Our Daily Bread 4th June 2020 Devotional – My Father’s Child
TODAY’S TOPIC: MY FATHER’S CHILD
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21–22; John 14
Key Verse: Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. – John 14:9
Today’s Scripture: John 14:8–14 (NIV)
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 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’?
10 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.
11 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. 12 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.
13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Insight: Our Daily Bread 4th June 2020 Devotional
Philip, recruited by Jesus Himself (John 1:43), was one of the very first disciples. In the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—Philip is always paired with Bartholomew (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14). In John’s gospel, however, Bartholomew isn’t mentioned and Nathanael (who isn’t mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels) is listed instead. Many scholars believe that Bartholomew is probably the same person as Nathanael, whom Philip recruited (John 1:45–48).
In John 14:8–14, when the disciples are gathered in the upper room, Philip responds to a question from Thomas asked in verse 5. The fact that Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father indicates that, although one of the first disciples, Philip hadn’t really understood the heart and mission of Jesus—to make visible the unseen God (see 1:18). No wonder Jesus gave Philip a gentle rebuke for his misguided request; it had already been fulfilled during their many months together.
Today’s Message: Our Daily Bread 4th June 2020 Devotional
They looked down at the faded photograph, then up at me, then over at my father, then back at me, then back at my father. Their eyes were as wide as the proverbial saucers. “Dad, you look just like Papa when he was young!” My father and I grinned because this was something we’d known for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that my children came to the same realization.
While my father and I are different people, in a very real sense to see me is to see my father as a younger man: tall, lanky frame; full head of dark hair; prominent nose; and rather large ears. No, I am not my father, but I am most definitely my father’s son.
A follower of Jesus named Philip once asked, “Lord, show us the Father” (John 14:8). And while it wasn’t the first time Jesus had indicated as much, His response was still cause for pause: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9). Unlike the physical resemblances between my father and me, what Jesus says here is revolutionary: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” (v. 10). His very essence and character were the same as His Father’s.
In that moment Jesus was being straightforward with His beloved disciples and us: If you want to know what God is like, look at Me. By: John Blase
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