Charles Ellicott Commentary John 1:16

"For of his fulness we all received, and grace for grace." — John 1:16 (ASV)

And of his fulness.—This is not a continuation of John's witness, but the words of the evangelist, closely connected with John 1:14. This connection is evident in the phrases "all we," and in "fulness" ("full") and "grace," which are key words in both verses.

Fulness is a technical theological term, which we encounter again in this sense in the Epistles to the Asiatic Churches, as we do here in the Gospel from them. (Colossians 2:9; Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 3:19; Ephesians 4:13.) The exposition of this term belongs to the notes on those passages. Here, it means the plenitude of divine attributes, the glory... full of grace and truth. From this fulness, or better, out of it, each individual receives, and thus the ideal church becomes his body, the fulness of him that filleth all things in all.

Have all we received.—It is better understood as, we all received. The point of time is the same as in John 1:12, and the phrase "we all" is co-extensive with "as many as." The power to become children of God was part of the divine fulness which they received when they received Him.

And grace for grace.—Perhaps the phrase even grace for grace conveys the meaning more clearly. The thought is that we all received from His fulness, and what we received was grace for grace. The original faculty of reception was itself a free gift, and in the use of this grace, greater power was given.

The words mean "grace in exchange for, or instead of, grace." The fulness of the supply is constant; the power to receive increases with its use, or diminishes with the neglect of what we already have. Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath (Matthew 13:12).

No truth taught by the Great Teacher, whether in precept or parable, is more constant than this; no lesson is more brightly or more sadly illustrated in the lives of those who heard Him. What instances of its meaning must have crowded the writer’s mind—in the nation, in the disciples, in the Twelve, and even in the differing power of perception within the inner circle of the Three! "We all received," but with what a difference of degree!