I find it somewhat comical, the way Philip phrases his request. After Jesus implores HIs disciples to believe in Him, Philip says, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” In other words, “Hey Jesus, we’re not asking for much. We just want to gaze upon the face of God, which no sinful man has been able to do. We’re not asking for much, just something that nobody else in the history of the fallen man has ever had. Give us that. You’ve called us to faith, but we’re demanding sight. So just completely change the entire system of salvation. That’s all we’re asking for, nothing major.”
Jesus, though, gives Philip a tender but firm rebuke, telling Philip that the way to see the Father is to see the Son. And if the Son is not enough for you, then you will have no access to the Father. He will not replace faith with sight. If they want to see the face of the Father who loves them, they will see that when they gaze upon the anguished face of Christ upon the cross. As they gaze upon the blood-covered countenance of God’s own son, dying for their sins at Calvary, they will see the face of the God who loves them, the God who gave up what was most precious to Him, His only Son, to make them His sons.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our access to the Father. If you want to see God, if you want to know and believe that He is real, that He loves you, that He welcomes you into His arms, you can and will see Him through the face of Christ. And you will see the face of Christ through the word, the word of salvation proclaimed by the apostles, by Philip and the rest, the word written down by Mattew, Mark, Luke, and John. There in those words, the Holy Spirit sets the crucified but risen Lord before your eyes. Believe them and you will see Christ. Believe in Christ, and you will see the Father. Believe in the Father and you will see Him face to face on the glorious day when Christ clothes you in His perfection, the perfection that can stand before the presence of the Consuming Fire who will never consume you.
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