John 1:14-16
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, ’He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’" 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1:14-16
John writes his gospel by making statements and then illustrating them. For instance he states, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory.” That’s the statement; then He shows us what he means: As Jesus turned water to wine, they saw His glory in the transformation. As He calmed the raging storm, they saw His glory in that the winds and waves were in submission. In raising Lazarus from the dead, they saw His glory in the resurrection. In transformation, submission and resurrection they saw His glory. So the first 18 verses of John are declarative statements that he illustrates through the remainder of the book. Today we are going to look at the statement that he made; that Jesus was full of grace and truth.
His glory is shown not only in what He did, but in Who He was. In His very essence, He was full of grace and truth and that is the glory of His character. So today we’ll look at the biblical account that shows Jesus full of grace and truth. Chapter 5:
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 4 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" 7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. 14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." John 5:1-14
Here is the situation; a man is an invalid, he is not able to move on his own, he has no one to help him, and he has been in this condition for a long time - 38 years of being disabled, 38 years of dashed hopes, 38 years of being disappointed by others (“Nobody helps me, someone else gets in ahead of me.”)
But then Jesus sees him lying there and asks him an amazing question… “Do you want to get well?” “Do I want to get well? What kind of a question is that? Of course I want to get well.” Some people are quite happy to remain in their condition; they see no problem with lazing around the pool, getting a tan. They’re quite comfortable there; it’s all they know.
Jesus was awakening a desire within him. The man had just said, “I have no one to help me” because he had only met people who were selfish and needy. Now he meets One full of grace and truth.
And Jesus sees this desire that He had just kindled and, unlike all the other people who had disregarded this man, unlike all who had disappointed him in the past, Jesus commands him to get up and heals him of 38 years of disability. Jesus is the only One Who had compassion on Him; the only One Who gave him grace.
But not only grace, but also truth. In verse 14 Jesus says, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” Friend, you’ve received my grace, I’ve healed you in love, now repent, stop sinning, turn away from it or you’ll really have problems. And there it is: in the healing, we see Jesus full of grace and truth.
Let me apply this for a minute: Many of us lived a long time in spiritual paralysis; for myself, I was 38 years old before I repented of my sin. Some of us lay by the pool and blamed others for our condition. The problem was sin, our sin. Let’s ask the question Jesus asked: Do you want to be healed? Is there something disabling you from walking with Christ? If so, do you want to be healed? If so, Jesus can do it. He has all the grace and truth you ever need. If you’re paralyzed in sin you can be pardoned in Jesus, and you’ll be up and walking in no time. And in our own healing, others will see Jesus’ glory, full of grace and truth.
Look over at chapter 8:
1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." John 8:1-11
So notice the people here; we have “this woman” who is caught in the very act of adultery, and by many people. There were more than the two or three required witnesses; there was a group. They caught her; she was guilty, and the law required her to be stoned. She was guilty, vile, and helpless- simply awaiting the first rock to hit her.
And the people that caught her in the act never once spoke to her, they only spoke about her, “This woman was caught in the act”… “We must stone such women.” “This woman…such women” - not even worthy to be talked to. You talk about those kinds of women, not to them.
Well then there was the group of people that caught her in the act. They were Pharisees; religious people, those who kept the Law. What opposites! The depraved, wretched sinner woman and the upstanding, religious law-keepers.
But you know something amazing? Verse 6 tells us something amazing about the Pharisees. They wanted to have a basis for accusing Him. Accusing Him of what? The Pharisees knew that Jesus would pardon her. They were excited about that because as soon as He pardoned her, they would have Him. “This Man subverts the Law of Moses; in the Law Moses commanded us to stone this woman, but Jesus said to pardon her. He’s not a prophet, He’s guilty of breaking the Law, and He needs to die.” See it really wasn’t the woman’s death they were after; it was Jesus’ death that they wanted.
But that’s not the way it went; they underestimated Jesus. Jesus did not subvert the Law of Moses; He upheld the Law of Moses by saying, “Go ahead and stone her; just make sure that you are without sin first, because the wages of sin is death and, if you are a sinner, then you deserve death too.” Marvelous! And all the Pharisees filed out one by one, their hands over their mouths and their tails between their legs. Jesus, the Light of the world, exposed the motives and intentions of their hearts.
But not only did He expose the motives of the self-righteous; He forgave the one caught in sin. He was full of grace, and people who are full of grace don’t throw stones at others. He spoke right to her, asked where her accusers were, and then said, “Neither do I condemn you.” The only One in the group Who could have condemned her and He pardoned her, forgave her, reclaimed her from sin and death. Phillip Bliss wrote:
Man of Sorrows! What a name
For the Son of God who came;
Ruined sinners to reclaim,
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
But He was not only full of grace, but also truth. He forgave her; then He instructed her, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Don’t get this backward! Don’t think that you can leave a life of sin and then God will pardon you. No, that’s backward. God pardons first, and then He sanctifies. He forgives and then He instructs. Grace comes first and then our obedience “Neither do I condemn you…go and leave your life of sin.”
