Seeing Jesus, seeing the Father

John 14: 7- 14

Philip said, "Lord show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? "

There is much theological truth in this passage about Christ's intimate unity with the Father, not just of purpose but of 'essence'. God was fully present in Christ to reconcile the world to himself. There is objective reality about Jesus that validates his spiritual claims. This certainly gives us much assurance about our faith for the validity of spiritual truth cannot be found entirely in spiritual experience. The objective reality of Christ supplies our confidence in our knowledge of the truth and forms the basis of our spiritual pursuits.

But how indeed do we "see and know" Jesus let alone the Father? How are we to see and recognize his face? Does our confidence in theological truths remove the veil completely? Philip was with him for three years and yet found him an enigma. I believe that our journey of faith will include times when we identify with Philip's perplexity. We can be Christians for many years and still do not 'know' Jesus if we are honest with ourselves. Moreover, Jesus our Lord is no longer among us in the same way that He was with the first disciples. Theological truths may give us reassurance, but the purpose of the gospel writers like John was also to declare "that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched.....concerning the Word of life" (1 John 1: 1).

Apart from objective reality, they had experienced Truth as a person, having heard, seen and touched him. Today, Jesus is no longer with us in the flesh but we can still hope to experience him, and through him, the Father. Our faith is surely not limited to an assent to a set of 'propositional truths. William Barry, an experienced spiritual director says that "one must have a contemplative attitude toward Scripture, let the Scriptures be themselves, listen to them and ask that the Lord reveal himself while we are listening. The purpose of contemplating the gospels is to come to know the living Lord Jesus". Barry is not speaking of mystical prayer but of a contemplative attitude that is an experience of the Lord's reality. For the past 4 years, I have made it a practice to read a gospel passage every day, following the Lectionary Daily Readings. This has indeed deepened my 'experience' of Jesus our Lord. I have seen him meet with the poor, the sick, the proud, the 'religious'....heard him express concern or frustration or anger....and seen him performing miracles. The gospels help me pay attention to and become increasingly absorbed in the person of Jesus. He is no longer with us....but the gospel writers present their witness that invites us to "hear and see" the Son and in him, the Father.