Show Us the Father!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia! The joy of Easter continues to fill our lives day in and day out. May 1 is the Feast Day of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles. “Show us the Father and it is enough for us,” is an appropriate statement on this day to remember two of our Lord’s “sent ones.” It’s the request Philip made of Jesus in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday. Note Jesus’ response: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

St. Philip, St. James and the other apostles were gathered around the Lord at the Last Supper. There the Lord Jesus continues to instruct them in “the knowledge of everlasting life” to a “true and lively faith.” In His response, Jesus points His apostles to Himself. To see Jesus is to see the Father. Everything they need to know about God the Father is “in the flesh” right before their eyes. Jesus is only hours away from being arrested, tried, scourged and executed. Very soon the apostles will see, even as they scatter in fear.

“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” That’s the very same message that the blessed apostles have handed down to you and me. In their teaching, the apostles show us Jesus, and thus God the Father. No wonder the early church held so closely to the teaching of the apostles (Acts 2:42), including Saints Philip and James. The apostles instruct God’s people in the way of salvation, just as the Lord personally instructed them. That same Christ-filled teaching and preaching continues in the ministry of the church today. That’s what is happening at Zion Lutheran Church! If you have any confusion or doubt about God the Father, about who He is, about His disposition toward you, look to Jesus, right where the apostles point you. Misunderstandings about God abound in the fallen world in which we live. When we witness evil, disaster and tragedy, there is great potential for confusion and doubt. Satan loves that confusion and doubt. He wants to use it to make God your enemy. Jesus wipes away all the confusion. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

What is God the Father like? Look to Jesus—holy and righteous. Look to Jesus—suffering, dying and rising for you. At the cross you see God’s justice. The debt for sin must be paid. But God the Father didn’t charge that debt to you. He charged it to His only-begotten Son. In Jesus you see God the Father and His love for His fallen world, His love for you! And in Christ’s resurrection you see what God truly desires for you—real and abundant life in body and soul! That life is His gift to you!

Today we rejoice in Saints Philip and James. They gave their lives to hand over the Gospel of Christ in its truth and purity. We rejoice in the church that was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. You belong to that church, the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints, the Body of Christ. You are baptized into Christ, with the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit upon you. You are being nurtured in the teaching of the apostles. Again and again in the ministry of our congregation you not only see Jesus, you receive Jesus, and thus, all that God the Father has to give. Everything you need to know about God the Father is right before your eyes IN THE FLESH. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

“Almighty God, whom to know is life everlasting, grant that, even as your Son gave knowledge of everlasting life to the apostles Saint Philip and Saint James by revealing himself to them as the only way to you, so may we by a true and lively faith know him as our only Savior now and ever; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” (Collect for St. Philip and St. James, Apostles)