What do you find yourself doing for love? For some that might seem like a funny question. For others, I suspect that doing things “for love” is second nature.
The kind of love Jesus is talking about is “agapaō” in Greek. It is not family love or romantic love. Agapaō is deep respect, a caring, a desire to honor and obey.
Jesus wants us to care about what He wants for us just as He cares for us.
Do we care? Then let’s keep his commands! Now, what was it he wanted us to do?
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.
In 1970 Janis Joplin released a song that indirectly satirized this verse. It also parodied consumerism. She sang…
“Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz…”
I mention this because the words to the song capture the expectation some have based on this verse. The idea that God will provide things is both justified and unjustified. It depends on what the expectation is.
Is it unreasonable to pray for a car if one needs transportation? It sounds reasonable to me. Is it reasonable to pray for a certain kind of car because of the ego gratification and social status it imparts? Mmmm… not so much.
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.
Do you believe in Jesus? Have you been doing the works he has been doing? Have you done even greater things, or do you know someone who has?
The key question here is what does Jesus mean by, “…the works I have been doing?” What works?
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.
When Jesus says, “Believe me when I say…” it sounds like a command. But then he adds, “… or at least…” which sounds much different. Almost like he is pleading. Then there is the fact that he repeats this theme over and over again, almost a dozen times throughout John alone by my count.
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.
Authority is a funny thing. Often we like to have it. We imagine that with authority comes respect and obedience only … it doesn’t.
Bosses don’t get the respect and obedience they would like. Parent complain that their kids don’t do what they are told to do. Teachers wish their students would pay attention. Kids get mad at their pets when they chew up kid toys instead of pet toys.
To speak with authority is to have authority. Oddly, Jesus doesn’t even claim to have authority of his own. He points to the Father, living in him as the source of his authority. This is where we get back to the oneness of God and Jesus. They are inseparable. They are one. God speaks and Jesus moves his lips. Oneness.
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?”
Today’s verse represents what is for me a theological mountain too high to climb. Jesus says, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” How does that work?
At this point, I have to step back from my earthbound human perspective for a moment. Remember that Jesus speaks like someone from outside space and time. He looks at things from a heavenly perspective. We tend to look at things from an earthly perspective. This difference in perspective is why people did not understand Jesus.
Philip said, ”Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Philip’s comment in verse eight amazes me. It is almost as if he is saying, “Look, Jesus, we aren’t asking a lot here. Just show us the Creator of the Universe, you know… the Invisible God, the One who can bring people to their knees just by the sound of his voice, the One whom our forefathers feared to look upon or they would die…just show us Him and that will be enough for us.”
Enough for what?
Enough to turn you into a vapor? Dust? A pillar of salt? What did Philip expect to accomplish by seeing the Father?
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.”
Don’t you just hate it when someone argues with you? Especially when you know you are right?
Imagine being the Creator of the universe! You really <I>do</I> know everything because you made it. You were there at the beginning of creation. You have been intimately involved with the world and its people since the beginning of time. Nothing is hidden from your eyes and you never make a mistake.
If you have never read Ralph Moody’s books about his childhood, I strongly recommend them. Ralph was born in 1898 and grew up during a time when our country seemed much younger. He writes in a comfortable, engaging style. It is like he is sitting next to you by a campfire telling you the story himself.
In his first book, “Little Britches – Father and I Were Ranchers,” he tells of how he came to live in Colorado. The story is about the many adventures he had there while he was growing up. At one point in the story, he meets an Indian who works at their ranch for a while. The Indian’s name is Two Dog.
One evening, sitting by the barn, Two Dog shows Ralph where he lives by pointing towards the mountains in the distance. He explained the path to his camp and pointed out landmarks along the way. All this was miles away. It was evening, and they were just passing time.
Sometime later, after Two Dog had gone back home, the family horse, Bill, came down sick. Very sick. Ralph’s dad declared the horse was “done for.” Ralph believed two important things. One was that Two Dog could make Bill better. The second was that he could find Two Dog. The next morning he set out by himself, without telling anyone where he was going.
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.
Jewish tradition holds that a young man would have to build a home for his bride before they could be married. Typically the home was added on to the family home of his father’s. When the father declared the new addition to be ready, then the son could go and take his bride to be with him in their new home.
Jesus uses this tradition as an analogy for where he is going and what he is doing. He wants us to be with him in heaven so he prepares a place for us in his Father’s house.
Here again, we see Jesus telling us about this place he is from. Clearly, he is not from around here. He is just visiting the earth and when he leaves he is going where we cannot go. (John 13: 33) The good news is that we can follow later. (John 13: 36)
