John 14:8-14
Philip says to Him, “Lord, show the Father to us and it is
sufficient for us.” Jesus says to him, “I
am with you all so much time and have you all not known me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the
Father. How do you say, ‘show the Father
to us?’ Do you not believe that I am in
the Father and the Father is in me? The
words that I say to you all I do not say from myself, but the Father who
remains in me does His works. Believe in
me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. And if not, believe because of the works
themselves. Amen, amen I say to you all,
the one who believes into me will do the good works that I do. And he will do greater works than these
because I am going to the Father. And
anything that you all will ask in my name I will do this in order that the
Father should be glorified in the Son.
Should you all ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
Imagine being Philip.
Imagine not understanding what Jesus is saying, because as we talked
about yesterday disciples seldom understand the destination. So Philip asks what seems to be a normal
question that any of us would ask. In
turn, Jesus comes back at Philip and to be honest Jesus nails Philips. Jesus asks if all this time He has spent
together with Philip has been wasted because Philip doesn’t really know
Jesus. Imagine what that would do to
Philip. Imagine how Philip’s heart must
have sunk in hearing those words.
Sometimes discipleship is painful.
Coming to grips with how much we don’t know is not usually a pleasant
experience. But it is a necessary
one. Before we can master what we do not
know, we must first come to the realization that we don’t know it at all!
Why is it such a shock to our ego to think we don’t know
something? Do you think this shock gets
harder as one gets older? Why or why
not? Do you think there are people who
avoid moments that might reveal how much they do not know? Why?
Second Thought:
To be clear, Jesus is not trying to be rude or insulting to
Philip. By this point, Philip and Jesus
have relationship. Jesus can be honest
with Philip because Philip understands that Jesus is not going to tear him down
for the sake of tearing him apart. Jesus
builds Philip back together. That is
discipleship. Once we understand what we
do not know, we can then be taught what we do not know. Once we are taught it, then we can practice
it and become better. Jesus is not being
mean to Philip, He is being honest.
Jesus doesn’t say this to tear Philip apart; He says this to make Philip
stronger by revealing and then bolstering Philip’s weakness.
How long does it take to build a relationship that can be
honest like we see here between Philip and Jesus? Why are these kinds of relationship crucial
to our growth?
Third Thought:
Jesus tells Philip and the rest of the disciples that
whatever we ask in His name will be done.
This is not a carte blanche promise of power. The key to understanding the promise is in
the clarification. We must ask it in His
name. In other words, our will must
become His will. If I ask for a new Mercedes
in Jesus name, He does not have to honor that request – although He could chose
to do so. And for the record, I hope He
doesn’t. I don’t want a Mercedes. However, if my will bends to His will, then
everything I ask for He will grant because everything for which I’ve asked will
already be according to His will. This
isn’t just a great promise. It is a
great promise preceded by a great challenge.
Bend our will to Christ first; then ask for that which He and the Father
truly desire and see how generous the Father can be!
How perceptive are you at knowing what God truly desires for
your life? How does this strength or
weakness demonstrate itself in your prayers and petitions to God?
Fourth Thought:
I want to expound a bit on the teaching that Jesus says
about doing “greater works.” There are
many ways to take this – although at first blush one can’t help but wonder how
we can ever do anything greater than Jesus.
But think about it.
- In today’s day and age, how many lives have been lengthened because we can cure and treat many things that killed people back then?
- Jesus only preached in a small area around Jerusalem, how much farther is the gospel spreading across the globe today?
- Jesus largely confronted people who were at least rooted in religion, how much more do we fight the decadence of a sinful and self-indulgent world?
In no way am I trying to say that we are better than
Jesus. We’re sinful, He was not! But through the power of His Spirit, we are
being called to go into places and realms where Jesus Himself did not
tread. I think this is that to which
Jesus is referring. We’re not better,
but we are going into a different and more greatly expanded set of
circumstances.
Where has Christ called you?
How do you know that you can be obedient and victorious – even if it
means doing battle against a few things that you don’t specifically hear Christ
doing battle (such as the internet, television, etc)?
Passage for Tomorrow: John 14:15-24
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