Daily Devotionals

Trouble Maker Week 1: Friday

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? John 14:9


You have heard the phrases “like father, like son,” or “like mother, like daughter.” We say things like this because often, children look, do, or say things that remind us of their parents. You might even say about a daughter who looks like her mom that she is the “spitting image” of her mother. Children often carry characteristics of their parents and look like them. They are a physical representation of their parents. In the same way, Jesus is the Son of God, and when He came to earth, people were able to see and observe what God the Father was like through watching and observing Him.

Jesus, Himself, let people know that He was the Son of God and that people could know what God the Father is like by observing Him. In a conversation, He said to one of His disciples Philip, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the father!” (verse 9). What a statement! Anyone who saw Jesus had seen God the Father as well. He was a physical representation of God the Father, so if anyone wanted to know what God the Father was like, all they had to do was look to Jesus. The things Jesus got mad about, God the Father was mad about. The love Jesus showed was a picture of God the Father’s love as well.

Although we cannot physically see Jesus, we know that He is very much alive and active in our lives. We can also read about Him in Scripture. What we read about Him saying and doing gives us a clear picture of God the Father. We learn what God is like by observing Jesus in Scripture. As you observe Jesus in Scripture, you find that He is kind, loving, gracious, just, merciful, and so much more.

Moving toward action

Look back at John 1:1-18, which you read about in the Going Deeper section yesterday. Make a list of all things that this passage of Scripture reveals about Jesus. After making this, remember that Jesus said, “anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” As a result, these things also reveal something about God the Father. Finally, say a prayer of thanksgiving, praising God for who He is and what Jesus revealed about both God the Father and Himself.

Going Deeper

John 14:1-14 (NLT)

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”

5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!