John 14:7-14


John 14:7-14
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known 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 so long with you, and yet you have 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 on My own initiative, 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, that 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.

The Trinity is a doctrine that does not appear explicitly in Scripture.  It is implicitly all throughout the Scriptures.  This passage is one of the most obvious references in which Jesus clearly states that He is one with the Father.  Those who have seen the Son have seen the Father.  He wants to make sure that there is no doubt in the disciples’ minds that He is God.  He is the Messiah that had been promised from of old.  Jesus also makes wonderful promises to the disciples and us about the results of believing in Him.  When we believe in Jesus as God, His works are made possible in us.  Because Jesus is in the Father; those who are in Jesus can do the works of Jesus.  This is the promise of the Gospel and should give hope to every believer.

JESUS REVEALS THE FATHER TO US: We are curious as to what God is like.  We may imagine all kinds of different things about God that may or may not be true.  Jesus makes it very clear in this passage that He is God and that the Father is just like Him.  Jesus and the Father are one.  If we want to know what God is like, the best source of information we have is Jesus.  He is the exact representation of who God is and what God is like.  Even though the disciples had been with Jesus for so long, they were still curious as to what the Father was like.  Philip goes so far as to ask Jesus to show them the Father.  Jesus unmistakably tells them that they had seen the Father because they had seen Him.  This information is supposed to result in one fundamental response from us: faith.  We are to believe that Jesus is who He says He is.  We are to trust that He is God and that only His provision for our forgiveness is able to reconcile our relationship with the Father.  The identity and work of Christ are vital to our redemption.

JESUS GLORIFIES THE FATHER THROUGH US: The glorious thing about the work that Jesus does in our lives is that He makes us like Himself.  When we trust Christ and believe that His death has taken the place of our death; His life then becomes our life.  We do the things that He has done.  Since Jesus is in heaven interceding on our behalf, He enables us to do even greater things.  The reason that He does this work in us is because it is the way that the Father is glorified through the work that Jesus produces in us.  This is why Jesus is so eager to answer our prayers.  He wants the Father to receive MUCH glory.  When our lives are changed through the power of Jesus the Father is honored.  So, when we ask for help in the name of Jesus, which means requesting things that are in line with the will of Jesus to glorify the Father, He delights to do those things for us and through us.  This is the best way we can demonstrate our love for Jesus.  When we join in His goal to glorify the Father, we are showing Jesus how much we love Him.  His primary command is for us to love and worship the Father with all our heart.

APPLICATION: Believe that Jesus is God.  Understand that Jesus and the Father are one.  The doctrine of the Trinity is beyond our ability to fully understand, but it is vital for us to know that Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit are all God and all one.  In order to know the Trinity, we must simply strive to know Jesus.  Demonstrate our love for Jesus by cooperating with His efforts to glorify the Father through us.  Whenever we are struggling to obey Him, pray for Him to help us.  This is always a prayer He delights to answer.

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