John 14:6–11 — Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father. I have a cross reference in my Bible at that point to Exodus 33:18, where Moses makes the audacious request to God that He might see His glory. In response, God graciously undertook to show Moses as much as he would be able to bear, but said that this could not include seeing His face. What a different response Jesus gives to Philip when he asks to see the Father: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father!"
As believers, we have the hope of heaven, and that when we enter we will be like Jesus, for we will see Him as He is. But it is clear that the moment our eyes are opened to see Jesus by faith, we can see the Father here and now! More than that, as Jesus goes on to say in John 14:15-24, when He departed from this world He and the Father would come to dwell in His disciples by the Holy Spirit! It's no wonder that Jesus responds to Philip as He does: "How can you ask that? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father!" And we have seen Him too, and indeed we also have Him and His Son dwelling in us by the Spirit.
The writer to the Hebrews knew something of this truth also, when he proclaimed Jesus, the One we know and have seen through the eyes of faith, to be the radiance of the glory of God:
Hebrews 1:1–4 — Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Something thrilling to ponder on in the days!
