JOHN 14:8-14 SEEING GOD

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 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’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 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 miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Would not it be so much simpler if we could just have a vision of God? Never mind all the rhetoric about such a vision bringing death. What about Moses? He saw God and he did not die. Why cannot we have an experience like that? If we really could see God and be in his presence all our doubts would melt away and we would have no choice but to obey him. “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus’ answer to Philip is that he has provided them with something greater than a vision of the Father. A vision is always open to doubt. Was it a true vision, or just a reaction to the anchovies on last night’s pizza? But, in Jesus the Disciples had gotten more than a vision. They had been privileged to live with God. They had touched him, talked with him, eaten with him, been taught by him and walked with him. They had experienced what Moses could only have dreamed of. Because Jesus lived with them, they were not left with words only but also the deeds that verify his statements about himself. The great promise of God that he would be their God and they would be his people, and that he would dwell among them, is fulfilled in Jesus, and him among them.

Through the experience of the Disciples we too can know God through the Incarnation of his Son. This knowledge of God and his will allows us to know how we are to live our lives in obedience to his will. In addition, through the knowledge of his will we are able to ask what is consistent with God’s will and have the assurance that those prayers will be answered (and the patience to wait on his timing).

Although the experience of a vision of you, O Lord would be a cherished gift, I thank you that you have not left my faith up to a subjective experience. Help me to learn more each day about God and his will through the Spirit-led study of Holy Scripture. Guide me through that same Spirit into a life of closer obedience and communion with God. Amen.