Jesus Reveals the Father (John 14:7-11)

Jesus has just responded to a question of Thomas concerning the soon departure of Jesus from this world. His answer has led to another question, this one from Philip concerning how Jesus had revealed the Father.

Who is Philip?

There are two Philips in the New Testament. There is Philip the apostle (who is mentioned several times in the Gospels) and there is Philip the evangelist (who is mentioned several times in the Book of Acts, for example, preaching in Samaria and also witnessing to the Ethiopian eunuch). The Philip in our passage is Philip the apostle.

This question by Philip indicated that he had not fully realised who Jesus was or what Jesus had been doing.  Initially we may find this surprising. After all, Philip had been one of the first disciples of Jesus. His recruitment to Christ’s cause is described in John 1:43-46. As is the case with every Christian, his conversion experience was unique. As far as Philip was concerned, he had been converted through a personal visit of Jesus: ‘The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me”’ (1:43). While these differences are of interest, and important in their own right, what is essential is that each of us has a personal encounter with Jesus Christ in which we commit our souls into his care.

His experience was different from that of the other early disciples who are mentioned in that chapter, in the sense that Jesus found him without involving any others in the search. Philip is an example of the lost sheep in the parable that Jesus told – the Shepherd went and personally rescued it. On the one hand, this shows God’s sovereignty. Yet Philip also describes his conversion as the end of a process because he informs Nathaniel that they, presumably Philip and the others who had just met Jesus, had found the Messiah, indicating that he had been searching for the Messiah. We should always keep both these sides in perspective. Our responsibility is to seek for the Saviour, and if we do we are assured that we will find him.  

Almost the first thing that Philip does is to find his friend Nathaniel and tell him about Jesus. His friend was also probably looking for the coming Messiah, although he was surprised when Philip revealed his identity as Jesus of Nazareth. Yet Philip showed a great deal of wisdom when he responded to Nathaniel’s objections by saying, ‘Come and see.’

The next three years were wonderful ones for Philip as he listened to the teachings of Jesus and watched him perform great miracles. Yet despite his clear conversion, his great opportunities, and his nearness to Jesus it is clear that Philip had not made as much progress as he should have. It was necessary for him here to be rebuked by Jesus because he had not progressed in the knowledge of who Jesus was. Of course, we know that the Holy Spirit was not given then in the way that he is given since Pentecost, which means that Philip was trying to assess Jesus with much less light than we have. Yet since Jesus gently rebukes him, it is clear that he should have had an increase of understanding. If that was the case for him, what does it say about us? Peter reminds his readers that they were to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18). Paul reminded the Philippians that his desire was to grow continually in the knowledge of Jesus (Phil. 3:10).

I would suggest that we are to grow in knowledge of Jesus at an intellectual or doctrinal level – we should be instructed in the knowledge of his wonderful person. Our Shorter Catechism definition of his person is a good place to start. Question 21: Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect? ‘The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.’ It may be useful for us to read one book about Jesus every year.

We should also grow in knowledge of Jesus at an experimental level, and I think this type of knowledge comes mainly through searching the Bible and by prayer, always with the help of the Holy Spirit. Hudson Taylor, and others of his outlook and time, had a very simple prayer, which we could all use:

Lord Jesus, make thyself to me

A living, bright Reality;

More present to faith’s vision keen

Than any earthly object seen;

More dear, more intimately nigh

Than e’en the dearest earthly tie.

Philip’s request

Philip’s request, in one sense, is the desire of every human heart. Each one of us is made in God’s image, with the capability of knowing God in the sense that we are rational beings able to think about him, we are emotional beings able to love him and rejoice in him, and we are volitional beings able to obey him. Sadly these capabilities have been affected by our sin that has turned us away from God. Nevertheless, there is within each of us a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill. We attempt to fill that vacuum with substitutes such as pleasure, career, ambitions, varied interests, even religion. These substitutes cannot meet our longings. Therefore we need to meet God.

Many people have realised the futility and frustration of life. They long for reality and substance. This, from one perspective, explains the growing interest in other religions. Yet the One who can satisfy their deepest longings has already offered himself. Jesus has done this in straightforward words as well as by powerful imagery.

For example, he promises rest of soul to all who will take his yoke: ‘Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light’ (Matt. 11:28-30).

Another example is when he promises satisfaction to all who will drink of him, the eternal fountain: ‘On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified’ (John 7:37-39).  This is a promised of inner satisfaction, of knowing the life of God in the soul of man, of having divine peace and joy in spite of our sinfulness.

