1 Jesus said to his disciples, “Don’t be worried! Have faith in God and have faith in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. 3 After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together. 4 You know the way to where I am going.”
5 Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t even know where you are going! How can we know the way?”
6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life!” Jesus answered. “Without me, no one can go to the Father. 7 If you had known me, you would have known the Father. But from now on, you do know him, and you have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”
9 Jesus replied:
Philip, I have been with you for a long time. Don’t you know who I am? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. How can you ask me to show you the Father? 10 Don’t you believe that I am one with the Father and that the Father is one with me? What I say isn’t said on my own. The Father who lives in me does these things.
11 Have faith in me when I say that the Father is one with me and that I am one with the Father. Or else have faith in me simply because of the things I do. 12 I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things that I am doing. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father. 13 Ask me, and I will do whatever you ask. This way the Son will bring honor to the Father. 14 I will do whatever you ask me to do.
Read John 14:1-14 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
On the night Jesus was arrested leading up to His trial and crucifixion less than 24 hours later, John’s gospel tells us about a profound conversation He has with His closest remaining disciples. In this conversation, Jesus promises His followers that while He is leaving and returning to heaven, He will come back to earth to bring them home with Him.
In this conversation, Jesus tells His followers, “If you had known me, you would have known the Father. But from now on, you do know him, and you have seen him.” (v. 7)
One of the disciples, Philip, speaks up and asks Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.” (v. 8)
Jesus responds to this request by simply saying, “Philip, I have been with you for a long time. Don’t you know who I am? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. How can you ask me to show you the Father? Don’t you believe that I am one with the Father and that the Father is one with me?” (v. 9-10a)
Jesus tells Philip and this whole group of disciples that by knowing Jesus, they now know the Father. Jesus tells them that He is one with the Father and the Father is one with Him. In some ways, if Jesus were to answer Philip’s request, all we might see is a mirror reflecting light back onto Jesus.
But Philip’s request is a request that many of us have. Philip wanted certainty to back up His belief and Philip wanted to know the Father like he knew Jesus. Many of us living today desire a face-to-face level of certainty that God exists and that He loves us like we believe Jesus loves us.
Plenty of people living today have a picture in their minds of a cruel God the Father and a friendly Jesus. They imagine the Father and Son of the Godhead are the good and bad cops when the judgment comes.
However, this is not at all how Jesus describes the Father to Philip and the rest of the disciples. Jesus answers Philip’s request by letting Philip know that the Father and Him are identical. This doesn’t mean that they are the same person, but that they have the exact same character, focus, love, and compassion towards humanity. While I don’t fully understand the roles of each of the members of the Godhead, Jesus’ role included becoming human so we could better understand who God is and what He is like.
Jesus came and gave us a picture of God the Father, and everything Jesus shares about the Father speaks to a King who is kind, loving, and merciful towards those He rules, and since God is the King of the universe, we are included among His subjects. This means that God the Father loves us just like Jesus loves us – and Jesus loves us enough that He gave His life to save us from sin!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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