Knowing Jesus, Knowing the Father

John 14:7-14

In John 14 Jesus is speaking words of comfort to His disciples. It is the night before His crucifixion. Jesus and the disciples are now finishing the Passover meal. Jesus has expressed His love to His disciples by washing their feet and in doing so He has given us a practical example of the humble service that should mark all Christians. Jesus indicated Judas Iscariot as the traitor, and he has now left to do his evil deed. Jesus told them again that He the time had come for Him to be glorified. This would mean that He would go away where they could not follow. This announcement left them confused and troubled.

This was not the first time that Jesus had warned His disciples about His death (Matt. 20:18,19). But the disciples were having a hard time understanding this. It did not fit their expectations for the Messiah. At the end of John 13 Peter asks (John 13:36), “Lord, where are You going?” and “Lord, why can I not follow You now?” In response to this Jesus spoke the comforting words of John 14:1-4,

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.

Thomas did not understand and asked on behalf of them all (John 14:5), “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?“ Jesus responded (John 14:6), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus comforted His disciples as they faced their confusion and fear about His going away. That comfort for their troubled hearts was based on the fact that they could believe in Him, trust Him; that He was going to prepare a place for them; and that He would return to for them. The disciples would be able to come to the Father, because the way, the only way, would be through Christ Himself.

In today’s text Jesus continues to give them words of comfort. Their encouragement would come in knowing Jesus and knowing the Father. Their comfort is found in their relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

John 14:7-14,

7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

There are three key words in this section that help us to grasp the meaning of what Jesus is saying here: 1) know; 2) see; 3) believe. These are all words that describe having a relationship with God. About knowing Jesus said (John 14:7), “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” About seeing He said to Philip (John 14:9), “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” And about believing He said, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me.”

What is the connection between knowing, seeing, and believing? It’s important that we get this right because our relationship with God and our eternity are at stake. Jesus wants His disciples to believe in Him, to know the Father, and to see God. How does that come about so that we have a true relationship with the Lord?

Philip’s question clues us into the thinking of the disciples (John 14:8), “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Philip is basing his request on the premise that “seeing is knowing and knowing is believing.” If they could just see the Father, then they would know for themselves and believe in Jesus.

Jesus turns this reasoning inside-out. It is not seeing that leads to knowing and believing, but rather it is believing that leads to seeing and knowing. That is the basis for our relationship with God. Remember John 14:1? “You believe in God, believe also in Me.”

So the first thing we want to look at today is:

1. Knowing Jesus is Knowing the Father (7-11)

Jesus goes on to say in John 14:7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

This statement of Jesus flows out John 14:6. Jesus said He is the exclusive way to the Father, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The words “known” and “know” in this verse express continuing experiential knowledge as opposed to intellectual knowledge. This is the knowledge of relationship rather than the knowledge of academic study. They certainly knew the facts about Jesus. They knew He was the Christ, the Son of God; they said that (Matt. 16:16). They knew He was the Holy One of God; they said that (John 6:69). They knew He was the Messiah, the Anointed One; they said that (Mark 8:29). They knew He was the Son of David (Matt. 21:9); they knew all of that.

But as much as they knew, they really did not know what it all meant. Yes, they knew He was the Son God, but what did that really mean? They knew He was the Messiah, but what did it fully mean? They knew He was the Holy One of God, but what did that actually mean?

It obviously fell short of this, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” It meant that knowing Jesus is knowing the Father. It meant that Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead in a body (Col. 2:9). Since they have such a relationship with Jesus, then they have such a relationship with the Father and have seen Him.

Then Jesus says, “from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Jesus’ words, “from now on,” refer to the events that will transpire shortly: His death on the cross, His resurrection from the grave, His ascension into heaven, and especially His pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus promises them the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17) who will guide them into all the truth (John 14:26).

But on this night Philip is still confused and he asks in verse 8, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” I think we should be careful about criticizing the disciples for not understanding. It is still confusing for people today, and unless you are very careful to pay attention to all that Jesus has said it is easy to end up in the same place as Philip. There are a lot of people today who insist, “I need a vision from God. We want a visible God, one we can touch and see.” This is a preview of Thomas’ statement after the resurrection (John 20:25), “Unless I see …, I will not believe.”

Jesus corrects Philip in verse 9. “Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” Jesus points out that He had been with all of them for a long time, they should have known Him. It has been around three years since Jesus first began His public ministry and called them to follow Him.

