Saturday, April 26, 2008
John 14:8-10 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work."
THE FATHER IN THE SON
Even after the disciples had heard that Jesus was the way to the Father, Philip still wondered if He could be entirely trusted as "the Way." He said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." -- as if he would feel a little better if the Father would come down right then and there to back up Jesus' words.
Jesus' answer laid His question to rest. The Lord told His disciples that He and the Father were inseparably connected. The Father was already living in Jesus and doing His work through Jesus. So there was no need for Philip to "see the Father." Jesus' words could be trusted as the Father's words. Jesus had full authority to take His disciples to the Father's house, because the Father Himself was one with His Son.
Philip was worried that Jesus might not be able to deliver on His promise to take them to the Father's house. He was concerned that perhaps Jesus was acting separately from the Father and that he would find out later (maybe when it was too late!) that the Heavenly Father had a different story about things than the one Jesus was telling.
Often you hear people say, "How do you know which religion is right? How can you be sure? How do you know that Jesus is the way of salvation and not someone else?" And Satan can attack us too like he attacked Philip, raising doubts in our minds.
Thus we turn to the words of Jesus in John 14: "I am in the Father . . . the Father is in me." By these words we know that Jesus must be the Way, because the Father lives in Him. We know with a certainty that Christ has the authority, the right, and the power to bring us to the Father's house. We know that when we trust in Him, we will not be put to shame.
