto grace, upon grace, or for the purpose of grace. What does this mean? How should you expect to receive grace for grace in your life? Lord, I need grace today so that I will have grace when…

4.  John treats the experience of grace as a matter of certainty. He didn’t simply say that he felt blessed or believed he had received grace. He knew it. Could he understand it entirely? Is this another one of those areas of mystery where we can know, but perhaps not completely understand or explain our experience? Would you say that you know for certain that you have received grace for grace from the fullness of the Word of God? Explain. Lord, what do I know, and how can I…

5.  John’s “we” is important. He speaks from out of and on behalf of a community of people who have shared his experience. He perhaps wrote for that community, to help them better understand their experience of the Word-become-flesh. And he wrote from that community to the world, to carry on the witness begun by John the Baptist. What does this say to us about how our own witness might be focused and fruitful? Bring together into a single prayer the brief prayers you wrote for questions 1-4.

Summary
“For all we too, who have been enrolled in the choir of the saints, enjoy the riches of his proper good, and the nature of humanity is ennobled with his rather than its own execllences, when it is found to have nothing that is noble. For from the fullness of the Son, as from a perennial fountain, the gift of the divine graces springing forth comes to each soul that is found worthy to receive it.” Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

Jesus will later explain that all who believe in Him receive the full refreshing grace of His Spirit, flowing from Him and the Father, which they then channel toward the world as streams of life-giving grace and truth (Jn. 7.37-39). In these few words, John tells us what to look forward to as we continue to explore his witness to the Word-become-flesh. We can know our reading of the gospel of John is having the desired effect when the grace we receive becomes the grace we extend to others. How can you improve your Bible reading to help ensure this will be the outcome?

Closing Prayer
The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!
Your people shall be volunteers
In the day of Your power;
In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning,
You have the dew of Your youth.”

Psalm 110.1-3

Psalm 110.1-4 (Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
“Sit by Me at My right hand,” the Lord says to my Lord,
“Until I make Your foot stand on all who hate Your Word.”
From in His Church the Savior rules all His enemies;
While those who know His favor go forth the Lord to please.

Filled with Your Spirit’s power, in holy robes of love,
From early morning’s hour, we serve You, Lord above.
You reign a Priest forever, the King of Righteousness
And King of peace Who ever Your chosen ones will bless.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.