“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9b
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. John 1:18
He is the image of the invisible God… Col. 1:15a
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature… Hebrews 1:3a
A few people in the Old Testament were given partial glimpses of God. Moses, hidden in a cleft of the rock with his face covered, saw only his back—the train of God’s glory. Isaiah saw the throne with God upon it and the temple full of the glorious train of his robe—yet he wasn’t even allowed to see the face of the angels, let alone God’s face. Even the angels covered their eyes in God’s presence! Ezekiel saw a figure on a throne, but it was shrouded in fire, like trying to gaze into the sun itself. Behind all of these theophanies is the simple truth: No one can see the face of God and live (Ex. 33:20).
How startling it is, then, to hear from Jesus himself that everyone who has seen Jesus has seen the Father! The hidden face of God, the face shrouded by the very glory of his holiness, has been revealed. All that is true of God is visible in Jesus himself.
And what is the face of God like, this face that is revealed in Jesus? According to Luke 17:11-19, Jesus revealed that the Father’s face is compassionate to the weak, the sick, and the outcast. Even lepers crying for mercy are worth his time.
This was already known. Hagar, a slave used and rejected by Abraham and Sarah, met God in the desert and said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” Psalm 113, which we prayed on Sunday, testifies, “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap…He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children.” Over and over the Scriptures say this, and so when the compassionate gaze of God is revealed in the actions of Jesus, it should not surprise us.
And yet it still might, because many of us continue to harbor the fear that perhaps God does not like to look at us. The sense that he does not really love us or that we need to earn his compassion runs deep in our hearts. We assume that our unworthiness, weakness, and sinfulness are all God sees when he looks at us.
Remember that Jesus has made God visible! In his actions, he has shown that God does not despise those who are lost, filthy, and weak. His face is full of compassion towards those who cry out for mercy.
Steven+
Scripture Reflections
At some point most of us have realized after a meeting or presentation that we left something out—like there was an important point to make, and it slipped your mind. I felt like that as soon as I sat down after Sunday’s sermon! Here’s what I wish I realized at the time, and why it’s so important to remember:
I mentioned how in Luke the disciples have a hard time grasping what Jesus taught them about wealth and status (as we all do). However, in Acts we see a huge shift. Suddenly they’re selling their possessions and pouring their lives out as the church grows. What changed? As I said Sunday, they had seen their Lord humble himself all the way to death, and they had seen him rise from the dead and ascend to heaven. In other words, they saw Jesus live out what he taught, and they realized that the reward the risen Jesus offered them was greater than anything they could get in this life. That’s all true, but here’s something crucial that I left out…
Pentecost. Yes, the disciples saw Jesus suffer, die, rise, and ascend. They had Jesus’ example, and the promises of his return, but they didn’t have the power to actually follow him until the Holy Spirit was poured out. You can think of Pentecost as the birth of the church—when God breathes Jesus’ resurrection life into the lives of Jesus’ followers. The results in Acts 2:42-47 were immediate—thousands of people heard the gospel and believed, and these new Christians were growing in knowledge and love. One of the chief evidences of this growth was their care for the poor, and their willingness to part with their worldly goods to help anyone in need.
Our experience of the Holy Spirit may not be as spectacular as Pentecost, but his presence and power in us is just as real. That’s part of the beauty of Jesus’ parable in Luke 17:5-10. There’s no reward to chase after, because everything has already been given. Our Lord became a servant to bring us to the master’s table as sons and daughters, and he sent us out to follow him as servants in the world. He also poured out his Spirit so we could be empowered for that calling, and so we ourselves could be transformed into the image of our Lord. If that’s true, then we are free to love, give, and serve without worrying about what we might lose. The gift we have received cannot be taken away from us, and it makes all the wealth, status, and power in the world seem like nothing in comparison. Praise God for the gift of the Spirit. May he who fills us with Christ’s life plant this truth deep in our hearts.
Justin+
Scripture Reflections
The rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:30-31)
Jesus’ parable about the rich man and Lazarus includes an intriguing interchange at the end. While the main point of the parable is about our use of wealth, he ends it on a different note: if a person does not believe the word of God, a miraculous sign won’t convince them of anything.
Even though this seems unrelated to the parable (it actually isn’t, because “Moses and the Prophets” had a lot to say about caring for the poor!), it isn’t surprising that Jesus would say this. After all, he was asked for signs multiple times (see Mt. 12:38 or Lk. 23:8), and Paul claims that the desire for a sign from God was a distinct part of the Jewish culture (I Cor. 1:22). This desire for miraculous signs was rooted in the fact that God gave Moses specific signs to prove that he was sent by God (Ex. 4), as well as the prophets’ declarations that the Messiah would also perform signs. Jesus’ point, though, is clear. Unless you already trust the word of God, a sign won’t cause faith. Like Pharoah, seeing a sign with a heart of distrust does not bring a person closer to God. A skeptic, in other words, will likely not be convinced by a miracle.
What does this have to do with us?
While God’s power is always on display in the natural world (Ps. 19:1-6; Rom. 1:20) and while he at times displays his power in supernatural ways, at the end of the day, God’s desire is that we would trust his word. Reading between the lines in this parable, we are forced to come to the stunning realization that he cares more that we trust his word than he does about our material comfort and health! It isn’t that those things don’t matter to him—they absolutely do, which is why we are told to pray for daily bread and healing—but the most important thing in life is that we trust him.
And that is the point. “Trusting his word” is another way of saying “trusting him,” and God’s overriding desire is that we would trust him, because only in him will we find life. This matters more than material comfort, it matters more than displays of power, it matters more than having our prayers answered in the ways we desire. God is the source of life, and his desire is that we trust him.
Steven+