John 14:8-11 8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9Jesus said to him, “I am with you for so long, and you still have not known me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak from myself, but the Father abiding in me does his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; and if not, believe on account of the works themselves.
Philip is the next disciple to voice his idea at the supper. Philip is mentioned twelve times in John’s Gospel. He comes across as a good mediator and advocate for others, such as bringing Nathanael to Jesus in 1:45 and serving as a go-between to Jesus in behalf of the Gentiles in 12:21-22. His statement in verse 8 was likely one the rest of the group was thinking about. His statement could be interpreted two ways. On the one hand, it shows his belief that Jesus had the ability to show the Father. On the other hand, what he wanted had already been provided. Somehow, they had missed the connection between Jesus and the Father.
Jesus’ response in verse 9 indicates that the disciples had seen God’s glory but did not recognize it in him (1:14, 18). The disciples liked what they saw in him but did not know him well enough to recognize the idea of God in the flesh and that Jesus came to reveal the Father to them. Philip’s statement mirrors the deep human quest to know God. Moses wanted to see God but only saw God’s fading glory (Exodus 34). Jesus’ simple answer reveals the doctrine of the Incarnation: to see the human Jesus was to see the Father. The Old Testament shows that it is impossible for any human to see God because of God’s utter holiness as transcendence, often experienced as unapproachable light. Jesus came as the Light, and this Light was the reflection of God’s holiness, which people experienced as love, compassion, and justice.
Jesus asks the crucial question of John’s Gospel in verse 10: Do you not believe? The you of this question is one that asks every reader of this Gospel and echoes to all who hear a form of the good news spoken to them. Jesus speaks of the close relationship between him and the Father as the bond of indwelling of one another. First, Jesus’ identity was in God the Father. Everything Jesus did was according to the Father’s will and purpose. Second, to see Jesus is to see the Father because the Father’s presence was with him and in him. Jesus was a mindless robot or avatar but a full human with free will. He chose to obey, thereby giving us the perfect example of faith and obedience. He modeled what Adam and Eve were meant to be in the image of God. To be Christlike is to become who we were created to be because Jesus showed the way for us by following all God’s will. Jesus learned this will through prayer and complete openness to the guidance of God’s Spirit, who dwelled in him. Although he is our model, he is still unique as the Son of God and Messiah. Only he reveals the Father perfectly, and we look to him only as the Way, Truth, and Life.
Jesus appeals to two forms of evidence to support people’s faith in him. One was his teaching and how he spoke the truth by the Father’s authority. The disciples could trust that what he said was what God wanted. The other was his miracles. If anyone doubted the truth of Jesus’ teaching, they could look at what he did. No one could do the miracles he did without divine enablement. Jesus already made that point twice before to those who might doubt his words (5:36; 10:37–38). Significant in many of his miracles is that, as “signs,” they purposefully revealed him to be the divine Messiah. John carefully wrote his Gospel with the intent of recounting these miraculous signs to convince the readers to believe Jesus to be from the Father. Modern readers are confronted once again with the crucial decision of believing in the person of Jesus, thereby believing in his message and miracles.
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