Bible Studies

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We continue this verse-by-verse study of John chapters 13-17 here in Part 3, starting with John 14:5.

(5) Thomas [cf. Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; John 11:16; 20:24-28; and 21:2] said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?' (6) Jesus said to him, 'I am the way [cf. John 10:9; Rom. 5:1, 2; Eph. 2:18; and Heb. 10:19, 20], and the truth [Compare John 1:14. The truth that man must know centers in the Lord Jesus Christ.], and the life [[Compare John 1:4, 12, 13; 5:21-29; 11:25; and 17:3. The life spoken of here includes the spiritual/eternal life that begins with the new birth and the fullness of eternal life that begins with the birth into the fullness of eternal life and glory at the end of this age. (The birth into the fullness of eternal life/glory is discussed in some detail in my eschatological writings. Start with Rev. 12:5 on pages 314-316 of my book, "The Mid-Week Rapture.")]]; no one comes to the Father but through Me [See under verse 4.]. (7) If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.' [[The plurals in the Greek show that Jesus was speaking to all the apostles (cf. John 14:5, 6), minus Judas Iscariot (cf. John 13:30). The apostles had already come to know Jesus and God the Father on one level, but they would come to know them on a much deeper level before long. (As verses 8-11 show, the disciples had already seen God the Father in the sense that they had seen the Lord Jesus Christ [who is totally like the Father], and they had heard the things that He had said and seen the things He had done from the Father.) They came to know Jesus and God the Father better through the things Jesus said to them that last evening (before the cross); they came to know Him and God the Father much better through seeing the resurrected Christ and having Him share with them on numerous occasions throughout the forty days that started with His resurrection and culminated with His being taken up in a glory cloud from the Mount of Olives to return to the Father and eternal glory while they were watching; and their knowledge of God the Son and God the Father was greatly enhanced through receiving the promised Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit brought the new birth and enables Christians to participate in spiritual/eternal life; He sanctifies (makes holy); He reveals; He teaches; He convicts; He anoints to minister; He distributes the charismatic gifts; etc.

In verse 18 Jesus says He will come to the disciples, and in verse 23 He says the Father and the Son will make their abode with the disciples. Those glorious intimate relationships come to pass through the Holy Spirit, who dwells in new-covenant believers.]] (8) Philip [cf. Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; John 1:43-48; 6:5-7; and 12:21, 22] said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.' (9) Jesus said to him, 'Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father [[Compare John 12:45; Col. 1:15, 19; 2:9; and Heb. 1:3. Oneness Christians (they deny the Trinity) appeal to this verse ((and John 10:30 [I had a footnote: In John 10:30 Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." Jesus was emphasizing His unity with God the Father; He wasn't saying that He and the Father are the same Person (cf., e.g., John 10:15, 17, 18, 25, 29, 32, 36, 37). In John 17:22 Jesus spoke of Christians being one, just as God the Father and God the Son are one. He was emphasizing the glorious relationship and unity that Christians are enabled to have with God (the triune God) and with one another; He certainly wasn't saying that Christians become the same person with God the Father, God the Son, or with the other Christians.])) as if it demonstrated (proved) that God the Father and God the Son are the same Person.

If you isolate these words, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" from the overall context here and forget the multitudinous number of other verses in John and throughout the Bible that confirm that God the Father and God the Son are different Persons within the Godhead (one God, three Persons), you could argue that God the Father and God the Son are the same Person based on what John says here, but that would not be advisable. ((I had a footnote: In John 14:1 Jesus exhorts His disciples to believe/trust in the Father and in Him, two distinct Persons. In John 14:2 He speaks of His Father's house, the Father being a distinct Person from Himself. In John 14:6 He again distinguishes between the Person of the Father and Himself. In John 14:10, 11 He speaks of the relationship between the Father and the Son which permits the Son to be in the Father and the Father to be in the Son. (In a somewhat similar manner the New Testament can speak of Christians being in Christ and Christ being in Christians.) In John 14:10 Jesus says that the words that He speaks and the works that He does are of the Father in that the Father is in Him. (He always did the will of the Father in the words that He spoke and the works that He did, and He did them by the authority and power of the Father, and for the glory of the Father.) In John 14:12 Jesus speaks of His going to the Father, a Person distinct from Himself. And in John 14:13 He again differentiates between Himself and the Person of God the Father.

On the triune God see under John 1:1 and under Col. 1:15-17 and the references cited there in my paper on John 1:1-18 and Colossians 1:15-3:17 on my internet site (and probably will be on this Christian article site in the near future). And see my four more recent papers "Who Do We Worship?

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