And can you imagine this woman walking away, saying to herself, “He pardoned me. He rescued me. He saved me. He not only saved my life, but He taught me how to live. Oh Jesus is full of grace and truth.”
And someday, we will all gather around the throne, with the Lamb in the center, and we will sing with “this woman”:
Guilty, vile, and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement can it be,
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
He forgave and reclaimed a sinner doomed to death. And, in the forgiving, we see Jesus full of grace and truth.
Let’s apply this: You know what sinners need? Not condemnation, stone throwing, but rather grace and truth. We need to be forgiven and instructed. We need to hear the question, “Where are your accusers?” and hear the words “Neither do I condemn you.” So many live the Christian life under condemnation; under guilt from the past or the present. If that is you, Jesus has plenty of grace and truth for you! Let the words “Neither do I condemn you” ring in your heart. And then learn how to live differently. He’s full of grace and truth!
Now turn over to chapter 21. We remember that Peter promised he would not deny Jesus, but then he had denied Him three times; openly, publicly, denied Jesus, and then the rooster crowed. And I bet Peter recalled a statement Jesus had made earlier as recorded in Matthew 10:33: “But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33) and Peter is beyond discouraged over his own failure; he is distraught. And then Jesus dies, and in Peter’s mind he never has an opportunity to undue his failure, he will live with this for the rest of his life.
And in chapter 21 verse 3 Peter says, “I’m going out to fish. I denied the Lord, He’s dead, I’m going back to my old life.” And then they don’t catch a thing all night. I mean, man, even the fish aren’t biting. And then comes the resurrected Jesus, tells them how to fish, they haul in a boatload (153 fish) and He invites them to breakfast.
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." 16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." 17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. John 21:15-17
Here He is again, showing His glory; restoring the fallen fisherman, giving Peter three chances to express his love corresponding to the three times that he failed. Grace came in restoring Peter, truth came in commissioning Peter. Peter, don’t spend your life fishing; spend it feeding others. Show your love for me, Peter, by a life of ministry to My flock. And in the restoring, we see Jesus full of grace and truth.
Let me apply this for a minute. All of us have roosters in our lives - those reminders of where we failed, times when we dishonored Christ. If you have falls and failures like that, Jesus has grace to restore, grace greater than all our sin. See there was one rooster, but 153 fish. “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” Jesus has grace that restores, and truth that commissions us for ministry. Do you love me? So many profess faith in Christ but then go back to their old life, hopeless. But there is hope and restoration for you; Jesus has plenty of grace and truth for you.
So we’ve seen Jesus full of grace and truth; in the healing, forgiving and restoring. But let’s go deeper here. We haven’t seen a tenth of His glory. There is another event that entirely eclipses everything else in Jesus’ life, when it comes to showing that He was full of grace and truth. That event is the cross. Never in the history of the world has humanity seen One so full of grace and truth than when Jesus emptied Himself at the cross for us. Never was a man shown to be so glorious than when Jesus was covered with our shame at His death.
It’s one thing for Jesus to heal a man who was sick for 38 years; it’s quite another for Him to take all the diseases, all the sicknesses of all humanity for thousands of years upon Himself, and to suffer and die for our healing. At the cross “He, Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains” and “By His stripes we are healed.” That’s how we know He is full of grace and truth.
It’s one thing for Jesus to pardon a woman from condemnation; it’s quite another for Him to be condemned in her place. “Bearing sin and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood.” Never has this world seen such grace and truth as when the Righteous One is condemned so that condemned sinners might be declared righteous!
Finally, it’s one thing for Jesus to restore the one who denied Him; it’s quite another for Jesus to be denied and forsaken by His own Father, so that all who repent and believe can be accepted and reconciled to God. That’s the fullness of His grace and truth.
Paul describes this grace and truth in Romans 5, look there with me:
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 That’s grace! That’s the fullness of His grace.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:9-10 That’s truth! We are justified, saved and reconciled! As Jesus dies on the cross, He is filled with grace and truth: “I’m dying to justify you; I’m perishing to save you; I’m being treated as God’s enemy in order to reconcile you.
This passage is God-exalting, shows God’s character, it’s Christ-centered, Jesus died for us, and it is joy-producing:
11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Roman 5:11
Of course this just makes sense that we rejoice in God; I mean, those who were condemned are now justified; those lost are now saved, the enemies of God are now reconciled to God through the cross; we “rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
