The Backdrop
You’ve probably heard the phrase: “You only have one opportunity to make a good first impression.” This also applies when you are introducing a friend to a group of people (other friends, family, etc.). You want your friend to make a good first impression because you want him or her to be accepted and liked by your other friends or family.

The first four books of the New Testament are biographies of Jesus’ life. We call these books gospels, which means “good news,” because, well, Jesus’ life is good news for us.

When the gospel writers set out to write biographies of Jesus’ life, they were, in essence, introducing their Friend Jesus to the world. Because they obviously wanted Jesus to make a good first impression, the first chapter of the book would be pretty important. Curiously, every gospel begins differently, presenting its own unique picture of Jesus.

The What
Matthew opens with genealogy. Luke opens with the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Mark jumps immediately into Jesus’ adult life. John waxes poetic and presents the most unique first impression of all the other gospels. For this devo, we’ll be diving into a small chunk of Scripture from John’s first chapter.

Read John 1:14-18. To help yourself notice some detail, print the passage from a Bible program or website and do the following:

1. Draw a cross above every reference to Jesus.
2. Circle words and phrases that describe Jesus.

The So What
After marking up the passage, take a minute to process the information you just explored about Jesus. Use these questions to let the message sink into your heart.

John obviously is emphasizing certain aspects of Jesus. What sticks out the most to you?

What words or phrases does John repeat that describe Jesus?

One phrase in particular stands out: “grace and truth.” Take another look at the Scripture passage and underline that phrase. You should be able to find it twice.

Meditate for a couple minutes about what it means for Jesus to be full of grace and truth. Before you do, here is some food for your meditation:

Grace and truth are two things that seemingly don’t go together. Here’s an example: You are given a homework assignment that is due on Tuesday. You’re told that if you turn it in late, you’ll be docked a full letter grade each day it’s late. You planned to finish it Monday night, but because of a family emergency Monday night, you couldn’t finish it and had to turn it in on Wednesday. Grace would say: Your emergency was unfortunate and unexpected; you can turn your homework in on Wednesday with no penalty. (Yay!) “Truth” would say: A deadline is a deadline. You need to allow for possible emergencies in your planning and not wait until the last minute. You’ll be docked a full letter grade. (Ouch!)

Your teacher is in a dilemma about whether to give you grace or truth.

You can apply the “grace and truth” dilemma to many life situations, such as when a friend caves to temptation, makes a mistake or makes a bad decision. Do you dispense grace to your friend? Or does your friend need to hear truth.

Jesus dispenses the perfect combination every time.

Now, meditate on what it means for Jesus to be full of grace and truth. Journal your thoughts on a separate sheet of paper.

Seal the Deal
When it comes to balancing grace and truth, we probably will get it wrong every time; but Jesus gets it right every time. So when we find ourselves in a grace-or-truth dilemma, whether we are the ones making the decision about how do dispense each or we are the ones on whom grace or truth is to be dispensed, we need to make sure Jesus is part of the dispensing.

Write out a prayer that asks for wisdom in navigating the dilemmas in your life that call for a combination of grace and truth. Express a commitment to keep this miraculous trait of Jesus, that He is full of grace and truth, at the forefront of your mind.

If you’d like to take a deeper look at grace and truth, read the passages below and journal your thoughts about Jesus being full of grace and truth.

Grace verses:
Luke 2:40
Romans 3:21-24
Hebrews 4:14-16

Truth verses:
John 8:32
John 14:6
John 17:17