John 14:1,6-11
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
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? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): God is “the Father of glory,” Ephesians 1:17. He is called the “Father of glory” by way of an eminency of fatherhood; there is no such father as He.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): God is the only Father, to speak properly, Matthew 23:9. The Father of all the fatherhood in heaven and earth.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): Now it is perfectly true that God may be known through creation. We are told that in the first chapter of Romans—“the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse,” Romans 1:20. So men who deny God, who refuse to believe in a God, who live as if there were no God, are without excuse. But the Fatherhood of God could only be revealed through the Lord Jesus Christ. Nature tells me there is a God, that He must be infinite in wisdom and power, but it does not tell me He has a Father’s heart. I would not know that except from the revelation He has given in His blessed Son.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): He that has seen the one, must know the other; and indeed, “no one can know the Father, but he to whom the Son reveals Him,” Matthew 11:27. The knowledge of both go together.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): He is “the only-begotten Son,” John 3:16; and Who so likely to know the Father as the Son? or in whom is the Father better known than in the Son? He is of the same nature with the Father, so that he who hath seen Him hath seen the Father. He is “in the bosom of the Father,” John 1:18. He had lain in His bosom from eternity. When He was here upon earth, yet still, as God, He was in the bosom of the Father, and thither He returned when He ascended.
H. A. IRONSIDE: I love those verses with which the epistle to the Hebrews opens: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,” Hebrews 1:1-3. Those words, “the express image of his person,” might well be rendered the “exact expression of His character.” Everything in the character of Christ tells out that which is in the heart of God: His love for holiness, His delight in righteousness, His interest in men—even unconverted men.
JOHN GILL: “Holy Father,” John 17:11. The epithet “holy” is exceeding suitable, as it perfectly agrees with Him who is essentially so—and “righteous Father,” John 17:25. God is righteous—the Father is righteous, the Son is righteous, and the Holy Spirit is righteous: God is so in His nature; righteousness is a perfection of it; He is so in all His purposes and promises; in all His ways and works of providence and grace; in predestination, redemption, justification, pardon of sin, and eternal glory.
H. A. IRONSIDE: And it is the Holy Spirit Who told us God is love, and the evidence He gave of it was this: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins,” 1 John 4:10. Oh, we could have known that God was great, that God was powerful, that God was wise. We might even have known from the abundant provision He has made for His creatures that He is good, but we would never have known that He is love, if Jesus had not come to reveal the Father. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,” John 1:14. I repeat, we would never have known the Fatherhood of God apart from the revelation given us in our Lord Jesus Christ.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): How close and mysterious is the union of God the Father and God the Son! Four times over this mighty truth is put before us in unmistakable words—“If ye had known Me, ye would have known my Father;” “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father;” “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me;” “The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” Sayings like these are full of deep mystery. We have no eyes to see their meaning fully, no language to express it, no mind to take it in. Let it suffice us to know that the Father is God and the Son is God, and yet that they are one in essence though two distinct Persons.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): None can know the Father, except they to whom the Son should reveal Him; yet, in these words, He invites all to come and learn of Him the mysterious truths, which, though already recorded in the written word, cannot be apprehended aright, unless He unfold them to us, and enable us to understand them: “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls,” Matthew 11:29.
J. C. RYLE: These are high things, and we cannot attain to a full comprehension of them. Let us take comfort in the simple truth, that Christ is very God of very God; equal with the Father in all things, and One with Him. He Who loved us, and shed His blood for us on the cross, and bids us trust Him for pardon, is no mere man like ourselves. He is “God over all, blessed forever,” and able to save to the uttermost the chief of sinners. Though our sins be as scarlet, He can make them white as snow. He that casts his soul on Christ has an Almighty Friend—a Friend who is One with the Father, and very God.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent,” John 17:3. By this, then, we can know whether we have eternal life or not. Do we know the Father? Do we know Jesus Christ as the Messiah the Sent One? Are we resting in that blessed knowledge? If so, He has given us eternal life.
H. A. IRONSIDE: Do you say to yourself, “Oh, I wish I understood God better. I wish I could know just how God the Father looks at things, how He feels about things, and what His attitude is toward men in general, and His people in particular.” Well, all you need to do is read the four Gospels and get better acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ, for He has made the Father known in all His fullness.
J. C. RYLE: The more we know of Christ, the more we know of the Father.
