John 14:14-14: The Disciples in Relation With the Father

John 14:4‑14  •  7 min. read  •  grade level: 8
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THE Lord has set before us the end of the journey, now He will lead us into our privileges while on the way. in the verses that follow we are set in relationship with the Father. We have not yet reached the Father’s house but it is our privilege to know the Father—the One to whom the house belongs—before we enter there. And if we are brought to a present knowledge of the Father it is in order that we may have access to the Father while passing through the world. The great purpose of this part of the discourse is that we may “know,” “see,” and “come” to the Father, and, coming to the Father, we might, in all the happy confidence of children, make known our requests in the name of Christ.
(Vv. 5, 6). The Lord introduces this great theme with the word, “Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” Thomas, with a very different thought in his mind, fails to catch the meaning of the Lord’s words. In reply to the question of Thomas “How can we know the way?” the Lord plainly shows that He is speaking of the Person to whom He is going and not simply of a place as Thomas wrongly supposed. To this Person—the Father—Christ is the way; the One, too, in whom the truth of the Father is set forth. Moreover He is the life in which the truth of the Father can be enjoyed. There is moreover no other way to the Father, hence the Lord adds, “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” Words of deeply solemn significance in a day when men reject the claims of the Son while talking of the Fatherhood of God. The words of the Lord anticipate the inspired words of the Apostle who, at a later time, will write, “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father” (1 John 2:2323Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. (1 John 2:23)).
(V. 7). It is however equally true that to know the Son is to know the Father. Thus the Lord can say to His disciples, “If ye had known Me ye would have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him and have seen Him.”
(Vv. 8-11). Philip, like Thomas, cannot rise above that which is material. Thomas had thought of a material place: Philip thinks of physical sight, and therefore says, “Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us.” The Lord in His reply clearly shows that He is speaking of the vision of faith. He asks a searching question, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?” Then the Lord states, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” To look beyond the outward form and see the Son by faith, is indeed to see the Father; for the Son is the perfect revelation of the Father.
The unbelieving world did not see the Son; all they saw was the reputed son of Joseph—the Carpenter. Only faith could see, in that lowly Man, the Only Begotten Son who came to declare the Father. The One who dwelt in the bosom of the Father could alone declare the heart of the Father. Abraham could tell us that God is Almighty: Moses could tell us that God is the I AM—eternal and unchanging. But neither Abraham nor Moses were great enough to declare to us the heart of the Father. None but a divine Person is great enough to reveal a divine Person. Thus it is that the Lord immediately declares the perfect equality and identity of the Father and the Son, for He can say, “I am in the Father and the Father in Me.” The passage of the Son through this world is not simply a history of the Father and the Son, but rather of the Father in the Son.
Once we have seen by faith the glory of the Son, it becomes simple to see the Father revealed in the Son. Because of who He is, as equal and identified with the Father, the Lord can at once bring forward His “words” and His works as the revelation of the Father. The grace, the love, the wisdom, and the power that shone in His words and works declare to us the heart of the Father.
(Vv. 12-14). Yet further, if on earth the Son had glorified the Father, in making known His heart through His words, still more would the Father be glorified by the Son when, taking His place on high, He would, through the “greater works” of the disciples, still declare the Father’s heart; and further would glorify the Father in answering requests made to the Father in the name of Christ.
At this point in the discourse the Lord ceases to speak of the experiences of His words and works which the disciples had enjoyed while He was yet with them, and passes on to speak of the new and deeper experiences of His power after His departure to the Father. The change in the discourse is marked by the words, “Verily, verily” —words generally used to introduce some fresh truth. Thus the Lord reveals to His amazed disciples the new truth that after His departure the believer in Jesus would do the works that Jesus had done in person, and, more surprising still, would do greater works.
The Lord connects this greater display of power with His going to the Father. In returning to the Father He was going to the source of all power and blessing. Thus by His presence with the Father the full resources of heaven would be opened to the one on earth who believes in Christ and prays in His name.
These transitional verses carry us into the history of the early Church, when, instead of only a few disciples being gathered under the ministry of Jesus, thousands were gathered through the preaching of the Apostles, and “many signs and wonders” were “wrought among the people,” and the very “shadow of Peter passing by” carried healing to the sick; when the dead were raised, and “God wrought special miracles by the hand of Paul,” so that handkerchiefs from his body healed those upon whom they were placed.
This mighty power was available for faith expressing itself through prayer in His name. It has been truly said, “Requests made in the name of another are understood to imply the appropriation to one’s self of his claims, his merits, his rights to be heard.” The Lord, by His own words, gives this privilege to those who are in relationship with Himself by faith. It was something new to the disciples to ask in the name of Christ, and, as all else in these discourses, is the outcome of the Lord’s departure, for asking in His name supposes the absence of Christ. The phrase to “ask in My name” occurs five times in these discourses.
Thus in the words and works of Jesus on earth we learn the Father’s heart; and we still learn the Father through the “greater works” done by the disciples under the direction of the Lord from His place on high: and we learn the Father’s love as we find the Lord acting for us in response to our requests to the Father in the name of Christ.
In a world gone far from God, where all sought their own, He was ever one with the Father in mind and purpose and affection, and found His delight in the Father’s will. Though a world of sin made Him the Man of sorrows yet He found unbroken rest, and constant joy in the Father’s love. Into this same blessed relationship with the Father He would bring us that we too may find our delight, our rest, our joy in the Father’s love.
All has been revealed in the Son. The love of the Father’s heart, the purpose of the Father’s mind, the grace of the Father’s hand, all has been set forth in Christ the Son. All too has been revealed as our present portion. We shall have no different revelation of the Father when we get to heaven than we have now. All has been revealed on earth. The only difference being, now we see through a glass darkly, then face to face. But what we shall fully enjoy in heaven has been fully revealed on earth. We wait to have the glory of the Father’s house disclosed to our wondering eyes, but the love of the Father’s heart has been revealed, for the joy of our hearts, on earth, though, alas, our feeble faith may have but little responded to the revelation.