7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
Message: The Father Revealed in the Son
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: Jesus continues to answer the questions posed by the disciples, namely Peter at the end of chapter 13 and Thomas at the beginning of Chapter 14. Jesus has mentioned that He is going away - going to prepare a place for His disciples - for us - and He will come again and they will be received. But for now, He is leaving. He confirms in the last passage that He is the way, the truth, and the life.
And now in verse 7 He remarks that knowing Him (Jesus) is knowing the Father. We know Him because we have seen Jesus. The next disciple, Philip, responds and says to Jesus - "Show Me." Jesus is speaking but the words are not being understood by the disciples. We can read the words today and based upon all that we know, we can understand, but to those disciples at the time they were confused.
Jesus speaks and provides clarity and confirmation of who He is: (1) that His words are the words of the Father, (2) seeing Jesus is seeing the Father, and (3) the Father is in Jesus. Jesus is not speaking on His Own. He is not independent. He is of the Father and the Father is speaking through Him. The Father and Son are of the same essence while different in their persons.
Therefore this passage seems to be focused on those words from verse 7, "If you had known Me." The disciples did know Jesus. They knew him as Savior of the World. They knew Him as Messiah. They knew Him, but they did not know Him fully. This is what Jesus is relaying to them and trying to help them understand - a full understanding of who He is and why He came. Though He has been repeating it, they still don't completely understand His power and His office. The equality with God and being sent by God and all that this means is still something they are learning. That God has sent Him and that He must return to the Father and then come back again. He will speak later of leaving and them receiving the power and work of the Holy Spirit (15:26-27). Jesus has been showing them. Even in verse 9 Jesus speaks with a mild rebuke, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip." Peter, Thomas, Philip - there is a growing interest by more disciples - more involved in knowing Jesus.
Summary: Jesus continues to try to help his disciples understand completely Himself, namely that seeing Jesus is seeing Father and that the Father is in Him.
Promise: The Father and the Son share the same divine essence; thus, They are identical in Their attributes. If we want to see the goodness, wisdom, power, or any other attribute of God most clearly manifested, we must look to how they are manifested in the life of Jesus. Only by knowing Jesus can we know God.
Prayer: O God, you are rich in mercy and Your ways are complete. I thank You for the understanding You have given me of all You are and yet I know, even now I am learning about You and learning to describe You more fully, even after 40 years of walking with You and calling You my Lord. It remains a process in my life. Give me patience and compassion to others that are still learning this and learning these truths. Help me to be sensitive to where they are at in their lives. Help it not to be an argument or conflict in trying to understand but rather a process of education and learning. We too quickly opt for division and argument in our world. Return us to understanding.
Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.
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