“Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’” (John 14:8)

If Jesus had responded to this request with a note of frustration in His voice, it would have been understandable:  “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”  He had JUST told them in verse 7, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him”. Jesus was very clear: to see Him, was to see the Father!  If there were any question about it, He certainly clarified it with His response in verse 9: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

INDEED. We need to beware of the same short-sightedness today; lest any of us in misguided zeal pray something like Philip’s, “Show us the Father.” He has SHOWN us Himself, perfectly, in Jesus Christ. If you want to know God, look at Jesus. He is “the radiance of His glory, and the exact representation of His nature.” (Hebrews 1:3) If you want to see what God looks like, in human form, in a way that we humans can understand, then look at Jesus. If you want to know what God’s nature is like, examine the character of Jesus. If you want to understand how God sees people today, then study how Jesus treated and responded to people.

Let us not be guilty of saying: “Show us the Father.”  He HAS shown us Himself, clearly, in Jesus Christ. There IS no fuller revelation of Himself available. As Colossians 2:9 proclaims: “”For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”