“If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
John 14:7-9
Some say God is unknowable. Others say God is like a cranky old man peering down at us and looking to pounce on anyone who does something wrong. Others say, “He’s too big to even notice me. Or if He does notice me, he must be disappointed in me, and down on me, because of who I am, because I’ve blown it so bad, and too many times.”
But Jesus said, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.”
And Jesus said of the Father, because you have seen me, Jesus, “From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
And Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
So, it turns out, this is what God the Father is really like:
God is the kind of person who supplies wine for a wedding party. (John 2:1-11)
God is the kind of person who responds to a desperate dad with a dying son by healing him. (John 4:46-53)
God is the kind of person who heals his friend’s mother-in-law from fever. (Matthew 8:14-15)
God is the kind of person who blesses his friends with success in their business. (Luke 5:4-11)
God is the kind of person who heals a man of leprosy (and tries to do it quietly). (Mark 1:40-45)
God is the kind of person who forgives the sins of a stranger. (Mark 2:1-7)
God is the kind of person who heals a stranger from paralysis. (Mark 2:1-12)
God is the kind of person who heals a stranger’s withered hand, even though it’s the Sabbath. He’s the kind of person who puts human need before religion. (Luke 6:6-11)
God is the kind of person who becomes angry with those who put their traditions ahead of human suffering. (Mark 3:1-6)
God is the kind of person who shares grace and truth in the context of love.
God is the kind of person who responds to a widow grieving over her dead son: When he saw her, “he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.'” And he spoke to the young man, and the young man sat up and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother. (Luke 7:11-17)
God is the kind of person who calms his friends’ storms for them. (Mark 4:35-41)
God is the kind of person who gives sight to two blind strangers, and tries to keep it quiet. (Matthew 9:27-31)
God is the kind of person who gives voice to a mute stranger. (Matthew 9:32-34)
God is the kind of person who heals an invalid without hope. (John 5:1-15)
God is the kind of person who feeds 5,000 people who need food. (John 6:1-15)
God is the kind of person who loves children and welcomes kids into his company. (Matthew 19:14)
God is the kind of person who invites prostitutes, corrupt bureaucrats, and all manner of sinners to come to him.
God is the kind of person who makes those same sinners feel welcome.
God is the kind of person who graciously gives his time to his enemies, the very Pharisees and Sadducees who opposed him were always welcome to dialogue with him, even if it was late at night. (John 3:1-21)
And finally, God is the kind of person who sacrifices his own life to save others. He’s the kind of person who sacrifices his own life, so there’s a way for others to live, in eternity, with God.
God is the kind of person who doesn’t want heaven and eternity without you.
Sometimes I don’t understand why tragic things happen to people I love and care about. Sometimes I don’t understand parts of the Old Testament. When I feel this way I remember two things. One is, it makes perfect sense that I don’t understand Someone who’s so far beyond me and of such complexity that He was able to create the universe and all that’s in it.
And the other is Jesus.
Speaking of Jesus the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote:
“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature . . .”
He is “the exact representation of His nature.”
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
–Jesus Christ
God is love.
Notes:
Image of Sistine Chapel hands via Jonund, Wiki Commons – Creative Commons
