by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
As we enter 2022, let us commend our Chaplain and ministry team, the Church Council, and all of us for surviving and thriving in another year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We persevered in faith and did things in many new and creative ways while continuing to serve God in the UP Church of the Risen Lord.
But we also pause in remembrance of the loved ones we lost in this continuing war against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its many variants. We all ask and pray that our pandemic situation would finally be over.
Then just a few weeks ago came Super Typhoon Rai/Odette. The devastation wrought by Rai/Odette reminds me of Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda back in 2013. Back then, CRL and our Bangon Pag-asa meals helped the UP Visayas students who came over to UP Diliman. Now, we pray for the quick recovery of our people and their communities. Also, we should all continue to try to assist those affected.
Next year, a political exercise will be upon us. We pray that our people will choose wisely and that election violence and cheating will not rear its ugly head once again. May God grant our people grace and favor and lead us to the destiny he has marked out for us.
These are trying times. But despite all these vexing concerns, it is still the Christmastime season. We recall the wondrous advent of Immanuel (“God with us”), as God sent his Son to save us from sin and death, to atone for our transgressions and wash away our iniquities. It is then a season of hope. And we need the hope that our Lord Jesus kindles in us so that we may be strengthened to face the New Year that is upon us with renewed vigor and steadfast faith. And it is only by God’s grace that we can survive and hurdle all these multiple concurrent problems and challenges we face as a nation and as a people of God.
I would like to share with you my reflections about grace for our time, based on my Greek reading of John 1:16 and the revelations that Scripture offers. Unless otherwise cited, I will use my own translations of the Greek/Hebrew verses. Here it is in the Greek:
ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν, καὶ χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος·
Here is my formal translation of this verse: For out of his fullness we all received, and grace for grace. The Greek χάριν and χάριτος are just inflections of χάρις (“charis”), which means grace.
And what is “grace?” Grace is simply the “state of kindness and favor toward someone.” We also describe it as “unmerited” or “undeserved.” And God is ultimately the source of all grace and truth as we can clearly see in the immediate context of John 1:16; namely verses 14-18. I would like to highlight 2 verses from its immediate context; verse 14 and 17.
In John 1:14 we know this of our Lord Jesus:
Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας·
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of a unique (one) from (the) Father, full of grace and truth;
Last October 2020, I wrote to you about the Jewish Feast of Sukkot (Hebrew סֻּכּ֛וֹת, meaning tabernacles, booths, tents); also known as the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) or the Feast of Ingathering. I will reiterate some points here:
“While most Bibles translate the Greek word ἐσκήνωσεν (which came from an inflection of the verb σκηνόω) used here, as “dwelt” or “lived,” which is alright; the word can be translated as “tabernacled.” This comes from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) translation σκηνῶν (derived from σκηνή) for the Hebrew סֻּכּ֛וֹת “tabernacles” in the text of Leviticus 23:34. In short, the verb σκηνόω used in John 1:14 is a cognate of the noun σκηνή used in the LXX translation of Leviticus 23:34. Hence, one can say that literally, God sets up his tabernacle among men in the person of Jesus.”
To continue with our context, John 1:17 says:
ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.
For the Torah was given through Moses, grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.
Our Scripture verse 16 is in the middle of it all: For out of His fullness we all received, and grace for grace (meaning grace in succession; or grace succeeding grace already received; or grace in exchange/in place of grace already received; or grace upon grace; or grace after grace; or further grace). Thus, in John 1:17, the Apostle recognizes the earlier grace which God gave through the Torah (the “Law” and “Teaching” of Moses). By the giving of the Torah, the LORD God made known to the Hebrews and ultimately to all humankind how to revere Him and relate rightly with Him and our neighbors. This is grace. And the Gospel of John further recognizes the succeeding grace, the ultimate, fulfilling grace that came from the Word that became flesh and tabernacled among men, our Lord Jesus Christ.
And furthermore, we should also not forget the very first verse of the Gospel according to John which sets off the overarching context:
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Let me now explore with you a bit what grace means in the context of the Old Testament. We are all quite familiar with the story of the Poor Widow of Zarephath (1Kings 17:7-24) and Naaman (2Kings 5:1-19). These 2 are Gentiles; the poor widow was from the region of Tyre and Sidon and she and her son were provided for by the Prophet Elijah, while Naaman was army commander of the king of Aram (Syria) and was healed by the Prophet Elisha. These non-Jews were granted blessings by the LORD God of Israel. Their names are mentioned by our Lord himself in a synagogue on a Sabbath as narrated (only) in Luke 4:16-30. Our Lord was rejected there, in his own hometown, Nazareth. Perhaps, part of the anger of the Nazareth synagogue people when they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ is that they got insulted even as they could not understand this grace given by the God of Israel to non-Israelites.
In the Old Testament, God’s grace flowed to the people the LORD had blessed. But what did these 2 Gentiles do to deserve God’s grace? The poor widow just obeyed Elijah’s word and baked a cake for him as he requested with what was left of her jar of flour and jug of oil. The result: they never ran out of food in a calamitous time of no rain in the land – of famine. And when her son later on became ill and died, Elijah raised him to life. And what did the woman say? “…Now this I know, that you are a man of God and the word of the LORD from your mouth is truth.” She now had a believing faith in God’s grace. Now she knew the true God.
