Sunday 05 June 2022
- Bible Book:
- John
Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father""? (v. 9)
Background
Jesus is trying to prepare his disciples for the days ahead when he is to suffer and die before rising from the dead and the disciples are understandably anxious even though they don’t fully understand what is about to happen. In verse 6 Jesus said "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." But Philip is not satisfied, he wants something definite and so he says "If you just show us the Father, we will be satisfied." (v. 8) He wants to physically see the Father and then he will be happy. Just one more thing, and then he will have what he needs.
Jesus replies that he already has everything he needs, in him.
It is no accident that John chapter 14 is often used at funeral services. In Jesus’ conversation with the disciples he is trying to convey the idea that physical death is not the end but is instead a change or transformation. Jesus is saying that instead of focusing on the body as the place where our existence resides, his residence is with the Father and he invites us to reside in him. The name of this residence is ‘Love’ and the means of this connexion is the Holy Spirit.
To be provocative, I have always found it interesting that Jesus never said "The Bible whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you." Instead Jesus is telling the disciples that it is the Spirit who will be sent to do this work. So this reading gives us two challenging ideas to think about during this Pentecost. The first is that we do not need to fear death because our true home is in God, not in our bodies. The second is that Jesus clearly believed that the Spirit would teach us everything and lead us into the truth.
To Ponder:
- Do you have ‘one more thing’ before you can really believe? If so, what is it?
- How do you honestly feel about dying?
- What does it mean for the Spirit to teach us everything? What do you need to learn from the Spirit?