44 And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. 46 I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.
Message: Seeing the Son, Seeing the Father
Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."
What the Lord is Saying: In the previous lesson, I saw how John mentions that there were some rulers that believed in Him. Prior to this there was mention of some that despite the signs they were receiving they still did not believe and this unbelief was actually a fulfillment of prophecy. But there were some who believed, like rulers. Yet while believing, their external witness of their belief was still met with fear of being put out of the synagogue. It made me wonder first of all if their belief was real. It also made me wonder if believing in Jesus meant not being part of the synagogue, but some sort of different fellowship. But John mentions while believing they still sought the approval of men, which can be a problem still today, even with me.
And so now the rest of this chapter will be Jesus speaking, from verse 44 through verse 50. These verses form a paragraph as recorded in my Bible (that division of words being a conclusion of the translators). In these words, Jesus will now again talk about His relationship to the Father and that union He has with the Father to the point that believing in Jesus is actually believing in God. Jesus is God's representative.
Much of this chapter has been about believing - believing that Lazarus was risen from the dead, Following belief in Jesus should be a desire for the approval of God and yet people can still at times continue to seek the approval of man instead.
At first, I am looking at verses 44-46 today and seeing a few different ideas:
(1) Believing in Jesus is actually believing in the Father who sent Jesus. As I saw previously in John 3:16, God loves us so much and therefore sent His son. It all starts with God's love or God's desire and I think Jesus is trying to communicate this idea to the Jewish people. Jesus has come on the scene and sort of upset their notion of God. Many were still learning about Jesus and many were not sure about who Jesus is and that it was important to believe in Him. Many felt like their belief in God was enough. Some are believing but some are not. And this will continue throughout history. As Jesus says in verse 44, "He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me."
(2) Jesus has a special union with God the Father for He states that Seeing Jesus is seeing God - verse 45, "He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me." Jesus is saying there is no difference. He is asking people not to choose Jesus over the Father. Jesus is not saying He is better than the Father. This is important because I think some future false prophets will proclaim themselves not only equal with God but better than God. It is hard to not then conclude that Jesus and God are the same in essence. I might live my life in a way to point it to God and give Glory to God through my life, but I would not say that seeing me is the same as seeing Father God. We are different than God and different Jesus. Man is different.
(3) After establishing this union He has with God, Jesus remarks that He is the light of the world. Without believing in Jesus, people live in darkness or separation from God. And believing in Jesus transforms a person from darkness to light. "I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness." Jesus said this in John 8:12 previously, "I am the light of the world, he who follow Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." Something happens to a person when they are awakened by the Spirit of God and now walk in the Light. Darkness is still present in their life as they give in to sin or the ways of the world, but they now see life differently. There is a revelation that occurs, a sensitivity to the things of God, a recognition that we see our condition as sinners, in need of a Savior, not able to save ourselves, and live to Glorify God. It is a transformation that I notice. It is not simply a desire to go to church, but is deeper than that as this is a person that wants the things of God.
None of these verses are unique to John. I think we have heard them before in what He has said.
Summary: Believing in Jesus is believing in God who sent Jesus, and seeing Jesus is seeing God and believing in Jesus transforms people away from living in darkness.
Promise: We must be insistent that the only way to see and to know God is to believe in Jesus alone for salvation.
Prayer: God, you have sent Jesus to this world and I believe that you sent Him and I believe in Him and by believing my life has been transformed. It is such a clear transformation that has occurred. Thank you for transforming me and yet it is is hard to be transformed while others are not - to see see that notion of darkness showing up in people's lives and them still living in it. Lord, I pray that you would transform lives and that you would transform people from darkness to light. Wake people up. Help them see You as never before.
Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.
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