The Wednesday after the Second Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 21, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. John 1:15-18 (NKJV)
1:15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Devotion
We cannot understand how it is that God the Son took on human flesh. We must trust the words that Scripture uses, and believe that it happened. Scripture makes clear that the union of God and man in Christ Jesus is a mystery that cannot fully be understood by our human minds.
But we do not need to wonder why this happened. Other passages speak at length of Christ’s mission to live a perfect life and die a perfect death to pay for our sins. This passage speaks most directly to Christ’s mission to teach us—to reveal to us men the nature of God as God wishes to be known, as only God (the Son) can reveal and show us.
Thus, John shows us a contrast—Moses, who spoke to God face to face (Ex. 33:11), probably understood God about as well as a human can. But that does not and cannot compare to the knowledge of God that the eternal Son of God possesses, who is literally in the bosom of the Father. While Moses revealed the Law, the revelation the Son gives is God’s infinite mercy and grace. This does not mean the Law is false; it means that the Gospel is how God wishes for us to know Him and think of Him.
Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who dost govern all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of Thy people, and grant us Thy peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