In verses 10 and 11 Jesus shows that it is really not an issue of seeing, but believing. He says, “Do you not believe … ?” in verse 10 and, “Believe Me,” in verse 11. It’s a believing issue here. And gives two reasons for believing His statement that “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

A. Believe Because of His Words (10)

¹⁰“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” Jesus demonstrates that knowing Him is knowing the Father because all that Jesus has said to them has come at the Father’s initiative. Jesus’ words prove that He reveals the Father. Philip should have understood Jesus’ relationship with the Father because this truth had been pointed out to all of them before.

In John 3:34, John the Baptist said of Jesus, “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God.” In John 7:16-17 Jesus said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me, If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.” In John 8:28 Jesus said to the Jews, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.” In John 12:49 Jesus had cried out in the Temple, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.”

To hear Jesus speak was to hear the Father speak, for the Father’s message came through Jesus. Everything Jesus said was in reality communication from God the Father. All that Jesus said was in keeping with God’s Word. His disciples recognized this. Peter, speaking for all of them, said in John 6:68 when Jesus questioned whether they would go away too like the unbelieving multitudes, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” Even Jesus’ enemies recognized this truth and were astonished at His teaching (Matt. 7:49; Mark 6:2f; Luke 4:22; John 7:46).

It is really no different for us today for what Jesus said has been written down. In addition, the Father continued to communicate to man after Jesus’ ascension through the Apostles (Eph. 2:20; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; 3:2; Jude 1:17). When we read what Jesus and the Apostles have said in the Scriptures, then we are reading what the Father has communicated to man.

Jesus’ words demonstrate that the Father spoke through Him and that is a basis for believing His claim to be in the Father and the Father in Him.

B. Believe Because of His Works (11)

In verse 11 Jesus gives a second reason to believe. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” It was not just Jesus’ words, but His works as well that proved His relationship with the Father. We have seen this throughout our study in the Gospel of John.

Defending His healing of the paralytic on the Sabbath Jesus proclaimed in John 5:19, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” In John 5:36 He added, “the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.” In Jesus’ confrontation with the Jews in John 10:25, Jesus said to them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.” He then defended His claim to be the Son of God in John 10:37-38 saying, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father [is] in Me, and I in Him.” Jesus’ claim is not that He does these on His own, but as the text here in John 14:10 says, it is the Father abiding in Him that does His work.

Jesus’ miraculous signs were of the type and nature that demonstrated that He was from God. Nicodemus said to Jesus (John 3:2), “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” The multitudes also recognized this saying of Jesus (John 7:31), “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?” When questioned by the Pharisees, the man who had been born blind pointed directly to this miracle to prove Jesus’ character saying (John 9:30-33), “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” All His works demonstrate that Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in Him.

But the point in all of His words and works is one thing: “Believe Me” (John 14:11). There were many who heard the words of Jesus and who saw the works of Jesus who never came to know who He is. Jesus’ words and His works were the testimony of the Father that He is the Son of God. But seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing. It is to those who believe in Jesus to whom He reveals Himself. Jesus says (John 14:21), “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Jesus is comforting His disciples with these words. He is leaving them. They will no longer see Him. But seeing is not the important thing anyway. Believing is the important thing. That is how God works in this world. In John 14;12-15 Jesus will show them that God will work even greater things through those who believe. We will look at those verses next time.

We live by believing, by faith in the God of Scripture.

John MacArthur gives this testimony:

I have never seen Jesus, never like those disciples. I’ve never had a vision of Jesus. I’ve never … known if an angel was around. I’ve never heard God speak. … I have never had a conversation with my dead parents. I’ve never seen God. But I believe with all my heart that God is, Christ is, and the Holy Spirit is.

Why do I believe? Do I have some esoteric, elevated, gnostic, spiritual sight? No. I have this book and it is all the evidence I need. It is obviously the revelation of God and the only one I need.

I do see Jesus in this book. I do meet angels in this book. I do hear the voice of heaven here. I do understand the location of my dead parents by reading this book. I do see God revealed throughout the pages of this book. And this book has stood the scrutiny and the tests of all the true believers and all the haters and skeptics throughout history, and it has stood unassailable. It is without flaw, without error. It is the truth and I believe it.

Faith in Jesus isn’t a vague, “I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows.” Rather, we are to believe specifically what Jesus claimed: that He deserves equal faith with God; that He is the exclusive way to the Father; and that He is in intimate union with the Father. Jesus adds that if you can’t believe His words alone, at least believe because of His works. Believing in the person of Christ will comfort your troubled heart.

Believing, you will know Him, and knowing Him, you will see Him.