Show Us The Father

Besides the fact that Jesus died and rose again for the forgiveness of our our sins, He did and is still doing so much more... He also came to show us the Father.

Without getting too involved in theology, we will be focusing here on a few things Jesus says about Himself and the Father. This will hopefully make it easier to understand. I'll leave the theology to those who are better equipped. My job is to point people to Jesus and the good news he has for us.

During Jesus' ministry He talked about the Father so much that the disciples finally asked Him to "show them the Father". They wanted to meet the Father too.

In the book of John chapter 14 Jesus is talking with his disciples. In vs.6-11 He is telling them (and us) about the Father:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

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 I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

Jesus says in v.7  "If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Then he makes a striking statement in v.9  Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

Let's take a look at a few more very similar verses...

Note what Jesus says in John 12:44-45:

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one 
 

In Hebrews 1:3: it states:

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Also in Colossians 1:15:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

In John 5:22: Jesus tells us

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son

Jesus has more good news for us.

In John 17:25-26:, Jesus prays for all believers:

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Jesus is saying that He will continue to make the Father known, how does He do this 

Jesus is saying that He will continue to make the Father known, how does He do this today? Jesus tells us in John 15:26: “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me."

The Advocate is also called the Helper, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who points us back to Jesus, who keeps showing us the Father.

Jesus tells us more about the Advocate in John 14:15-21:

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Also in John 14:25-27, Jesus continues:

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Finally in John 16:12-15 Jesus says:

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

  You might notice where I underlined things above to emphasize where the Advocate will help us put our focus... it reminds me of a circle or a chain that must remain intact. If you think the Advocate is pointing anywhere else but back to Jesus, it won't work right because if we don't look at Jesus we'll never get to know the Father, the chain will be broken and we'll be like a train going off the wrong track.

If we want to know the Father, we must know Jesus. The more we know Jesus, the more we'll know the Father. The Father is revealed in Jesus, any other way will give us a distorted view of who God is.

Are you seeing the picture yet? When you start to see the picture your whole view of everything will change. Be encouraged, He sent us a Helper who will never leave us.

It is a journey.

John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent --Amen

Lisa Owens
Grace Communion at Lansing, Oh.-Wheeling, W.v.