CR Devo Blog: * Living Righteously in this World

Living Righteously in this World, Full of Grace and Truth

The Bible says in John 1:14 that Jesus was “full of grace and truth.”
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

But just what does this phrase mean?
Key to unpacking this phrase - full of grace and truth - is to understand how Jesus viewed his own ministry. To better understand how Jesus viewed his own ministry we only need to turn to Luke 4 where we read:
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus interpreted the very foundation of His public ministry to be a direct fulfillment of the passage from Isaiah 61 (quoted above) which is also very similar to the language in Isaiah 58:6-12.

The point is this--
The truth is . . . there are many who are poor and abandoned (truth). He has come to bring good news (grace). There are many who are blind and lame (truth). He has come to bring sight and healing (grace). There are many who are bound and oppressed (truth). He has come to set them free and to break the bonds (grace). There are many who are naked and homeless (truth). He has come to clothe and provide shelter (grace).

Those who opposed Jesus could mock his theology, they could laugh at his faith, they denigrated his deity, they could even kill him. And the same reaction happens today among the followers of Jesus. But when it came to observing His compassion and care for the most undeserved, the oppressed, the widow and the orphan, the abandoned ones; they could only marvel at how He loved people, because He was “full of grace and truth.”

Christian singer Steve Camp wrote a song titled, “Do You Feel Their Pain?” This video shows what life is like inside Kibera and pictures of the children and orphans who live in the slum. It’s a direct reminder of our blessings here in the America, even when we feel our lives are in pain and oppressed. A good friend is directly involved with starting an orphanage in Kibera and these children are real, as are their life stories.