Last week, I was invited to a Christmas party for the tricycle drivers in our neighborhood, sponsored by our OMF missionary friend. Meja and I served meals for them while a local pastor gave a Christmas message in Tagalog. I was busy shaking hands with them and just getting to know them. Of course, there were some whom I already knew, including manong Thomas, the oldest driver in our neighborhood. He is about 75 years old. He sleeps outside on his bicycle at night because he does not have home. When I came home and washed my hands, the rinsing water was quite dirty! I realized what a different world I have been living in from theirs.

Christmas is all about understanding our Savior who came down to our level in order to give freely of himself to us. May we think deeply of God's love for us during this season of Christmas.

What does Jesus look like?
Around the time of Christmas, we have many different images of Jesus, the most popular one being the baby Jesus lying in a manger. Have you thought about what Jesus looks like? In Eastern Orthodox churches, there are many icons. By looking at the icon of Jesus, many people experience spiritual mystery. But in Evangelical Christianity, we have done away with the images. Instead, we tend to focus on concepts.

John describes the awesome event of incarnation as, 'The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.' Profoundly on his mind is the question, 'how can I best explain who Jesus is to those who have never seen him?' This is an important question since most people in Jesus' time have now all passed away and John is writing to a new generation.

Have you ever wondered why John described Jesus as 'Jesus, full of grace and truth' and 'grace and truth came from Jesus.' The former is about Jesus' character, while the latter summarizes the benefits we have received from his ministry.

How did God reveal himself before?
Before we look at our passage in depth, we need to examine how God revealed himself before.

1. Moses and the burning bush
In Exodus 3 Moses had an unforgettable experience of being in the presence of God. There in the burning bush, Moses was given the amazing revelation that God is a compassionate God, who has heard and seen people's cry, who desires to send his servant to do something about their misery.

God also told Moses what his name is: I AM WHO I AM. This was a special revelation from God, given only to Moses, and later passed on only to Israelites. YHWH (Yahweh), which is translated as LORD in the NIV Bible, is then a special name that Israelites was given to call upon their God.

2. Moses and the stone tablets
Again in Exodus 34, God revealed himself to Moses and Israelites one more time. He wrote with his own finger the covenant with Israel containing the Ten Commandments. Israel was to keep their part of the covenant by fully obeying the law written on the tablets.

The law became central in Israel as the representative will of God. Abiding in the law was same as abiding in God. So in Psalm 1 there is an excellent summary of the kind of life that Israelites were meant to live:

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sin in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Ps 1:1).

We can say that God revealed himself through the law, this was the second major time he had done so. When he spoke through the prophets in the OT, it was to point out how far Israelites had fallen from the ideals of the law. And they miserably failed to keep the law for the most part. When they did focus on the law, however, they seemed to have focused more on the letter of the law, rather than the spirit of the law (as was the case with the Pharisees during Jesus' day).

How did John see Jesus?
John 1:1-18 is a great introduction to the entire gospel. It makes a profound statement on who Jesus is. Verse 14 echoes the background of Israel's wandering in the wilderness and God's promise to dwell in their midst, in their tabernacle (or tent of meetings).

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.

The word 'made dwelling' literally means 'pitched a tent.' It refers to the Tent of Meeting in Exodus, where Moses entered and met God. John now says that Jesus Christ, the Word, is the one who has 'pitched a tent' in our midst. Just as Moses saw the glory of God, John says, he, too, saw the 'glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father.'

It is interesting that John describes Jesus as 'full of grace and truth.' Why did John describe Jesus this way? We know in the context that John compares Jesus with Moses.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (vs. 17)

John is not so much contrasting Moses against Jesus, as if the law of Moses was a bad news and we now have the good news of Jesus full of grace and truth. No, rather than the contrast, John is stating that Jesus is the fulfillment of what Moses began, for the law, in the hands of evil men, only led us to condemnation, rather than to blessing. John illustrates this point in the gospel of John when he gives the example of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 7:53-8:11). The Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. So they brought a woman caught in the act of adultery and asked Jesus, `In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?' (8:4)

The law in the hands of sinful men can be a very cold and punishing thing, especially when the letter of the law is being considered as the measuring stick.

