Wednesday after the Second Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 17, 2024 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
“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.”’” The apostle John records the words of the baptizer John, which seem to speak in contradiction. Jesus came after John, but was before John, and He would outlast and supersede John. How can such things be?
In fact, what it gives us is a restatement of John 1:1, where we are told the Word (Christ) was already in existence at the dawn of Creation. Christ is beyond the bounds of time, but became incarnate in time in order to be man’s Savior. Because of His humanity, as well as His deity, salvation has been won by Jesus Christ, and is now ours through faith in Him. As verse 16 of our text says: “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” The writer John tells us that Jesus’ grace is in limitless supply. He gives it, we consume it, and still more is given out. Sinful man is in constant need of God’s repeated grace and forgiveness, which He assures us will never be exhausted.
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.