Philip’s request, in another sense, is a denial of the reality of the incarnation. What he seems to be asking for is a theophany, something similar to what many Old Testament believers such as Daniel had experienced. Yet not every Old Testament encounter with God was a dramatic one. Sometimes the Lord graciously appeared as a man, veiling his glory from human eyes, as he did to Abraham at his tent. At other times he gave a more dramatic display of his greatness.

Moses had been given a profound vision of God’s glory in Exodus 33:19-23 in answer to his request, ‘Please show me your glory’ (Exod. 33:18). God said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name “The Lord.” And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.  But you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.  Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.’ That was indeed a great experience, but it was also one marked by danger because Moses needed divine protection.

Another Old Testament character who had received a profound display of God’s glory was Isaiah. In Isaiah 6 is recorded the prophet’s encounter with the living God, an experience that made Isaiah sense not only his sinfulness but also his creatureliness. That experience of the holiness of God was a great privilege and it left its mark on the prophet’s message – he often spoke about the holiness of God in his messages.

A third Old Testament character who had a meeting with God was Elijah, with that encounter taking place on Mt. Horeb, perhaps in the same location as Moses had met with God. In the incident with Elijah, there was a strong wind, an earthquake and a fire – but God was not in these phenomena. Instead he appeared by speaking in a still small voice, with the possible implication that God is not to be sought with a desire for being overwhelmed (1 Kings 19).

There are two responses that we can make to these displays of divine glory. First, it would not be possible for humans to experience this type of encounter every day. Second, these encounters, while revealing aspects of God’s glory, also hid details about God from the onlookers. What these people needed was a revelation that they could experience every day and a revelation that would give them fuller details about God. That revelation has been given in Jesus Christ. The life of Jesus could be experienced daily and also revealed God.

Jesus’ reply

The answer given by Jesus is connected to the reality that God exists in a Trinity. Within the Trinity there are three persons who are distinct yet intimately involved with one another: ‘Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?’  Each of the three Persons are involved in each work of God, as for example in the work of creation.

Sometimes we can distinguish what they do individually. For example, with regard to the incarnation of Jesus, the Bible indicates that the Father prepared the humanity, the Son took on his humanity, and the Spirit created it in the womb of Mary. The point that Jesus is making is that the intimacy of the Father and the Son is so close that Jesus’ actions were the Father’s actions (John 5:19 : ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise’). Similarly, Jesus’ teaching was the Father’s teaching (John 7:16: ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me’). Jesus never said anything independently of the Trinity and never did anything independently of the Trinity: ‘The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.’

This had always been the intention of Jesus, even when he was twelve years old: ‘“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ (Luke 2:49).  Of course, Jesus had been instructed regarding the Father’s wishes for him: ‘The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught’ (Isa. 50:4).

Jesus by his words and works revealed what the Father is like: ‘Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.’ We can think of some examples?

Firstly, Jesus taught and showed that the Father delights to forgive sinners. Remember the situation involving the paralysed man who was lowered by his friends through the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching. Jesus first forgave the man, and then healed him to show that he had been given authority by God to forgive sinners. Jesus knew the Father so well that he was able to ask for his Father’s forgiveness for the soldiers that crucified him. He knew that the Father would be delighted to forgive them despite their heinous sin.

Secondly, Jesus taught and showed that fellowship with and other spiritual activities for the Father were not public endeavours as far as personal prayer, fasting and almsgiving were concerned (Matt. 6). He gave instructions to his disciples about praying in secret and showed this necessity by going himself to a private place in order to pray. We are not told about his times of fasting and occasions of almsgiving, but he would have done both as a righteous man. Connected to this is his involvement in seeking worshippers for the Father, which he enacted and taught to the woman of Samaria (John 4).

Thirdly, Jesus taught and showed that he was the One that the Father had sent to be the Saviour of the world. Many times he had expressed the fact that he was the promised Deliverer, and he performed many miracles as proof of who he was. When John the Baptist went through a period of doubt about the identity of Jesus, the answer that Jesus gave for him was, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them’ (Luke 7:22).

It is also worth mentioning briefly that Jesus will continue this role throughout the eternity to come. He will declare the Father’s name to his people and all he will do will be connected to that purpose.

The issue that all this raises for us is our view of God. There are many ways of considering God. We can delve into theological mysteries or we can focus on obvious matters that God must have power. The best way to consider God is to look at how he is revealed in the words and actions of Jesus Christ. In a profound way, the best place to see the Father is to consider the crucified Christ fulfilling the Father’s will of saving sinners.