Do you want to see God?

 

“The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities” by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

"Murillo, The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities, about 1675-1682 Photo © The National Gallery, London”.

The painting above is called the Heavenly and Earthly Trinities; and it has been painted in the sign of the Cross.

Looking vertically from the top downwards we see God, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and Jesus looking up to His Father in Heaven. That is the Heavenly Trinity.

Looking horizontally from left to right we see the Virgin Mary, Jesus and His earthly father Joseph. The Earthly Trinity.

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John 14:1-14

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? 

The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.  

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

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There's a lot to read in the Gospel of John as quoted above. We may have to read it again slowly a couple of times to really understand what Jesus is saying here. Let's take it one bit at a time.

First, Jesus comforts His disciples by saying do not be troubled. He asks them to trust (believe) in God and to trust in Him. This is something we must always remember and believe whole-heartedly at times of troubles and difficulty. If we do not trust in God, as Jesus asks, then all is lost.

Jesus then promises to prepare a place for us in Heaven.

Thomas is confused and asks for the way to God. Jesus explains that He is the way to God. No one goes to the Father God except through Jesus. To see Him (Jesus) is to see God.  

Philip still does not get the point and asks to see the Father, (God).

Jesus re-iterates that to see Jesus is to see the Father. He, (Jesus) is in the Father and the Father is in Him.

Let's analyse this. God is a Spirit. An invisible Spirit inhabiting and invisible world around us. Let's call Him a Power, a living Being; all powerful. omnipotent, always existing. A loving Creator God full of mercy, compassion and forgiveness for His creations - us. We can all imagine Him as our minds can fathom and comprehend such a mystery.

The Bible, (which was inspired by the Holy Spirit), teaches that God created us "in His image".  

Many people over the years have miss-interpreted "God made us in His image". Because we are humans, people have assumed that God is human-looking. Because He has always existed, they have assumed He is old. So painters, like Michelangelo, Murillo and others have always painted an old man with a beard sitting on a cloud. 

But God is NOT human. He is a Spirit inhabiting an invisible world. So is Jesus. God, (and Jesus), always existed. When Jesus was born on earth this is when He took human shape; but He always existed as a Spirit. So is of course the Holy Spirit. And so are we - spirits/souls.

God created us in His image. Meaning we are also invisible spirits with the same qualities of love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness as God has; (if we want to use such qualities). God gave us these qualities to use through our own free will - or not to use them. We are invisible spirits, (souls), inhabiting a visible body. Our souls will live for ever after the body has perished. 

In this Bible passage Jesus explains to Philip that to see Jesus is to see God. Jesus is God personified. He is God, (the Spirit), in the form of a human Whom we can see, listen and speak to, and learn from Him as well as witness His many miracles. He is God Who offered Himself on the Cross for us.

Our Christian faith does not teach that we should climb up to God for our redemption. God has come down to us, and offered Himself as sacrifice on the Cross and we are unwilling to acknowledge or accept His priceless gift.

Jesus explains that what He has done on earth was not done through His own authority, (power), but it was the Father God, living in Him, (Jesus), Who does all these wonderful works. God is in Jesus and Jesus is in God. The two are one. Jesus is commanding us to believe this - even if we do not understand it.

He goes on to promise that if we truly believe this, then we too can perform such works. This is how the disciples performed miracles after they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It was through the power of Jesus and God; not through their own power.

Finally, Jesus promises that whatever we ask God in His, (Jesus'), name will be done in order to glorify God through Jesus.