A series on Jesus final teachings before his betrayal.
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.
John 8:39-41 “Our father is Abraham!” they declared. “No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. 40 Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. 41 No, you are imitating your real father.”
Who do you look like? Do you take after one or maybe a little bit of both of your parents? You probably grew up hearing that you look more like one them. It is very normal for you to look a lot like your earthly family but do you look very much like your spiritual family?
Jesus talked a lot about his Father, in today's scripture he tells his disciples that he looks so much like his father that it is easy to know who his Father is and what his personality is like just by looking at the Son. (John 1:18, 10:30)
Imagine spending almost everyday with Jesus for three years and getting a continuous flow of revelation from Jesus about who he is and about what God the Father is like. Jesus talked about the Father and he showed us what the Father looks like. How could Philip miss it and ask Jesus to show them the Father? Maybe Philip wanted some sort of revelation of God like Moses had. (Exodus 33:18-20, 24:10)
Jesus talks about his Father:✔ Creator (Mark 10:6, 13:19) ✔ All Knowing (Matthew 6:8-18, 10:29-30, Luke 16:15) ✔ All Powerful ( Matthew 19:26) ✔ Worthy of Glory (Matthew 6:9, John 12:28, 14:13) ✔ Our Heavenly Father (Luke 6:35 11:9-13) ✔ Loving (John 3:16, Luke 15:4-7) ✔ Merciful (Luke 6:36) ✔ Just ( Matthew 18:28-35, Mark 11:25) |
Jesus accused the religious leaders of looking like they are in a different family. The family that they look like has traits such as anger, jealousy, hate, gossiping, obscene stories and rude jokes. (Ephesians 5:3-7)
Children in God's family have certain traits that come out, traits like love, mercy, forgiveness, serving. The children of God live life in obedience to his teachings, they live with Jesus teachings in mind, teachings such as the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew chapters five through seven. (Matthew 5-8)
Luke 12:48 When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
As a child of God, there is a tremendous amount has been revealed to me about God the Father and God the Son, so much has been revealed that I should keep in mind what will be required of me, I need to be sure that I live like a child of God so that other people can see who my Father is. (Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 2:10)
