Day 11: Jesus Is In The Father
Read John 14:9-14
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? 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. 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. 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. 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.
Reflect
What Jesus’ heart desires for His disciples is expressed in verse 11, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” He wanted the disciples to understand He was not just a prophet, or a teacher, or their disciple-master, and not only the Messiah; but He was something more - He was the Word made flesh (John 1:14), God incarnate. To be in His presence was to be in the presence of the Father. Recognizing that it was stretching the faith of the disciples to accept this teaching, Jesus added, “or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” The word translated ”miracles” (erga in the Greek) means, in fact, “works.” On several occasions, Jesus urged the Jewish people to view His works as evidence that the Father had sent Him (5:36), that He was the Christ (10:25), and that the Father was in Him and He in the Father (10:37–38). Now He urged His disciples also to believe on the basis of His works if they could not believe His word. (John: An Introduction and Commentary, by Colin Kruse)
To be in His presence was to be in the presence of the Father.
Respond
Meditate on verse 11 for several minutes; let it soak into your soul. Jesus is proclaiming to be one with the Father. He is saying that He is God. It’s hard at times for us to comprehend, but this truth is crucial to our Christian faith. This is how much you are loved. You are loved so much that God the Father was willing to send His Son, Jesus, to become incarnate. The incarnation means that while remaining God, Jesus took upon a new nature - a human nature. The incarnation was uniting the divine and the human into one being, one person. Jesus was fully God and fully human so He could live a sinless life here on earth and die for you and me because He wants to have a relationship with each of us that lasts through eternity.
Many people have a voice inside their heads that say, “I am not ___________ enough.” Each person can fill in their own blank. The word you put in the blank might be: “good,” “smart,” “pretty,” “handsome,” “educated,” “godly,” “creative,” “fun.” The list goes on and on of what we might say to ourselves. Please understand this and meditate on its truth, to Jesus, you are enough. Enough for Him to leave His place in Heaven, come to earth as a baby, live a life of sinless servant-hood and die a horrific death for your sins, hurts, habits and hang-ups. None of us will ever have it all together, but you are loved enough for Jesus to give His human life for your eternal life.
Spend time today thanking Jesus for loving you so much that He was willing to become fully human while remaining fully God so that you could be united in relationship with God the Father. It is because of Jesus that you are enough. You are always enough and deeply loved. Today, write down this passage and mediate on it to be reminded how much you are loved. Jeremiah 31:3, “I have loved you, my people (fill your name in here), with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”