For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:17 KJV
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 NASB
The Gospel of John is one of the most profound books ever penned. The first 18 verses of John are very possibly the greatest prologue to a book that you will ever be privileged to read. Each verse is a compendium of wondrous truth, as illustrated in the verse that heads this meditation.
The verse presents to us a contrast between Moses and Christ. John makes mention of Moses thirteen times in chapters 1 through 9. This is his first mention. Note the contrasts in –
The Messages
The first contrast is between the messages they brought to the world and to the people of God. Moses brought law, Christ brought grace and truth. Please do not think that the message which Moses brought was defective. The problem resided within us, the recipients of the law (or at least the nation of Israel). The law is holy, just, and good” (Rom 7:12; 1 Tim 1:8-11). The law, however, could not meet us in our lost estate. It was grace and truth that were able to address our desperate need and make us children of God. Truth condemned us but grace came to our rescue, delivering us from our sins and ourselves.
The Means
Note the difference between the law being “given” by Moses, and grace and truth “coming” through Jesus Christ. Moses was a mediator, a high and lofty privilege. No one else could ascend into the mount from the millions in the camp. So, Moses was no slouch. God attested to the uniqueness and dignity of Moses (Num 12:7, 8; Deut 34:10-12). But even at his most useful moment, he was only a mediator.
In this context, Christ was not a mediator but a manifestation. He did not hand down a code of grace and truth but lived it and made it all possible through His death. In that death, grace and truth, mercy and truth, righteousness and peace (Ps 85:10) were “reconciled” and the just God was now able to be a justifying God with no compromise to His character!
The Men
Moses, a man who towers above others in the O. T. was a great man, in fact, the greatest leader the world has ever seen. But he was finite, failing, limited, and temporal. It hardly needs to be said that all that marked Moses in his limitations was absent in the Lord Jesus. He is infinite, eternal, unfailing, and omniscient. John is setting forth at the very beginning of his Gospel the great divorce from Moses and the law. Christ is in contrast to Moses throughout the Gospel – whether we look at the serpent lifted up by Moses (John 3) or the manna which came down from Heaven (John 6). In His person, provision, and power, He stands in contrast to all. By the time we reach John 10, Moses, the “shepherd of His flock” (Isa 63:11) has been left behind and it is only the Good Shepherd Who occupies our vision.
Consider
Why do you think there are no mentions of Moses after John 9:29? Is there a sense of a “final choice” by the leaders of the nation?
Why does John make mention of Moses so frequently in His Gospel?