“All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and [he] to whomsoever the Son will reveal [him].” (Mt 11:27 AV)
Another great verse on the sufficiency of Jesus Christ! It is only by the Son we can know the Father. The straightforward understanding of this verse is not difficult. Access to the Father is only by the offering of the Son as our substitutionary death for sin. There is no other way to salvation than by the blood of Christ. This is particularly important to those whom He was speaking. He was speaking to the religious crowd. He was speaking to those who had erroneously believed their religious works were the means to appease a holy God. He was speaking to the religious Jews who had perverted the purpose of the law into a means of self-righteous justification. The same is true of all false religions. It is pursued by the pride of man to justify himself before a perfect God. It doesn’t work. God’s standard is perfection. Once we violate His law once, then we can no longer meet that standard. Therefore, God sent His Son to be the only acceptable means of justification. This was the direct meaning of Jesus’ words. However, there is also a secondary meaning here.
When the disciples of Christ, Philip in particular, desired to know the Father more intimately, requested a more physical appearance of the Father. The thought was that if they could simply see and converse with the Father using their five senses, then they could know the Father in a deeper way. Jesus replied, “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?” (Joh 14:9 AV) The understanding is, the Son is that manifestation of the Godhead that declared God in a way that can be experienced by temporal flesh. The statement of our Savior is direct. If Philip had seen the Son, then he had seen the Father. Paul supports such a truth. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Col 2:9 AV) As far as the godhead was concerned, there wasn’t anything hidden from man that Jesus refused to reveal. Jesus revealed the nature of the Godhead in a way man could understand it. Even though in Him dwelled the fulness of the Godhead, the fulness of the Godhead in incomprehensible to finite man. So, what is the point of this application?
We have a hard time relating to a God who cannot be seen, heard, felt, etc. We pray. We have intimate conversations. Our spirits bear witness with the Holy Spirit. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that cries out with our spirits, Abba, Father. Having studied and preached the life of Christ, there was much I learned. Yet this poor saint feels he does not know the Father nearly as much as he wishes. There is good news to be shared here. We are not flying blind. We are not so far removed from the knowledge of God that we are refused any knowledge at all. Rather, the life of Christ is our mirror into the Father. As we read the gospels and note the Son’s interaction with His disciples, we can insert ourselves into the dialogue, assuming the same experiences of those to whom He is speaking. In this manner, God becomes more personal. When we read of the blind receiving their sight, we can thank God that through Christ, we have had our spiritual eyes opened. When we read of Jesus’ rebuke of Peter, we can feel the same concern from the Father when we also care more for the things of this life than God’s divine plan. When we read of the anxiety that flooded the boat more so than the stormy waters, we can see a compassionate God who cares when we fear over things of which He fully controls. Praise the LORD for the word of God, which is our best window into the Father’s nature! He is not a mere curiosity to bend the mind. He is a divine person who wants us to know Him as He is. Listening to Jesus and experiencing the events as His disciples did is the best way to do that!
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