GOOD NEWS FROM ST. JOHN
THIS verse is John’s account of the incarnation. Whereas Matthew and Luke, in their Gospel’s, give some account of the birth of Jesus, John describes the mystery of the incarnation. There is no way we can ever plumb the depth of this wonder. All we can do is to seek to understand what little we can, and believe for the comfort and strength of our souls.
Firstly we have the fact of the incarnation. "The Word became flesh". This tells us that the eternal Word became a human being. It tells us that the eternal Word was still the eternal Word unchanged, but the eternal Word took also true and complete human nature. Here is the doctrine that Jesus Christ is one person, but two natures divine and human. We cannot understand or explain this, but we are called to accept and believe that it was so. We are not left without evidence. Although Christ’s deity was veiled, there is many places where the veil is drawn back in the account of his life on earth, and we see real evidence of his Godhead. On the other hand we have no doubt from the historical record that he was truly human and experienced all that is human, except that he was sinless. It also plain that he was not two persons but one Christ, nor was either his deity or his humanity absorbed by the other.
Before Jesus was born God was remote. God graciously visited his people, but only on occasions, and his presence was accompanied by the terror of his person, and we sinful creatures were terrified in his presence. When Jesus was born, God was with us, and ever since, faithful people are able to draw near to God without fear, and have fellowship with God, as the disciples had fellowship with Jesus.
The great thing about this verse is in the words "we have seen his glory". We are assured this is truly the glory of God because we are also told that it was "the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father". When we look on Jesus we see God, and the glory we see in Jesus is the glory of God.
There is great wonder and blessing here for us who believe and have received Jesus as our Saviour. In Jesus was all the glory of God, but most of this glory was veiled. The glory we see in Jesus is a glory that was veiled before Christ was born, and in Jesus is now made known and revealed clearly, as it was not shown before. We are told what this glory was and it is in the words "full of grace and truth".
This is a glory of God which is not revealed outside of the incarnation, and outside the reason for the incarnation, that Jesus came to die for our sins. Although there is a revelation of God as a gracious God in the Old Testament, it is veiled and only seen in an obscure way. In Jesus we see the grace of God clearly and wonderfully. Here is a glory of God which is so precious to us who are fallen and sinful human beings. Because of our sinfulness and corruption, when ever we see God, we must be terrified. Nothing that defiles can come into the presence of the holiness of God and live. Defilement of any kind must be purged until all the impurity is removed, and that means for us that we are consumed by the fire of divine holiness. We have this terror seen by the account of Isaiah in the temple in Isaiah 6, where Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. We see it when the apostle John saw the glory of the Son of man in his vision in Revelation 1. John fell at his feet as though dead. In Isaiah’s case it was the coal off the altar of atonement before the throne which purged his sin - the altar that is Christ. John in Revelation 1 has his fear removed because the glorious Son of man reveals himself as the one who was dead and is now alive forever more - Jesus sacrificed and risen for us.
The incarnate Jesus reveals himself as God full of the glory of grace and truth. The only way I can describe this glory is the glory of the truth that God is gracious, truly full of grace, to sinners like me and you who believe in Jesus. Divine grace shines with wonderful glory from Jesus as we see him in the Gospels. Firstly what grace it was that God became man - the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Paul gives this glory in such sublime words in Philippians 2:6-8. Jesus made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant. This is wonderful enough, but grace is infinite. Christ’s presence amongst was not sufficient to help or save us, so grace went to the depth. Here is transcendent glory revealed only in Christ - transcendent glory of God’s grace which is such great truth - that "being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:8).
Here is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, which we could never know or experience unless Jesus had come amongst us, that God is a God of infinite grace. God is a God who shows full and complete unmerited favour to us sinners, who deserve only to be condemned and die. The glory of grace seen in Jesus is that God was willing to meet all the demands of his holiness for us sinners in our place, so that we might be freely forgiven and escape eternal damnation. The glory of this divine grace is that God was not content just to save us from death, but in unmerited favour suffered, to the total depth of suffering, in order to bring us back to himself, that we might be reconciled to him and be restored to his blessing and fellowship, and that we might come to him without fear.
It is the privilege of all who believe that we have been given a sight and experience of this wonderful glory, and have become recipients of this full grace and truth.