Knowing Jesus

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’

Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’

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”?  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.  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. 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.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.  If you love me, keep my commands.’” (John 14:6-15 NIV)

Every theistic religion focuses on reaching/pleasing God through human effort.  It is all about the works you do.  In the various forms of Christianity that exist and have existed down through the centuries, this has been manifested by emphases on faithful attendance at worship services, commitment to various rituals (such as the saying of the rosary or partaking of Communion every week), or withdrawal from society as demonstrations of one’s faithfulness to God.  And Jesus’s words can seem to endorse such attitudes—“If you love me, keep my commands.”  

Yet, the Pharisees are the Jewish equivalent of many Christians.  They were very committed to keeping what they believed to be the commands of God.  Yet, Jesus, in an earlier encounter with them, proclaimed they did not truly know God (John 8:19).  In this passage and later when He speaks about being the Vine (John 15:1-8), Jesus makes clear the first requirement of pleasing God is to know Him.  He IS the way; He IS the truth; He IS the life.  No one gains access to the Father but THROUGH Him.  

Typically, however, we humans are prone to get the proverbial cart before the horse.  We think the way to please God is to do what we think He wants us to do.  And usually that is some sort of good work.  So we faithfully go to church thinking we are pleasing Him.  Or we do our best to be a better person than others around us.  Or we make sacrifices in our lives to demonstrate our worthiness to Him.  

These attempts are not necessarily wrong, but if they are done as a way to earn God’s love rather than as a result of His love, then we miss an important truth: God’s love cannot be earned, but only received.  And it is received, not through a single prayer, but through knowing Jesus, as one would a spouse or close friend.  It would never do for me just to do good things for my wife; she wants me to spend time with her talking and getting to know her on a more deep and intimate level.  It is the same with Jesus.  He doesn’t just want us to do things for Him; He wants us to know Him.

Today, recognize that following Jesus is first and foremost a journey of getting to know Him.  When you do, you will want to obey Him, not out of obligation, but out of love, which is always the most satisfying motivation.

© Jim Musser 2014