7 If you have come to know Me, you will know 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 with you all so long and have you 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 from Myself, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. 12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I go to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in My name, this will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. John 14: 7-15 LSB
John 14: 7-15 Seeing Jesus is Seeing Father
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John *bore witness about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’” 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. John 1: 14-18
V. 7 If you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also - It is inescapable and yet a mystery as well. There is a great truth taught in Scripture, that doctrine which accumulatively we know and have given the name, Trinity. We see there is one God, one eternal being, Who created the universe, time and space, and in this being we find three persons above all that which they created. We see that our first parents had a relationship, a revelation of God, Who though a Spirit, revealed Himself inside time and space, walking with them in the garden. God is a holy being though, and we see that He, in His sovereignty had placed Adam and Eve in the garden upon condition and made them responsible creatures. Through the revelation of Himself in Scripture, by which way we come to perceive His attributes, we also know that our parents violated the condition upon which their relationship with God and all of creation hung. Sin has estranged us from God, from community, but we also come to know through God's Word, that He provided a seed, a means to be reconciled, His Son.
If you (plural) had known (ginosko) Me, you would have known (eido) My Father also; from now on you know (ginosko) Him, and have seen Him - Jesus had been addressing Thomas in Jn 14:6 but now the you is plural so He is addressing all 11 disciples. They had received previous "clues" regarding Jesus' relationship with His Father. For example, Jesus had clearly stated that to see Him was to see the Father (see passages above)! Jesus is saying that if the 11 had understood (ginosko) Who He was, they would have known the Father beyond a shadow of a doubt (that's the idea of this verb eido). Once again Jesus is clearly claiming His Deity and equality with His Father. And this makes sense because the only way He could have been the way to the Father in Jn 14:6 is if He was God Himself (Jn 1:1-3, 14, 17, 18, Jn 5:18, Jn 8:58, Jn 10:30-33). - Precept Austin
V. 7b From now on you know Him and have seen Him - The words, actions, the miracles, the fulfillment of prophecies, testify to Who He is, but He is also making it abundantly clear that if you see Me then you have seen the Father.
…3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.… 2 Corinthians 4: 3-5
…2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4So He became as far superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is excellent beyond theirs.… Hebrews 1: 2-4
V. 8 Philip said, Lord show us the Father, and it is enough for us - Ouch! Show us the invisible God, give us a Theophany maybe, but here God is in front of them. The religious leaders asked for a sign in the heavens after countless healings, miraculous feedings, and the fulfillment of OT prophecy. I don't laugh at these men though because I have said "if" hundreds of times, and yet was not met with what it deserved, the clay trying to put conditions upon the Potter. Everyone wants a sign and then another sign after that. What they need is to believe, and to believe they need faith, and faith does not come by way of seeing fireworks in the sky, it comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Faith is also a gift, not psyching one's self up to believe something, anything, that is the way to pseudo faith. God if you give me that car, that job, then I will believe, no, He gives His Word, He gives His Son, and the Holy Spirit gives that new life inside, the conviction of sin, the regeneration to believe and walk. It is a miracle that anyone truly believe, it is on par with being raised from the dead.
Bob Utley - These disciples wanted some type of confirmation just like the Pharisees. However, believers must walk by faith and not depend on sight (cf. 2 Cor. 4:18; 5:7) in spiritual matters. Trust is the issue! Miracles/signs can be counterfeit (cf. Matt. 24:24; 2 Thess. 2:9; also note Exod. 7:11,22; 8:7; 2 Tim. 3:8).
…23At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. 25See, I have told you in advance.… Matthew 24: 23-25
…7in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not by works, so that no one can boast.… Ephesians 2: 7-9
V. 9 Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know me, Philip - Knowing Christ is knowing God, it's knowing the Father, and the only way to be reconciled to God.
…12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.…
15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.… Colossians 1: 12-17
V. 9b How can you say, "show us the Father" - Back to vs. 7 "if you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also". After all this, how can you say that? It is a failure to believe His claim and what He is telling them to believe about Himself, yet I doubt Philip would call Him a liar, but it is essentially what our disbelief acts out, that we so often don't believe the Jesus we say we believe in, or we believe in a different God all together, and so He, the true God, is unrecognizable standing before us.
…28Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.… John 20: 28-30
In an attempt to express the in expressible, a Christian businessman kept this motto on his desk: “How great must be the God we need! How much greater is our God than our greatest need!”
