Former Blackout Artist

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
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’?” – John 14:8-9

Some came to Jesus to be healed; to have their sight restored, to have their skin cleansed from leprosy, to regain complete function of their arms and legs. And, as we briefly talked about Martha’s grief over her brother Lazarus yesterday, some even came to Jesus to bring a loved one back to life.

In those particular instances, there was some modicum of faith being exercised to even approach Jesus. And we remember Jesus putting enormous value on even the smallest amount of faith, telling His disciples, “If you have faith the size of a tiny mustard seed – you can tell this mountain to move, and it will move! Nothing will be impossible for you!” (Matt. 17:20).

But a majority came to Jesus wanting to see a sign. Everybody wanted to see a sign… the commoners, the teachers, the religious leaders. Even a few of His own disciples. Faith can be so challenging sometimes! And I take great comfort in knowing that even those closest to Jesus struggled.

In today’s Scripture passage, we see a clear example of that in John 14:8-9.

First, let’s look at Philip for a moment. Was he sincere in his request? I think he was. But I also think that he was spiritually slow to understand what Jesus had been teaching. How could someone spend three years of his life walking alongside Jesus – listening to His teaching and witnessing all the miracles he had seen – still need to see something more? I think that Philip had yet to grasp that Jesus was the perfect revelation of the Father, God in human flesh. He wanted some sort of dramatic vision, not realizing that what he was looking for was standing before him all along in the Person of Christ.

Philip wanted sight more than faith. Just like us. “If I could just see God Himself, all my doubts would vanish.”

Yet that assumption is exactly what Jesus challenges.

“Don’t you know me, Philip? Even after I have been among you for so long?” I think if the Bible came with emojis, we’d probably see a sad face after Jesus’ initial reply to Philip, not an angry one.

But let us not look only to Philip’s example. There is yet one even greater. In Exodus 33:18, a similar request is made to God, when Moses says, “Show me your glory.”

What a remarkable request! Moses had already witnessed the burning bush, had watched the Nile turn to blood, had seen the plagues fall upon Egypt, and he stood on the shores of the Red Sea as God made a path through the waters. And yet – Moses still longed to see more of God!

The difference? Moses was asking before the coming of Christ. The fullest revelation of God had not yet been given. Philip, however, was standing face to face with that revelation.

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Moses asked to see God’s glory. Philip was standing face to face with the One Moses longed to see.

And so are we.

Not only has God revealed Himself in Christ, but as Paul reminds us, He has placed His Holy Spirit within us as His seal and pledge that we belong to Him. What more convincing sign could there possibly be?

Not with our physical eyes, but through the pages of Scripture. Every time we open our Bibles and behold Christ – His compassion for sinners, His tenderness toward the brokenhearted, His power over sin and death, His willingness to go to the cross for people like us – we are seeing the Father revealed.

Like Philip, we often find ourselves asking for something more. Another sign. Another experience. Another glimpse of God’s power. But perhaps Jesus would gently remind us today, “Have I been with you so long, and still you do not know Me?”

The answer to our deepest need is not a new revelation. It is a clearer sight of Christ.

For when we see Him, we see the Father.