Jesus came to reveal God to us. It was “job done” for him, then, when he could report in, “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me,” John 17:6. He also said, “I have made you known to them and will CONTINUE to make you known,” verse 26, so Jesus is still on the job revealing God to us.
But why reveal God to us? “IN ORDER THAT the love you have for me may be in them (same verse).” It was God’s LOVE FOR HIM that was so important for us to know. And why is that important? Because the love God has for Jesus can be in us, as well. That’s what Jesus was praying for here, that we could know God’s love like he knew God’s love, so we can have the same loving relationship with God that he has. That’s why he also asks “that I myself may be in them,” so Jesus can actually LIVE that relationship he has with the Father in us.
So when Philip said to Jesus, “Show us the Father” and Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father,” John 14:8-9, Jesus meant the relationship he and the Father had. To see him (Jesus) was to see the Father as well. They came as a relationship. Which is exactly what the disciples saw in Jesus. Everything Jesus said and did was either from the Father or for him. Jesus’ entire life and work was directed toward the Father, and clearly the Father’s life and work were being done through Jesus. They were working completely as one. Jesus also talked openly of the love his Father had for him, which the disciples saw proof of in how the Father answered Jesus’ prayers with amazing miracles. Well, seeing what kind of relationship with God a human like Jesus could have, the disciples wanted it too, so they asked Jesus to teach them to pray so they too could experience that same amazingly intimate and instant communication with the Father that Jesus had.
It was all very new to them, because they had no clue until Jesus turned up that God was their Father and they could approach him as God’s hugely loved children. But this is what God sent Jesus to us for, to reveal that we humans really can have this kind of relationship with God, and it was Jesus’ job to demonstrate it in all its beauty. We humans can actually be one as the Father and Jesus are one, verse 22. It was there to be seen in Jesus.
Filed under: Seeing God as he really is |
Leave a Reply