Philip’s Request

John 14 leads our thoughts to the Easter room in Jerusalem. There we meet Christ in the circle of His disciples. It is the night in which He will be betrayed and over which the shadows of suffering fall; they lead toward Calvary with the Surety. While His heart and thoughts are focused on the course He will take as Priest, He is teaching His disciples in these last hours as Prophet.

His teaching is focused more than ever on His heavenly Father. Sitting at the Easter table, He speaks of the Father’s house, of the way to the Father, but also of His oneness with the Father. Precisely with regard to the latter, His oneness with the Father, He tests in these moments the spiritual fruit of His teaching in the lives of His disciples.

A sincere desire

In verse 7 we read, “If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him.” Then suddenly there is Philip’s question: “Philip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”

Much could be said about this question. First of all, let us interpret this question positively. It echoes something of a genuine desire for full salvation. Christ’s teaching concerning the Father aroused the looking forward in Philip’s soul to the full revelation of the matter, to the full communion with God as a reconciled Father. Of this he says, “It sufficeth us.” In other words, if we may come to that full and blessed knowledge of God, then nothing is left for us to desire. Therein lies full salvation.

Philip and his fellow brethren missed the exercise of faith to discern God in a Jesus going to the cross. That touched the Mediator; that was a bitter drop in His cup of suffering.

At the same time, this question also reveals a lack of exercise in true faith. On that lack Christ puts His finger when He says, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?” Philip speaks of the Father, and the Son points to Himself. Now that exactly exposes the error. Philip separates the knowledge of God the Father from the knowledge of God the Son. Therefore, Jesus continues, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” Do you feel the pain in Jesus’ words? Philip’s question signifies a piece of suffering on His way of suffering. Did His disciples understand so little of it even though He had been with them for three years? Oh, certainly, they knew Christ by faith but not as well as they could and should have known Him. Their vision was still so clouded. Their spiritual eye was not yet sharpened enough to see through the dense garment of His servant-form and see in Him the glory of God.

Indeed, Philip and his brethren missed the exercise of faith to discern God in a Jesus going to the tree of the cross. Indeed. that touched the Mediator; it was a bitter drop in His cup of suffering. He says, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” Certainly, in His teaching God’s wisdom shone forth; in His miracles God’s power and, after all, in His spotless purity God’s holiness shone forth. Calvin notes, “So nowadays such people progress badly in the gospel, who, not satisfied with Christ alone, are driven to foolish contemplations to seek God.”

Longing in the soul

Therein lies a lesson for us as well. If it is right in the lives of God’s children, their souls will, at times, know a longing for the revelation of full salvation, for the blessed communion with God. There will be found the urge to meet a reconciled Father in God, but whoever separates this benefit from the Mediator is guilty of foolish reflections that sadden the Mediator and leave the soul unfruitful. The closer the walk of faith with Christ, the closer the soul approaches to the Person and work of the Father.

At the same time, we may say that there is a distinguished knowledge of God the Father. For as much as it is true that in Christ the glory of the Father shines forth, the Father has not thereby ceased to be an independent Person. Therefore, it is a glorious matter to be able to find a homecoming with the Father through the Mediator with consciousness for one’s own heart and life and to hear the call of the Pentecostal Spirit in the soul, “Abba, Father.”

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen