John 14:8-11, I Am in the Father and the Father Is in Me

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. 

Now it is Philip’s turn to help us better understand what Jesus means. All he wants is for Jesus to show us the Father. That is exactly what Jesus has been doing. What Jesus says and does reveals the Father. Their relationship is so intimate that “whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father.” They are actually one and the same God. What Jesus has done all along is to reveal that he works through the Father and the Father works through him. To prove this, he has done one miracle after another for all to see. His words and works go together. 

There is, however, one more work he must undertake to benefit all who believe in him. The benefit of Jesus going away is that he will complete the revelation of the Father. In one more act of obedience Jesus will fully reveal the love of the Father. That act of obedience is the cross. John Stott writes, “The revelation of the Father is completed in ‘Jesus going away,’ since through it the wonder of the love of God, and the terror of the holiness of God, are made truly and fully known.” The cross is the place of sacrificial love and of divine justice. Jesus dies in our place and for our sins. He takes the punishment for sin, and we receive his mercy and grace. 

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen. (BCP)