The story of Naaman is also interesting. He also obeyed the simple instruction given by the Elisha the prophet and got cleansed/healed of leprosy in the river Jordan. After this, Naaman declared that now he knows that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. But then he had to go back to Aram/Syria. Before he left, he asked the prophet if he could give him some material gifts in gratitude. Elisha declined. And then Naaman asked if he could take as much אֲדָמָ֑ה (meaning soil; where the word “Adam” is also from) that a pair of mules could carry back to Damascus. Naaman declared that he would never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god except to the LORD. And he asked the LORD to forgive him if he accompanies his king inside the temple of Rimmon and bows down with his king. Naaman now also had a believing faith in God’s grace. And he also knew the true God. But will the LORD God of Israel take it kindly when he escorts the king of Aram inside the temple of Rimmon? The LORD knew Naaman’s heart and Elisha said to him: לֵ֣ךְ לְשָׁלֹ֑ום literally “Go toward peace,” or colloquially, “Go in peace.”
Now, will the Zarephath widow and Naaman ever visit Israel to attend the Feasts of the LORD? Will they ever go inside the LORD’s Temple in Jerusalem? Will they ever give tithes? Will they ever observe the myriad ceremonial rules and statutes common to Judaism of that time? What did each do to deserve God’s grace? Did they earn this grace? Did they even have faith in the beginning? They were non-believers at the start. But we do know that they both responded to God’s grace in faith! We may call it the grace of salvation.
These are but 2 examples of God’s grace in the Old Testament. Now imagine this grace being fully succeeded by further, fulfilling grace in the New Testament by the Word that became flesh and tabernacled with us. This season of Advent reminds us of this. Later, Eastertide would remind us that the incarnate Word even suffered and died for us; to redeem us. But our Lord Jesus has risen and will come again. Thanks be to God!
Surely, UP CRL has been given and we have gratefully received grace in the past 74 years of the church’s existence. The UP CRL as a chaplaincy and a Christian ecumenical faith community empowered by the Holy Spirit fulfills a need for a vibrant Christian presence in the UP Diliman community and the world. That means the CRL must endeavor to let people know the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ; to offer a place for worship; to provide Christian learning and discipleship; to nurture spiritual health; and to respond to their social needs through word, witness and work. And so we must continue to be prophetic, ecumenical, indigenous and experimental in order for us to make known God’s will for us in our individual lives and in our families, in our studies, work and businesses, as well as in our chaplaincy, and in our ministries. And that is by His grace. I believe that the very existence and survival of CRL is proof of God’s grace.
Over the past 74 years CRL received grace in succession, grace over and beyond the grace already given. God had already done something fantastic in the past. And we continually raise our voices in thanksgiving to these blessings from God’s abundance.
But I believe that God is still not finished with us. If God can bless and show grace even to non-believers such as the Zarephath widow and Naaman, envision the blessings, grace and favor God can grant to us who believe in and call on His Name. Even in this, seemingly dark times for individuals, families, communities, nations and even the entire world, I believe God will still do something wonderful. I believe that this is not a season of famine of God’s grace. In the Spirit, I believe that even in the most difficult, trying times, it is still a season wherein we can expect still more grace and blessings to be granted in succession to the grace and blessings already given. That’s what the second part of John 1:16, χάριν ἀντί χάριτος means. Further grace after grace already received; further blessings after blessings already given, further favor after favor already bestowed. It is like you expect quantitatively and qualitatively, an ever fresh supply of grace, blessings and favor.
Let’s look at John 1:16 again; this time at the first part of the verse. It is because all this grace comes from the fullness (πληρώμα) of God in Christ (cf. Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 3:19; Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9). The Greek word πληρώμα means not only fullness but fulfillment and completion. Now, can anybody really measure the fullness of God? Can you even imagine it? I can’t. But that’s what the original Greek is telling us in John 1:16. Out of the fullness of God comes grace/blessing/favor that we receive and then a fresh supply of grace/blessing/favor after that, in succession. What is its source and does it have an upper limit? The source and upper limit is the fullness, the abundance of God. We thus have an unlimited supply of grace. Mathematically, think of an infinite upward spiral. The abundant grace is without limit since God is its source. Can we even conceptualize grace succeeding grace perpetually?
In the Hebrew (even Greek) mind, when 2 same words are juxtaposed together, the idea usually conveys the meaning of the comparative superlative, or the maximum extent or degree. Thus, the Apostle John in his second part of the verse, χάριν ἀντί χάριτος, could probably be emphasizing to his original Israelite audience the notion of the maximum or fullest extent of grace being given by God in Christ. And connecting this notion to the source he identified in the first part of the verse as we did earlier, we conclude then that it is immeasurable, inexhaustible. This πληρώμα, we saw earlier means fullness, fulfillment, even completion. Maximum grace then, if one could think of it – is an abundance of grace, even an overflow of grace, unlimited grace, because it is from the πληρώμα of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us take to heart the encouragement from John 1:16. To paraphrase, for we all received out of Christ’s fullness; and further grace for grace; grace in succession. I believe that God will grant us succeeding grace, a fresh supply of grace to recover, to restart, to reboot even as we do our part in God’s mighty works.
Indeed, I believe that our Lord Jesus gives us ever-flowing grace. As John 1:16 says, further grace is forthcoming; grace in succession. Christ has promised us an abundant flow of grace. Out of his fullness, God blesses us and provides for us and even imparts grace in succession to us.
Thus, I believe God will bring this pandemic to an end; our typhoon-devastated communities will recover; our economy and our livelihoods will be rebuilt; the sick and afflicted will be healed; our broken relationships will be restored; our faith will be strengthened; and more people will believe that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.
By God’s ever-flowing grace, Amen and Amen!
God bless us all.