12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not valid.”

14 Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone; I am with the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am One who testifies about Myself, and the Father, who sent Me, also testifies about Me.”

19 “Where is Your Father?” they asked Him.

“You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.”

20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Bethany Rowlands

Sometimes I catch myself thinking of God the Father as having a different character or will than Jesus the Son. I used to think of Jesus as helping me to please the Father. I’ve had friends tell me they like the Jesus of the New Testament, but not the angry God of the Old Testament. I’ve read writings that talk of worshipping the Creator while confident Jesus was just a man we can ignore.

The passage today in John doesn’t give me room to separate God in that way. Yes, the Father, Son and Spirit have different roles and activities in God’s big plan. The Father sends and the Son is sent. But the passage’s claim is clear that the Father, Son and Spirit have the same goal, the same judgement of sin and the same heart to save sinners.

In fact, the passage says that by knowing Jesus, a person knows the Father! They are not separate or different, but they are one. The Father is with Jesus and Jesus came to reveal who the Father is. Jesus said the people listening to Him in John 8 don’t know the Father because they don’t accept Jesus!

How I respond to Jesus IS how I respond to the Father. I can’t say I trust Jesus but not the Father. I can’t follow God but not accept Jesus as Lord. The Father and the Son and the Spirit are one God. So the challenge is, do I believe what Jesus said about Himself and the Father, or have I made up a different, fragmented picture of God? When Scripture says something about the Father or Jesus that I don’t like, do I seek to understand God better or do I start to prefer Jesus or the Father over the other? Pray and ask God to help you grow in your understanding and your trust in his character, revealed to us in Jesus his Son.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bethany is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.