4.2.2013 JOHN 1.17 LAW AND GRACE

john 1.17 'for the law was given through moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

the following come from lenski's commentary on the gospel of John

the threefold antithesis is brought out in this double statement:
1. the law-grace and truth
2. was given-came
3. moses- Jesus Christ

the three pairs are opposites but opposites that correspond.
one likeness is included,
namely the idea of mediation in dia, which is used with respect
to both moses and Jesus Christ

the law..is definite,
the moral and the ceremonial law as israel had it on the tables of stone
and its elaborate worship
and in its civil and social regulations.
this law was no mean treasure:
by possessing it israel was greatly blessed.
yet it was not the actual 'fulness' from which
one could receive grace for grace.
the law was only preparatory.
it reveled the holy will of God
and thus man's exceeding sinfulness and the depth of our lost condition.
at the same time we must add that the law was full of
types and figures (ie. the brazen serpent lifted up in the wilderness
to whom any suffering the deadly plague,
could look at and be healed prefiguring Christ on the cross)
of deliverance from sin,
and it even mediated (to bring about) a deliverance
but one based on the great atonement that was to come.
of course, the law itself thus indicated that everything
depended on that future perfect atonement.
the law itself contained no availing atonement,
it could only point forward,
awaken the longing for it,
picture and foreshadow it in advance and,
like a pIdagOgos
(greek word for one who would take a child to school)
lead to it.
the law was much, but more had to follow
even to make the law what it was.

it 'was given'..a historical aorist (past tense greek verb)
...it 'was given' expresses exactly the historical manner of its bestowal.
it was not a human development,
and outgrowth of the religious genius of the people of israel
or  a product of its great leader  or of a number of its leaders.
..no human wisdom, genius or development
could possibly produce 'the law' either in israel of in
any other nation since israel's time,
this wonderful system, every feature of which points beyond
all human calculation, into the far future,
to the coming Messiah, the word made flesh and
His redemptive work for all the world.

the law was given 'through moses';
the passive vedb plainly indicated that moses was only God's instrument.
God could easily have used any one of a number of similar instruments.

..'grace and truth' are the same as in v14,
each marked as such by the article of previous reference
(in greek it reads 'the grace and the truth)
while they are distinct, the two are most intimately joined,
for grace is proclaimed by truth,
and truth is the revelation and the doctrine of grace.
...both are objective, for of both john writes that they 'came'
so also in v14 it is the incarnate Logos who is full of grace and truth.
yet both are intended for our subjective appropriation.
(take to or for oneself)
that is why the two 'came'.
and when it is thus appropriated,
grace always forgives and gives, and truth reveals and assures
both the forgiveness and the gifts.

...grace and truth 'came'; they were not 'given' like the law.
no Giver used a human instrument and made grace and truth a gift.
these two are too great and high.
they are in their root divine attributes.
thus they were embodied in Jesus Christ, they 'came'
in His incarnation and His mission.
God did not merely tell us about grace and truth,
so that He could have used another moses or an array of prophets.
Jesus Himself was grace and truth.
His own person and His work constitute the
very substance of grace and truth.
the Lord who passed before moses,
'abundant in goodness and truth' ex. 34.6,
whom the psalmist praised,
'the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting and
His truth endureth to all generations, ps 100.5
 he it is 'who of God is made unto us
wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption I cor. 1.30
in the incarnate Son, Christ Jesus.
yet grace and truth 'came' thus not in an absolute sense as though now
for the first time
they sprang into existence
but relatively as far as the actual work of redemption
and its historical execution are concerned after existing for
a long time in the though of God
and after being conveyed to men by promise.

not until this place does john mention the historic name of the incarnate Logos,
the name that is above every name:
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ'...