By J.H. Garrison
IN THAT upper room yonder in Jerusalem, on the evening when Jesus instituted the sacred feast which we call the Lord's Supper, and before he went out into the night to his betrayal and to his crucifixion on the morrow, he opened his heart in a wonderful way to his faithful disciples touching matters of supreme interest to the human heart. Among other things are these memorable words: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. If ye had known me ye would have known my Father also. From henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him: Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?" (John 14:6-10)
Of all the subjects which have engaged the thought of man nothing is so vital, so fundamental, so revolutionary in its influence on the life and character of men as the questions concerning God. What kind of being is he, and what is his attitude toward mankind? This is not a question that interests certain classes, or races of people only, but it appeals to all men of every nation, tribe and tongue, and of whatever degree of culture. When William Duncan, "the Apostle of Alaska," went to the Island of Metlakatla to preach the gospel to the Indians, an old Indian chief said to him: "If your book tells us the heart of God we want to hear you." What this old, savage chief, with his dim and shadowy ideas of God, wished to know was, what kind of heart or disposition did this God have toward the Indians? Was he friendly, hostile, or indifferent? This is the same question, in substance, which has been raised by thoughtful men from the appearance of man on this earth until the present time.
It was this question that was in the heart of Philip when he said to Jesus: "Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us." It is as if he had said: "We have heard about God, the Creator, the mighty Ruler, and the Holy and Righteous One, who has enacted laws for our government, but we would like to see the Father. Show us the Father and we will be satisfied." "Have I been so long time with you," said Jesus, "and dost thou not know me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."
It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of the request made by Philip and the value of the answer given by Jesus. Philip was raising a question of the universal human heart, and Jesus, perceiving that, answered it accordingly. The answer contains the very core of Christian theology. It is an announcement, on the one hand, of his supreme mission as the revealer of the Father, and of the no less startling fact that there was no access to the Father except by himself. "No one cometh unto the Father but by me."
Does the average Christian rise to the height of the great conception of God's Fatherhood? Can we think what it means to a sinning and suffering race, that the great and infinite ruler of the universe, whose laws we have trampled in the dust, and whose penalties we are suffering, is also our Father? Does it not remove from the world the shadow of orphanage and span with the rainbow of hope the dark chasm which separates us from God"? Can we ever fathom the meaning of that phrase which Jesus taught us to say, when we pray, "Our Father"? Does it not give us a new and revolutionary interpretation of the universe, and of the whole history of the human race? If God be our Father, then love is the motive power that lies behind creation and all the infinite processes of nature. Love, then, is the key that unlocks the mystery of God's dealings with humanity in the past, as it is also the key to our interpretation of God's purposes in the future.
Of course the perfect revelation of God as Father by Jesus Christ implies his own perfection as Son, for only a perfect Son could perfectly reveal a perfect Father; so that we not only have the core of a; true theology in this statement of Jesus, but of a true Christology as well. It is only by giving to Christ his proper place and function in the moral universe that we come to a true knowledge of God, whom he reveals. Thus are bound together, as two inseparable hemispheres of truth, the Fatherhood of God and the Sonship of Jesus Christ.
Two questions of great significance emerge at this point of our discussion:
1. In what way, or ways, has Christ shown us the Father?
2. In what way, or by what means, does he make the Father accessible to us, since we can approach the Father only through him?
Let us ponder meanwhile the infinite grace of God in disclosing to mankind his divine Fatherhood, and the greatness of man's nature, and his responsibility, implied in this revelation.