John Wesley captured that same truth in a different way. “Give me a worm that can understand a man,” he wrote, “and I will give you a man who can understand God.” And in Psalm 145:3, David said of God, “His greatness is unsearchable.”
In trying to grasp the mind-baffling nature of our Creator, the best we can do is use comparisons. He is like a faithful shepherd, a wise and just king, a loving parent, a trustworthy friend. All these analogies give us a glimpse of God’s greatness, but they are wholly inadequate to comprehend Him fully.
That is why it is so difficult to understand how we may know the Creator at all. Yet that is the glorious message of the gospel. Our infinite God has revealed Himself to us in His incarnate Son Jesus Christ. In the Gospels we read with awe and gratitude that the Creator became our Savior. Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9). When we look to Jesus and listen to what He has said, we can know the unknowable. By: Vernon Grounds (Reprinted by permission from Our Daily Bread Ministries. Please do not repost the full devotional without their permission.)
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious—Thy great name we praise.
—Smith - From Precept Austin
V. 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me - This is a critical aspect of the faith.
…18All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.… 2 Corinthians 5: 18-20
NET NOTE adds that "It is probably best to see the two terms (words...works) as related but not identical; there is a progression in the idea here. Both Jesus’ words (recall the Samaritans’ response in John 4:42) and Jesus’ works are revelatory of Who He is, but as the next verse (Jn 14:11) indicates, works have greater confirmatory power than words. - PA
V. 11b Otherwise believe because of the works themselves - It is easy to say I am the Christ, but He has shown, demonstrated this far more in the miracles, and has actually only revealed this verbally to a handful of people. This is a reference beyond Messiahship though, beyond the claim of an earthly throne through the line of David. He has performed miracles in an era and in open situations where this would be impossible to fake. People that others knew to be ill, paralyzed, blind, and even dead, were healed. The disciples have seen His command over nature, the elements, things that only God can do. This Man speaks to the things He has created and they respond, just as the invisible God walked before Moses and the Sea parted for it's maker. All His miracles confirm Who He is, and that His words are true.
…4Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”… Matthew 11: 4-6
V. 12 Greater works than these he will do because I go to the Father -
…32God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses. 33Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand… Acts 2: 32-34
Lowell Johnson on greater works - Spiritual miracles are greater in importance than physical miracles because physical miracles are temporary. Christians have a greater message to give today. We not only have the O.T., we have the Gospels, the epistles, the book of Acts, and Revelation. The Lord never preached outside of Israel. We have the whole world at our disposal. Christians have been enabled to do greater works because the Holy Spirit works through the believer. On the Day of Pentecost 3,000 were saved. We are also able to do greater works because our Lord is interceding for us. Heb. 7:25 Our work is His work when He initiates the work and when the work is done for His glory. Isn't it just like our sweet, wonderful Lord to encourage and comfort us by saying, “I want you to do greater works than I.”?
D L Moody has a most interesting thought on greater works - I used to stumble over that verse, but the longer I live the more I am convinced it is a greater thing to influence a man whose will is set against God, to have that will broken and brought into subjection to God’s will—or, in other words, it is a greater thing to have power over a living, sinning, God-hating man, than to quicken the dead. He who could create a world could speak a dead man into life; but I think the greatest miracle this world has ever seen was the miracle at Pentecost. The men who surrounded the apostles were full of prejudice, full of malice, full of bitterness, their hands, as it were, dripping with the blood of the Son of God; and yet an unlettered man, a man whom they detested and hated, stood up and preached the gospel, and three thousand of them were immediately convicted and converted, and became disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41+). - PA
V. 13-14 Whatever you ask in My name - Now I have seen that perverted often, that you tag "in Jesus name" to the end of every request and people treat it like the phrase that pays or an incantation to get what you want. It has more to do with in His name, His will, as Jesus said that He only did what He saw the Father doing, and if you have any doubt than read the passage below.
…2You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. 4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.… James 3: 2-4
V. 15 If you love Me you will keep My commandments - Faith without works is dead, true faith always produces fruit, conviction that leads to repentance. I have seen people ask for things in Jesus name that fly in the face of His commandments that go against the laws of God, and they ask to be blessed while doing these things. I suggest a better prayer would be, give me a new heart, oh God, renew a right spirit within me. Lord, conform me to the image of your Son, change my desires so that they align with your will. Forgive me for being the rebel that I am and deliver me from evil, help me to hate my sin like you do.
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