John 1:17 (ASV)

Passage

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Nearby Context

John 1:15 John beareth witness of him, and crieth, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that cometh after me is become before me: for he was before me.

John 1:16 For of his fulness we all received, and grace for grace.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him].

John 1:19 And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent unto him from Jerusalem priests and Levites to ask him, Who art thou?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "grace", "given", "through", "moses", "truth", "came", and "jesus". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "grace" and "given", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "For of his fulness we all received..." into verse 18's "No man hath seen God at any...", so "grace" and "given" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "grace" and "given" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.