Scripture:
Vs 8 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Vs 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? … How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Observation:
Jesus is having an incredibly intimate conversation about who He is and what is to take place.
Jesus speaks of His departure, but their separation will not be permanent.
And that Jesus and the Father are one.
When Philip asks Jesus to reveal the Father to them, the reply from Jesus is heartbreaking …
“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? …
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
This is toward the end of Jesus ministry time with the disciples, but Philip still didn’t … “get it”.
Jesus does tell them, however, to ask “in His name” and Jesus will respond “that the Father may be glorified in the Son”.
Application:
What a question to be posed by Jesus …. by name!
“Have I been with you so long … and you still do not know Me?!”
Quantity of time does not equal quality of time.
Philip had seen Jesus up close and personal for 3 years …
He had witnessed many miracles, heard the best teaching, and received unconditional love.
Yet, who Jesus actually was still wasn’t known. “Have I been with you so long … and you still do not know Me?!”
I’ve been following Jesus for decades, but how often could Jesus ask me the same question?
In my moments, or days, or months of frustration ….
When I want to cry out, “Lord, show me” … or more likely, “God, do something!”…
His reply could easily be, “Do you still not know Me?”
Philip wanted to be shown the Father, and said that would be “enough”.
Jesus ultimately did reveal the Father to Philip.
Jesus honored Philip’s request. It was a request Jesus wanted to fulfill!
Philip’s request was in line with Jesus “conditions” …
It was “in His name” and it was “that the Father may be glorified”.
Jesus said He will do “whatever I ask” … but it’s so easy to forget those “conditions” of the ask.
But these parameters of “in His name” and “that the Father may be glorified” aren’t really conditions as much as they are guardrails.
I couldn’t handle it if Jesus did “whatever I ask”.
An unlimited “whatever I ask” becomes turning Jesus into a genie.
I will worship a “lamp” instead of the “Lamb”.
Jesus’ “in my name” is a gracious protector against my “whatever”.
The more I know Jesus … the more I grow in who He … the more my “whatever’s” will resemble “in His name”.
The more I know Jesus, the more unreasonable, and even unconscionable, it would be to ask for anything outside of Who He is.
Prayer:
Thank You, Father, that You are good
Thank You that You reveal Yourself
Guide me and help me to request your will and your glory
In Jesus name
Amen