“If you [Thomas] had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’” John 14:7-8.
The J.B. Phillips New Testament translation renders verse 7 in this manner.
“If you had known who I am, you would have known My Father. From now on, you do know Him and you have seen Him.” John 14:7.
To rephrase Jesus’ words, “If you had truly understood Me, who I am, and where I came from, you would understand that when I speak of going to the Father, it means that I am going to join Him in heaven because that is where His house is.”
The Lord then concludes this sentence in verse 7 by saying, “…and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
While the following verses in Hebrews chapter one have been quoted before, they are repeated here because of the sheer power of the words when they strike home to the heart. Consider carefully verses 2-3.
“God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” Hebrews 1:1-3.
Christ could say to His disciples that, “…from now on you know Him [God the Father] and have seen Him”; because, in truth, Jesus is, “…the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.”
It seems impossible that the disciples, or anyone else for that matter, could have missed seeing the Father in Jesus. But consider these verses and judge for yourself.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:5-8.
The brightness of God’s glory was hidden by flesh, humility, and the position of a servant; no one expects a god to act like that. In fact that is what it means when it says that He “did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation…” He did not flaunt the fact that He was God; rather He “…made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant.”
It is not that the disciples did not realize He was and is God; He was referred to as the Son of God numerous times, by the disciples, by demons, and finally, He was crucified for blasphemy.
“Nathanael answered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’” John 1:49.
“Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’” Matthew 14:33.
The need to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is emphasized by the Lord Himself.
“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” John 8:24.
“…but these are written 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.
They knew that Jesus was the Son of God the Messiah prophesied of old, but the Lord’s winsome personality, His openness, approachable manner, kindness, humility, even temperament; these wonderful character qualities must have held their focus on the Man.
It is quite possible that they did not completely understand the God hidden within until after His resurrection.
Bearing in mind that in spite of Jesus’ openness, He was still Rabbi, the Teacher, so there was none of this back slapping familiarity that some people seem to have with Him today; calling Him by His initials, and showing the irreverence that we often see displayed.
He is still Lord and God.
It is at this point that Philip presents his request.
“Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’” John 14:8.
This statement confirms, at least, that Philip did not fully understand all that Jesus was. Yes, He was the Son of God, yes, He was the Messiah; but, um, the exact representation of God the Father?
Philip was among the first disciples called by Jesus, so it could be said that he was with Him for the majority of the three and a half years of the Lord’s ministry.
Yet he had not seen the Father. Look at Philip’s first words recorded in John.
“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’” John 1:45.
While there is no mention of Jesus telling the disciples that He was born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem, He may have done so at some time during His ministry here on earth.
It is more likely though that the disciples learned these facts when they talked with Mary, His mother, after Jesus’ ascension into heaven.
But what is the most important part of Philip’s words here; “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote…” or “…Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph”?
While it is true that Christ often referred to Himself as the Son of God; the Messiah of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets wrote.
There is no record of Him mentioning the fact that He was born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem; in fact, no one seems to have asked Him where He was born.
The assumption was always that He was born in Nazareth or Galilee, something the Lord never bothered to address.
“And Nathanael said to him [Philip], ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’” John 1:46.
“Others said, ‘This is the Christ,’ but some said, ‘Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?’” John 7:41-42.
“They answered and said to him, ‘Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.’” John 7:52.
The point of all this is that it is very possible that Philip still thought of Jesus of Nazareth as being the son of Joseph physically and the Son of God at the same time; which would explain why he felt the need for Jesus to, “show us the Father.”
This is not too far fetched when we consider that there are many folks today who see a meek and mild Jesus, while at the same time they see God the Father as One surrounded by fire and smoke, an angry wrathful God seeking vengeance and retribution. Not so.
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Colossians 1:15.
The disciples were saved because they believed that Jesus was who He said He was; the long promised Messiah. If He had told them that He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, they would have believed that too.
The disciple’s error and everyone else’s for that matter was in thinking that the Messiah would set up His kingdom and reign forever.
They believed this for good reason, it was prophesied in Scripture; even the angel Gabriel stated as much when he spoke with Mary.
“Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’” Luke 1:30-33.
And Jesus did offer Himself as their Messiah, but Israel rejected their King, so the Kingdom was withheld from that generation and the reigning Messiah became the suffering Messiah.
A man named Simeon alluded to this when he blessed Joseph and Mary and the Child Jesus.
“Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’” Luke 2:34-35.
“He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for out peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:3-6.
There are a lot of things that the disciples were unaware of until after the death and resurrection of Christ but they were given the basics that were needed and the rest was hidden within the counsels of the Godhead.
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know – Him, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Acts 2:22-24.
Having been asked by Philip to, show us the Father, the Lord now answers his question fully.
As we consider this answer it is a good idea to remember that Jesus is born of a woman, a descendant of King David as promised, but genetically He is the Son, literally, of God, and at the same time He has always existed as the eternal God the Son.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.’” John 14:9-11.
Jesus asks him, have we been together so long and yet you have not known Me? Philip’s answer to that has to be, yes I do.
It is a fact of life; you cannot be around someone nearly 24 hours a day for three and a half years without getting very familiar.
Jesus further tells him, you have actually spent those 24 hours a day, all those years talking to and listening to God the Father.
When you come into the Father’s presence and talk to Him it will be just as if you were talking to Me. “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?”
It has to be emphasized that Jesus is God the Son, one with the Father, yet He is a distinct person, just as the Holy Spirit is a distinct person, together they form the Godhead.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” Deuteronomy 6:4.
“I and My Father are one [One essence].” John 10:30.
It is God the Son who is so filled with the Holy Spirit that He can say.
“The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” John 14:10b.
Jesus spoke similar words after healing the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” John 5:19.
Folks spend years in a cave at the top of a mountain trying to find God; they starve, gash, flagellate, and mutilate themselves in order to see God.
They search the world and its religions in order to find the one and true God; lives wasted, all they need to know is right here in Jesus Christ, the one reviled and rejected by the world.
“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me…” John 14:11a.
“…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…” Hebrews 1:3.
Again Jesus refers us to His attesting miracles as His credentials from God.
“…or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” John 14:11b.
“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” John 10:38.
The things mentioned by the Lord in John 14:7-11 may have been dimly understood by the disciples but they needed repeating and clarification to arm them for the impending arrest and crucifixion of Jesus.
The death of the Messiah in just hours will be a traumatic experience for all of those who had dedicated their lives to Him.
Show Us the Father, John 14:7-11 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 3-23-13, updated on 1-27-18.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.