In John 14:6 Jesus’ apostles heard their Lord declare: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” By this he meant that he is the living channel by whom God is known and approached. All other paths to a knowledge of God are partial and incomplete compared to that which Jesus embodied.
For some people that is not enough. For at least one of his apostles that was not enough: ‘Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us”’ (v.8). Philip wanted a more direct vision of God, perhaps of the kind that had once been granted to Moses, Ezekiel and Isaiah in the Old Testament, and he assumed that Jesus had the power to grant the same to his disciples. In other words, he wanted the certainty that comes from the direct evidence of the senses, just as a similar mentality in our own day wants positive proof of God’s existence before they will believe.
But Philip’s request showed a profound misunderstanding of what Jesus was trying to teach. His answer to Philip, therefore, and to all who want a direct knowledge of God was: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (v.9). There were many who saw Jesus: scribes and Pharisees, Caiaphas, Pilate and Herod. But none of these recognized in Jesus a reflection of the character of God. The words of Jesus mean more than seeing him physically with the eyes, they mean seeing with the eye of faith. Throughout the ages many have never seen him in a physical sense but have recognized in the record of his earthly life a reflection of the divine. In healing the sick, reaching out to the marginalized, forgiving the penitent, challenging the self-righteous and calling upon his followers to make costly sacrifices for his sake we see a reflection of the character of the Father. There was perfect harmony of will, character and purpose between Father and Son. In that one human life God has, in a unique way, revealed Himself to us: “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 authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works”
(v. 10).
PAUL WASSON