Do you like family pictures? When Jennifer was born we took thousands of pictures of her. She would smile and we’d snap another picture. I remember getting a roll of film developed one time and seeing about 36 pictures, (actually 72 with double prints), of almost exactly the same expression and background.
They say a picture paints a thousand words. Some people are very good at using words to paint pictures. An old proverb goes: He is the best teacher who can turn an ear into an eye.
How would you like to have a picture of Jesus? A recent special on TV was called the many faces of Jesus. Several depictions of what Jesus might have looked like were presented. It is amazing how artists have tried to capture the face of Jesus in their paintings. Most of them look more like the race and culture of the artist than the actual race and culture of first century Jews. Have you ever been curious about what Jesus looked like? Interestingly enough, with 4 gospel writers telling us about him, we have almost nothing to go on as to his looks. The best information in the Bible about his physical features comes from the Old Testament. Isaiah 53 tells us that he was one from whom men hide their faces and that He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.. Isaiah does say he had a beard. We see this in a messianic prophecy in Isaiah 50: 6 I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting. 7 For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I shall not be ashamed.
The disciples saw Jesus face to face. John says they touched him with their hands. He was physically present for them to see and touch and hear. They saw the Word of God who is God… they saw him. Not just with their eyes, but with their faith. Jesus once commented.
Matt 13: 17 "For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have painted word pictures of God for us as seen in Jesus. John is the most specific in presenting Jesus to us as the express presence of the Father. We pick up now in John 14:7 and enter Jesus conversation with Philip.
John 14:7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."
8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."
9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ’Show us the Father’?
10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves.
12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.
13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Philip cannot quite get it. How can Jesus words be true? Jesus says plainly, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.".” Philip is scratching his head and wondering, did I miss something? Show us the Father. That’s what I need! I would love to see God! Jesus will you do that for us? Make the invisible God visible for us! That will do it. That’s all we need. That would be enough! Let us see him.
Have you ever felt like Philip? Lord, are you there? Hello? But we really can know God’s presence without physically seeing.
The story is told that after Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan, had given her the names of physical objects in sign language, Miss Sullivan attempted to explain God and shaped for her the symbols for the name "God." Much to Miss Sullivan’s surprise, Helen spelled back, "Thank you for telling me God’s name, Teacher, for he has touched me many times before. I always knew he was there, but I didn’t know what his name was.”
Helen, in her blindness, could see the Father better than Philip could.
Jesus makes his case clear now to Philip: "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ’Show us the Father’?
10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves.
Jesus calls Philip to look with the eyes of faith. See more than flesh and blood. See and hear God the Father in every act and in every word. The evidence that Jesus offers to prove that seeing him is seeing the Father is simple. My words and works are not mine, they are the Father’s. Jesus says in effect, “Here I am, Philip.” This is the Father speaking and working in this body. Jesus uses extremely intimate language next: The Father is in me. I am in the Father. Jesus locates his presence and the presence of God the Father before the disciples. But such can only be seen with the eyes of faith. They saw God, but to do so they had to believe.
What do you look for when you want to see God? Look at Jesus. There’s a definite family resemblance. More than that, there is an exact representation.
Can you believe Jesus words here? Do you believe that if you can see Jesus you can see the Father? I do. They saw God. But can we see the Father today? Has the Lord left us with just the written record of his life and instructions so that we can be ready to see him some day? Can we see the Lord today? They saw God. Can we?
The Bible actually gives us two answers to this. First, we cannot see Jesus physical presence today like the disciples did. But God has not left us without a physical presence through which we can see him today.
Jesus told Thomas in John 20: Blessed are those who though not seeing, believe. And Peter said, “Though you do not see him, you love him and are filled with an inexpressible joy.”
But the Bible also says, “The church is his body.” And “Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus promised in John, 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
19 "After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you will behold Me; because I live, you shall live also.
20 "In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him."
Did you catch that last statement? Let’s read 21 again and let it sink in…"He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him."
Jesus is saying that if we do what he tells us, we love him and he will love us and show himself to us! Do you believe this? They saw God. Do we?
A man by the name of Max DePree related the following heart-touching story: Esther, my wife, and I have a granddaughter named Zoe, the Greek word for life. She was born prematurely and weighed one pound, seven ounces, so small that my wedding ring could slide up her arm to her shoulder. The neonatologist who first examined her told us that she had a 5 to 10 percent chance of living three days. When Esther and I scrubbed up for our first visit and saw Zoe in her isolette in the neonatal intensive care unit, she had two IVs in her navel, one in her foot, a monitor on each side of her chest, and a respirator tube and a feeding tube in her mouth. To complicate matters, Zoe’s biological father had jumped ship the month before Zoe was born. Realizing this, a wise and caring nurse named Ruth gave me my instructions. "For the next several months, at least, you’re the surrogate father. I want you to come to the hospital every day to visit Zoe, and when you come, I want you to rub her body and her legs and arms with the tip of your finger. While you’re caressing her, you should tell her over and over how much you love her, because she has to be able to connect your voice to your touch." God knew that we also needed both his voice and his touch. So he gave us not only the Word but also his Son. And he gave us not only Jesus Christ but also his body, the church. God’s voice and touch say, "I love you."
God wants to touch us. He knows that we need his touch to live. Through Jesus God came here to do just that. Jesus’ death for us, and resurrection for us, and ascension to glory from which he sent the Holy Spirit for us, is God’s gift to us so that we can touch him.
Our granddaughter, Brisa, when she was in Costa Rica, loved to talk with us on the computer through "Skype." Skype is a program so that if you have internet you can actually see and talk with others who are online with you. It’s like seeing each other on TV and talking. Also, it’s free. Anyway, Jenny (Mimi) would sometimes read books to Brisa over the internet and before they would get off, the would kiss each other by kissing the screen.
When Brisa arrived here a few weeks ago and we were hugging and kissing her, she said, as she held Jenny’s face, "Mimi! You’re soft!"
It wasn’t like TV anymore, it was real touch and kisses!
Later, at home we were looking at some family pictures and Brisa saw our grandparents and asked who they were. As Jenny was explaining who they were, Brisa asked if we could go see them. Jenny then told Brisa that they had died and were with God now. Brisa looked for a minute and then she said, "Jesus is soft to them now."
Jenny said, "That’s right, Brisa, Now Jesus is soft to them."
One day, we will see Him too, you know. One day God will wipe every tear from our eyes... He will be soft to us.
