UNITY OF FATHER AND SON

JOHN 14:7–11

“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves”

(John 14:11).

The passage before us shows that all knowledge with respect to the facts of redemption is based on genuine, Christian faith. Reason itself cannot penetrate these mysteries, and Jewish monotheism rejects the concept of more than one divine person. Only the Christian faith will do, as is manifest by Christ Himself. It is only through knowledge of the Son that we can have saving, redemptive knowledge. This is what Jesus meant when He said that if you know Him you know the Father, for they are One.

The expression, “I am in the Father and the Father in me” makes sense only if Father and Son are one in essence, that is, in all their divine attributes. The Father and Son do not exist as separate entities as human beings do, but they exist in and through each other in a single divine, self-conscious life. It is clear that Jesus is not just saying that He is unified with the Father merely in ethical harmony, but that He possesses nothing less than essential equality with God.

The words that Jesus spoke, the works that He performed, were “from the Father” not in the sense that Jesus was a puppet through which the Father spoke. On the contrary, the Son speaks the mind of the Father because this is also His own mind. In His role as redeemer and mediator, Jesus acts under the Father’s authority. This by no means diminishes His equality with the Father as a divine being. It only means that His role or function is secondary to that of the Father. Jesus is the one who has been sent to do the Father’s will.

It is no wonder, considering the complexity of the Trinity and of the relationship between the Father and Son in particular, that the disciples were dull-witted concerning this aspect of Jesus’ teaching. To believe it really was a matter of faith because reason itself could not grasp it. The Father and the Son, one and the same! Who can comprehend it? Just like the disciples, we must take Jesus at His word. But, we are not left wholly without evidence, and Jesus points this out. If you find His words so difficult to understand, at least believe His works, which testify of His divine nature and unity with the Father.

CORAM DEO

Psalm 99–102

Romans 13

Read the verses below and John 5:19; 10:38; 14:11, 20. How do these passages support Christ’s divinity? What would you say to someone who told you that they believed Christ to be a great teacher but not God? Using these passages, formulate a defense of the divinity of Christ. Memorize one that is most helpful.

For further study: 2 Cor. 4:1–6 • Col. 1:9–18 • Rev. 1:9–11

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