Our Daily Bread June 4
My Father’s Child / By: John Blase Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
John 14:9
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 14:8–14 (NIV):
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 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’? 10 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. 11 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. 12 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. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
They looked down at the faded photograph, then up at me, then over at my father, then back at me, then back at my father. Their eyes were as wide as the proverbial saucers. “Dad, you look just like Papa when he was young!” My father and I grinned because this was something we’d known for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that my children came to the same realization. While my father and I are different people, in a very real sense to see me is to see my father as a younger man: tall, lanky frame; full head of dark hair; prominent nose; and rather large ears. No, I am not my father, but I am most definitely my father’s son.
A follower of Jesus named Philip once asked, “Lord, show us the Father” (John 14:8). And while it wasn’t the first time Jesus had indicated as much, His response was still cause for pause: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9). Unlike the physical resemblances between my father and me, what Jesus says here is revolutionary: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” (v. 10). His very essence and character were the same as His Father’s. In that moment Jesus was being straightforward with His beloved disciples and us: If you want to know what God is like, look at Me.
Today’s Hymns:
Heavenly Father I Appreciate You
Father I Adore You
Scripture to Respond:
1 John 3:2 (NIV)
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Luke 6:35-36 (NIV)
35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Reflection:
What qualities in Heavenly Father and Jesus that strongly attract you? Do you have mercy like the Father and would be kind to those ungrateful and wicked? Is your life reflecting God’s beauty and glory?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, when we are in troubles with all things go wrong, please remind me that seeing You is just seeing Heavenly Father. Help me to focus on You and look up to You. Make my life show your beauty even in difficult circumstances.
Wong Wai Tung
(Chief executive officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) &
Sam Chow
(Administrative officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation)
Translated by Esther Leung
