John 14:1-12

In the gospel of John, Philip says to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us," Jesus said. "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."

The magnificent sermon in John 14 is not found in any of the other gospels in the New Testament. Moreover, only in this gospel do Thomas and Philip speak and question Jesus. If the answers given by Jesus remind us of the teachings of Jesus in the first three gospels in the New Testament, perhaps these are words of Jesus simply remembered and reported by another disciple. But because the style of speech in the fourth gospel and what Jesus says about himself is so unlike the other New Testament gospels, it seems probable that some of the words attributed to Jesus are the creation of the gospel author.

Jesus tells Thomas that he is going to his Father's house to prepare a place for them. Then he says he is "the way, and the truth, and the life" and that "no one comes to the Father" except through him. These words suggest that there is an argument in the church for which this gospel was written about the authority of Jesus. The gospel writer affirms that Jesus has God's complete authority. The Father is fully present in the Son, and the Son fully reveals the will of the Father. Others, who affirmed faith in Jesus, must have believed that Jesus was a teacher or a prophet, rather than the Son of God. This passage becomes the basis for the doctrine of the Trinity, but the word "Trinity" is not in the Bible. The Trinity is a doctrine that the church developed after the first century.

Grace and peace...Bob