5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 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 I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ~ John 14:5-10
The disciple commonly known as "Doubting Thomas" enters the discussion. A better name for him would be, "Honest Thomas." He is as authentic as they come. He is the type of guy who would not pull the wool over anyone's eyes. From this oft questioned man, we learn a valuable lesson: the greatest heights of despair is not being who you actually are.
Thomas honestly makes it known to the Lord Jesus that he is not getting what He is saying. In response, the Lord Jesus replies with the greatest revelation that we are given in the Gospel of John. It is found in v.6, where we read, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." Unlike all of the other "leaders" of "religions" He did not say, "I will show you the way." No, He said, "I am the way."
In v.7, we read, "If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.." Thomas did not realized that one knows the Father by knowing the Lord Jesus. As the Lord Jesus points out in v.7 "If you really know me, you will know my Father as well." The Lord Jesus, with these words, encourages Thomas, he does not discourage his honest seeking.
In v.8 Philip interrupts the Lord Jesus by saying, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Philip was not known for being verbose, he hardly ever said anything. His request echoes the cry for God in every human heart, yet it shows that Philip was not satisfied with what he saw in the Lord Jesus, nor with what He had received in Him.
Like Philip, we are not convinced Jesus is enough sometimes. This is the crux of all of my problems. Granted, it is hard to trust someone you have never shaken hands with, but there is a deeper level we often miss. And, this is the point behind spirituality ... learning to believe without seeing.
We often see life situations with “unsaved” instead of “saved” eyes! There are many situations in life that we are like Phillip and can only see the “impossibility of the situation.” For most of us the natural laws of this world are so firmly implanted in our minds that we can’t see the truth that God’s providence has no boundaries and, as such, through His power we can do anything He asks of us!
In v.9, the Lord Jesus responds by saying, "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’?" Of course, the Lord Jesus knew the answer before Philip verbalized it. He asks Philip the question to get Philip to probe deeper. This is the Lord Jesus fueling the desire of this brother.
In addition, the Lord Jesus points out here that He has been with all of them for a long time. It has been about three years since He first began His public ministry and began to call them to follow Him. The correction here is for Philip who has not yet understood what Jesus had taught about the relationship He had with the Father.
Notice the Lord Jesus twice says, "I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me." The Lord Jesus addresses Philip directly that He is in the Father and that the Father is in Him. From this point on the Lord Jesus expands to address all of the disciples and not just Philip. Here He asserts that what He has said to them has not come from Himself, but rather from the Father who abides in Him and who does His work through Jesus.
In v.10, we read, "The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work." The very words the Lord Jesus had been speaking to His disciples supports what He has been saying about the oneness that He enjoyed with His Father. This oneness translated into the bowing of His will to the Father, as indicated in this verse. And, like us, when good comes through us, it is the performance of the Lord Himself. This is the key to seeing His kingdom: oneness resulting from an intimacy produced through the bowing of our will to Him.
Note that the word "know" is used through today's text. In fact six times. When Thomas uses know in v.5, he uses the Greek word oida which is the greek for seeing and recognizing something or someone. The Lord Jesus uses the Greek word gnosko which is experiential knowledge, a knowledge involving the heart. With oida, we see then we believe. With gnosko, we believe then we see.
Subtly, the Lord Jesus is taking these disciples deeper into their experience with Him, and what they will see, is He will be closer to them when He is gone from their presence. The shaken of the heart is necessary for this. Through the Holy Spirit, we discover He is closer. Learning to practice His presence in this way is critical for our intimacy with Him.
A quote from Mike Yaconelli will suffice as I close: "It's not about perfection; it's about our intimacy with God, or our connection, our relationship with God. Once we get through that, once we realize that we can be imperfect, flawed, broken; those kinds of things are the ingredients of spirituality."
