This topic calls for “A Conversation In God’s Kitchen.” Fr. Capon is still cooking.
The Gospel of John 14:8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can 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 authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
This verse is crucial in Jesus shaped spirituality. It does not say that if we have seen Jesus we have an incomplete and inaccurate view of the Father. While there are obviously vast aspects of God that we can’t understand, all that we can understand about the Father is clearly seen in Jesus.
Jesus is the Father’s revelation of himself. Not one revelation that needs dozens of other revelations in order to give an accurate picture, but “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”
It is much like saying, “If you read chapter 6, you know all the answers for the exam.” There may be much knowledge that pertains to the subject of chapter 6 that you don’t know, but what you need to know, what it is essential for you to know, is revealed to you in chapter 6.
So God has revealed all we can understand and all we need to understand about himself as our Father in and through Jesus.
So Jesus, the son, doesn’t present a different God than the Father, but is the perfect revelation of the Father.
Does the God we know, worship and communicate conform to what God has revealed about himself in Jesus?
Does the God we worship contradict or avoid what we know in Jesus?
Do we conform other parts of scripture to what God has revealed of himself in Jesus, or do we allow Leviticus to tell us more about God than God has revealed personally, verbally, savingly in Jesus?
The Jesus shaped life is the life that takes Jesus as the great revealing Word from God that reveals the Father. And our life is a response to that Word.
The whole of the Old Testament needs to be interpreted through the lens that is Jesus. Whenever a passage in the Law appears to be missing grace, it’s because the person presenting the passage didn’t adequately interpret it through Jesus.
Kinda like you said.
Amen. And for a fuller exposition of this concept, I can’t recommend more strongly this lecture by N.T. Wright. 45 minutes or so, but worth every second.
Michael,
Excellent post! I wish more people had your understanding of the fact that God the Father is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Far too many Christians still believe that Judaism worships the one true God. They are actually no different than pagans. Only in Christ is the veil taken away from Torah.
I read briefly through your biography. I thought it was interesting that, as a reformed guy, you noted N.T. Wright among those who have had a lot of influence on you. If you had the time, a discussion on your take of the phrase “righteousness of God” in Romans 1:17 would be interesting.
Thanks again for the post. It was excellent!
“Jesus is the Father’s revelation of himself. Not one revelation that needs dozens of other revelations in order to give an accurate picture, but “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.””
So does that mean we only need the four gospels and can throw out the rest of the NT? I mean, we’ve already seen Jesus so we don’t need “dozens of other revelations” to fill in any blanks or gray areas? Is that what you’re saying?
If I am too aggressive or obtuse tonight, forgive me.
As a Jesus-Only Trinitarian (my own term) I agree on the one-ness of God. Jesus claimed to be “I AM”, the verses Michael quoted, and a number of others where Jesus claims Godhood or the Apostles do in their writings. Yes, I also believe that there are three aspects/variations/persons/whatever in that same God. No, I don’t understand it but Jesus claimed to be God, and yet took orders from the Father.
DD
What’s a Jesus only Trinitarian believe about the Nicene Creed?
I agree with it. Mostly. It seems the Holy Spirit gets sort of short thrift in the Creed while I believe that He is every bit as much God as the Father and the Son.
Trinitarians seem to elevate the Trinity (why not use the term the Bible uses, Godhead, instead?) above and beyond everything else. The emphasis seems to be THREE…oh yeah, who are one.
Jesus Only folks drift into the idea of modalism. They don’t always seem to have an answer for how Jesus can be standing on a river bank AND be talking from heaven.
My belief, and I have no illusions it’s a new one, is that when Jesus claimed to be one with the Father, when he said he would send the Holy Spirit to his followers followed immediately by “I will come to you”, he meant exactly what he said. That Isaiah 9:6 isn’t wrong when it refers to the Messiah as “the mighty God, the everlasting Father.” That God is, without question, one unified being in ways we can’t understand.
Yet, He is also very clearly revealed as three elements/persons/aspects that seem to be as individual as you and I. This idea can be seen as far back as Genesis with the plural word elohim used to describe a singular entity not to mention the use of the word “we”. Jesus claimed to only do what the Father told him to do, say what the Father told him to speak, etc.
God is truly deeply and totally One. God is a Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three “persons”, equal in their divinity. I don’t understand how that works…all human explanations seem to fall short… yet from the Bible I read, both statements are true.
To be honest, the appellation is a sort of jab at both sides for over emphasizing one over the other. It also gets people to ask questions. :)
DD
There actually is no Greek word “Godhead.” All modern/literal translations say “deity.”
I stand corrected. I had never bothered to look it up…I should have.
Conversely, I don’t think that changes my point at all. Christians seem to swing hard to one side or the other, as we do in a lot of things, when the truth seems to be not just “in the middle” but both.
Am I wrong?
DD
There are 3 occurences of the English word “Godhead” in the N.T. Text
Here they are:
1) Acts 17:29
2) Romans 1:20
3) Colossians 2:9
In Acts 17:29 it uses the Greek word “theios” (G2304 STrong’s number)
In Romans 1:20 it uses the Greek word “theiotēs” (G2305 Strong’s number)
In Colossians 2:9 it uses “theotēs” (G2320 Strong’s number)
Gee I wonder why it would use 3 separate and distinct Greek words to describe the same word in English that you are generically applying to all 3 instances. :o)