John 14:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

NIV: Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.'

NASB: Philip *said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.'

CSB: "Lord," said Philip, "show us the Father, and that's enough for us."

NLT: Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.'

KJV: Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

NKJV: Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

After giving some dire predictions, Jesus has spoken to encourage the disciples (John 14:1–4). Thomas responded to that with a reasonable question (John 14:5), to which Jesus answered with a claim to be "the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). As part of that response, Jesus indicated that to know Him was to know the Father (John 14:7). The last phrase in Jesus' statement referred to "seeing" God. Here, Philip latches onto that idea.

What's described here is not a moment of stupidity. Philip is not being dense—Jesus referred to "knowing" God, then switched to a comment about "seeing" God. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus took three of the disciples along to see the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1–2). There, Jesus openly displayed a divine appearance. Philip was not one of those three men, so this might be his way of asking to see the same thing. Or, he might have been hoping for something like the experiences of Moses (Exodus 33:18–23) or Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1–7).

Jesus will reply with a claim that is astonishingly direct: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).

John 14:1–14 continues Jesus' discourse with the disciples at the last supper. He has recently mentioned a traitor in their midst and predicted Peter's denials. That leads Jesus to reassure these men—reminding them that He has told them the truth and has all things in hand. In this passage, Christ famously refers to Himself as ''the way, and the truth, and the life.'' That is the sixth of seven such ''I Am'' statements included in John's gospel. This section includes Jesus' words, personal experience, and evidence of His miracles as reasons to maintain trust.

Christ reassures His followers that faith in Him is faith in God. To know Christ is to know ''the way, and the truth, and the life'' (John 14:6). The words, actions, and miracles of Jesus should give Christians confidence to trust that He will make good on His promises. Among those are His guarantee that He is preparing to come for us, so we can be where He is. Jesus also predicts the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is only available to believers, and this Helper acts to guide, teach, and remind us. Both for the disciples, and for future Christians, these words are meant to be comforting during hard times. Since Christ knew, in advance, what would happen, we can be even more confident to trust Him.

After completing His public ministry in Jerusalem (John 12:36–38), Jesus has washed the feet of the disciples (John 13:3–5), predicted His betrayal (John 13:21), and foreseen Peter's denial (John 13:37–38). Chapter 14 begins a series of remarks meant to encourage the disciples, in the face of dire warnings. Among these are reminders that Jesus is planning to bring them to be where He is, assurance that He is ''the way,'' and the first explicit promises of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Chapter 15 will continue this address, beginning with Jesus' claim to be ''the true vine.''

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.