Sunday, October 8, 2023

John 14:15–31

In Exodus 33, God commands Moses to lead the people of Israel away from Mount Sinai and toward the Promised Land. Moses was overwhelmed by the task before him: leading over a million former slaves into combat would be no small feat! Moses was willing to follow God in faith, but he had an equally big ask of God in return: “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18 ESV).

Moses believed, but he also wanted to see. He wanted to behold the face of God.

I can identify with Moses. I believe, but I also want to see. Like Philip in John 14, I want to say to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Now, Moses didn’t get everything he wanted. John reminds us that no one has ever seen God (John 1:18). But, Jesus is also insistent that whoever has seen him has seen the Father (John 14:9). The message of John is clear: if you want to see God, look at Jesus.

Now, this is all fine and good for those who lived in the first century. I imagine those who saw Jesus heal the man born blind or call Lazarus forth out of the tomb had no doubt that they were witnessing the glory of God. Philip saw Jesus, but what about us? Jesus isn’t walking the earth anymore. He isn’t turning water into wine, multiplying loaves, or walking on water. How can we believe in a God we haven’t seen based on believing in Jesus, when we also haven’t seen Jesus?

Jesus foresaw this problem and had a plan. “I will not leave you as orphans;” he promised. “I will come to you. Yet in a while the world will see me no more, but you will see me” (John 14:18–19). Jesus knew that he was returning to the Father, but that didn’t mean the world would be left without the visible presence of God. He would send the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus’s work of showing the Father to the world.

Join us this week as we talk about the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit and how we can see God today.

See you Sunday!

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