John says that the Pharisees had a whole different agenda. They were not interested in how to restore justice in the community in the face of adultery; instead, the Pharisees were using the situation as a trap to find a basis for accusation (8:5). It appears that Jesus was being tested on several grounds. They thought:

1. Jesus could not say 'yes, stone her' because Jesus would then send a direct signal of challenge to the Roman authorities. Jews under the Roman Empire at the time did not have the power to execute criminals.
2. Jesus also could not say 'yes, stone her' since that would go against his teaching of love and forgiveness.
3. Jesus also could not say 'no, do not stone her' because Jesus would then be challenging the authority of the Law given through Moses.
4. Jesus also could not say 'no, do not stone her' because that would make Jesus very wishy-washy in his judgment.

We all know how Jesus responded to this trap of the Pharisees. He did so by placing the ball in their court, 'those without sin throw stones first.' People all left from this scene, older ones first.

John looks back at this episode and he would later summarize Jesus as 'full of grace and truth.' Jesus is full of grace, rather than condemnation. He does not wish that we would just die in our penalties and punishments of our sin. He desires to restore us back to God.

Jesus said to the woman, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemn you? … Then neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin' (8:10-11). Jesus is grace. Where there ought to be condemnation, Jesus instead offers forgiveness and restoration.

In life, people go through so many sets of condemning voices. People are quick to judge and quick to pass on criticism about us. When, for example, we look at how we grow up with so many voices that pull us down or condemn us, it is a miracle that most of us have not ended up in a mental hospital. We also have our inner voice that at times tells us how incompetent, how weak, how bad we are. How then do we possibly keep ourselves above the water?

John says Jesus is full of grace. He alone can give us the rest for our souls. He is full of grace and truth. He will never mislead us into the life of falsehood. That was the problem with the Pharisees. They did not understand the spirit of the law and in their hunger for power and control, they used the law of Moses to their own advantage. Instead of helping people using the law as guideline, they tried to assert their own power and control by claiming monopoly of the law, as though they alone had the power to interpret and reinforce the law. In the end, they misled themselves and others to the life of condemnation and falsehood.

John, however, says that Jesus is full of grace and truth. Jesus, he says, never misleads us. In his gospel, he introduces Jesus using 'I AM' sayings. There are seven well-known I AM sayings of Jesus, which is the self-revelation of Jesus.

According to the theological Ian Howard Marshall, these 'I AM' statements' contain a veiled claim to deity. That is right. These 'I AM' sayings actually have as background Moses' encounter with the LORD when he asked for the name of God. So, each time Jesus used this 'formula,' he was claiming that he is the same person who had revealed to Moses two thousand years ago.

The law through Moses was the first step in revealing to us who God is and his ways. But the law in the hands of sinful men could not do what it was intended to do (Rom 8:1-2). But God did in sending his Son Jesus! The Law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus. Jesus does not mislead us! That was the main picture of Jesus that John wanted us to see.

How do you see Jesus today?
At this Christmas, we need to see Jesus in a fresh way once again, as more than what the world around tries to portray. How we see Jesus has a direct bearing on how we present Jesus to others. Jesus is full of grace and truth. What about you? How do you see Jesus today?

We are celebrating Christmas, with lots of gifts to give and parties to go to. Even in the midst of celebration about Jesus' birth, it is easy to miss the whole point. The other day, a mother came to me in tears. Her son, now a young adult, had just told her that he no longer believe in God or Jesus. This son had been brought up in a Christian home and church. But somehow, after taking various courses in university and doing some personal reflection, he came to such a conclusion. His mother was devastated because she knew how serious her son's decision was. The news was hurting her so much because the world is celebrating the Savior's birth at the moment.

Do you see Jesus as a person full of grace and truth? Well, let us be faithful in our task of making him known, to those who are nearer to us first and also to those whom we do not know well.

Maligagyang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon!