John 14:8-14
Doubt and Unbelief
8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
9Jesus 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'? 10Don'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. 11Believe 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. 12I 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. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
That will be enough for us...I think this statement is something we all do and seem to do out of habit...At least I do...
It is the night before Jesus' arrest...He is preparing His Twelve disciples minus Judas Iscariot for His upcoming arrest and His death on the cross...The disciple Philip has been with Jesus for three years...He has seen many miracles...Yet, doubt and misunderstanding remains in Philip...No doubt, Philip loved Jesus...But Philip wants to see more...Philip wants to see one more thing, one more miracle...If Philip sees the Father, that will be enough...That's all he needs to see...No more...That will be enough...Philip has seen three years of miracles and now needs one last miracle...
Moses wanted to see and did ask God to show him His glory...God told Moses that He would show His goodness to pass in front of him, and I will proclaim My Name, the LORD, in your presence...I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion...But God tells Moses, you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live (Exodus 33:18-20)... Philip probably would know that he could not see the Father's face...Philip's request is what many of us want...We want to be near our Creator and Father...But, if we or Philip see perfection, infinity, pure LOVE, and pure LIGHT, it might mean our death...When perfection meets imperfection then imperfection happens...For instance if solid or pure gold mixes with a lower karat of gold, it is no longer solid gold...It is no longer solid gold or pure gold...So we really don't know what would happen, if we could see our Father face to face...No one knows the Father except the Son (Matthew 11:27)...Jesus is our Mediator with God...And we just have a limited knowledge and limited understanding of Him...Jesus has been with God from the beginning...We only know a slice about Him through the Bible...He is so complex He stretches the heavens...So stretching vocabularies is easily done...
I think Philip is a lot like all of us...Just one more thing, and that will be enough...Nothing else, after that last one thing...I will need no more things, after my last prayer...Philip still has doubt, some unbelief...There were unbelief of the Jews (John 10:22-42)...Jesus answers the unbelieving Jews telling them do not believe Me unless I do what My Father does...But if I do what My Father does, even though you do not believe it, then believe in the miracles you have seen...Then you will know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:37-38)...Jesus answers the unbelief of the Jews, similar to His answer to Philip... Philip and us do not know the Father, like Jesus does...Philip, like us, have much to learn from Jesus...Again, no one knows the Father, except the Son (Matthew 11:27)...
Jesus asks Philip, don't you know Me?...I have been with you for three years and you still don't know Me...Anyone who has seen Me, has seen the Father...So how can you ask, show me the Father?... Don't you believe that I AM in the Father, and the Father is in Me?...These words I AM speaking are not My just My own...Rather, it is the Father living in Me, who is doing His work...You must believe Me when I say that I AM in the Father, and the Father is in Me...And Philip, if you cannot believe or understand this, then just believe on the miracles themselves (you have seen many these past three years)...Anyone who has faith in Me, will do what I have been doing...And if he does the things that I have done, they will accomplish greater things than I have done, because I AM going to the Father...I will do whatever you ask, so that I may bring glory to the Father...You may ask Me for anything in My Name, and I will do it...
The Father lives in Jesus and while He was on earth, did the Father's work...Jesus is perfectly clear that He has a special relationship with God...Through Jesus' words and resurrection, Philip was strengthened...Jesus got His message through to Philip and His other disciples...His words were passed on to the world...The Twelve helped convert the Roman Empire to Christianity...Somehow Twelve uneducated fishermen and tax collectors got His word out to the entire world...This was, in spite of, of their doubt and periods of unbelief...Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away (Matthew 24:35)...