Father-Bells
John 14:8-9
I. Introduction
Why is it that Jesus mentions so often ‘...He who sent Me...’ (Tab. 1)? Why did Jesus do that? It is the purpose of this study to prayerfully come to some understanding in that regard. We have written this study so that the opening sections, sections two through four, serve to set things up for us; much of the study is packed into section five, the concluding comments, and certainly table 1.
II. Who Sent Jesus?
We must identify Jesus before we can answer this section’s question. Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity Jehovah[1], Jehovah God (Hebrews 1:8-13). Father, Son, Holy Spirit, co-equal, in every conceivable way. Why co-equal? Because Jehovah God, by self-revelation, and by very definition, is infinite[2]. Infinite in space, in time, and essence. Thus, there is equality in the Godhead, as infinity—once, melds into infinity—twice, and again melds into the selfsame infinity—thrice. Infinity has no equal, except itself. It is divine love that thus melds (1John 4:8). Jehovah God is One in, infinite love. And Jehovah God is One in, infinite holiness—innocence, purity, and righteousness (Leviticus 11:44-45). One in love, One in holiness, co-equal. Now it is timely to answer this section’s question: Father God sent Jesus. But Jehovah is co-equal! Should One, send Another, a co-equal? The question beneath the surface spelled out is this: does the Father sending Jesus compromise the equality between Jesus and the Father? Or, to put it in language a worldly reader understands, does it reveal a pecking order within the Godhead? No, that does not follow by an infinity argument. Neither omniscience, nor omnipresence, nor omnipotence is compromised when One thus infinite (Father, or Son, or Holy Spirit) sends another thus infinite (Father, or Son, or Holy Spirit). Infinity has no equal except itself. But let us pose the question differently (please allow a conjecture for the sake of argument only): could Jesus have sent the Father? As co-equals, we believe that He could have, and Father God would have gone, to the extent even that the zeal Jesus manifested on behalf of the Father (John 4:34, Hebrews 10:7) would have been manifested similarly by The Father on behalf of Jesus (John 10:27-30). Please notice carefully—Jesus indicates that the Father was in fact with Him throughout His ministry, except for a time at Calvary when Father God forsook the sin-laden Jesus, not least in fulfillment of Scripture (Psalm 22:1, Mark 15:34) [3]. Self-understood co-equality (that is, Jehovah God recognizes His infinitude), bound in infinite love and holiness, expresses itself in unanimity of purpose. Jehovah is One in purpose. One in love, One in holiness, One in purpose. Jesus was sent as Jehovah, by Jehovah, in the full, in the infinite capacity and exceeding high-plane character of, Jehovah. So, the conclusion drawn in this section is that Father God sent a quite willing Jesus somewhere, to do something, in the way of accomplishing the unanimity of purpose in the Godhead Jehovah concerning that something.
III. Where Was Jesus Sent?
At the most general level, Jesus was sent to the earth He created; an earth fallen, an earth given over to Jehovah’s enemy, Satan. More specifically, Jesus was sent to what we know today as the Middle East; and refining yet another level, Jesus was sent to Israel; and again, to a people Israel (Matthew 15:22-24). A people Israel whom Jehovah God had chosen to be His peculiar people thousands of years before Jesus’ first advent (Gen 28:10-15, cf. John 1:49-51). A peculiar people in the sense that as His people, they were sanctified, distinct from all other people, these others given over to His enemy. A people Israel to whom God had revealed Himself for the express purpose of making them His peculiar people, sanctified. Sanctified, in this character to resonate with the work He had chosen them to start.
IV. Why Was Jesus Sent?
Jesus was sent to do the work that infinite love is pleased to do. He, thus Chosen (Isaiah 42:1, 49:6-7, Luke 23:35, 1Peter 1:19-20, 2:4), was sent to consummate the work that Jehovah’s chosen people Israel were sent to start. Specifically, Jehovah’s chosen were to be a blessing to all people. Blessing is, identically and exclusively, oneness with the triune God Jehovah; it is oneness, with the divine Oneness. Oneness, with the divine Oneness, demands sanctification, because Jehovah is holy. In their person, in their spirit, in their heart, the people Israel, privileged with the knowledge of the one true God Jehovah, were to reveal Jehovah, a Lover of people, and Holy, to all people, so that others might be attracted to Jehovah, and embrace His demands of sanctification for their consummate good. This they did not do. The portrait of God His privileged chosen people painted misrepresented God; it stymied the demands of sanctification that allow oneness with the divine Oneness to unfold, like a flower unfolds, when it blooms. But for a sanctified few, privileged Israel, privileged with the knowledge of the one true God Jehovah, embraced the demands of Satan, for which it was, for which it stands, sorely judged. Jesus was sent to these lost sheep, Israel, as Messiah (Daniel 7:13-14, 9:25, Micah 5:2, Matthew 1:16-17, 2:4-6, Mark 14:61-62, John 1:41, 4:25-26). Messiah, One of whom Jehovah had aplenty foretold, One whom they expected, One about whom they were well versed, so that they might recognize Him when He came, and hear Him. But they did not recognize Him, nor did they hear Him, when He told them that He had come to gather them together into the divine Oneness, like a mother hen gathers her chicks, even they, whom He declared outside of that Oneness and in desperate need of gathering (Luke 20:9-15, 16-18). So they cruelly despised and rejected Him, to His death at their hands, in keeping with the demands of Satan, to which many of them had given themselves over. But in their cruelty to their Messiah, they brought about that which Omniscience purposed from the beginning, in keeping with the infinite love and holiness of Jehovah, which was the possibility for their sanctification and restoration into the divine Oneness through the vicarious death of Messiah on their behalf. And not only them, but all people, whom Jehovah created, and deeply loves, might enter the divine Oneness through Jesus, Messiah, Savior, a great savior God, who loves people with an infinite love, and desires that they be holy, like He is holy, for their sanctification, and entry into the divine Oneness. And there is another reason why Jesus was sent. Jesus was sent to pay a Price. Jesus was sent to pay a steep price, for Sin, which must be accounted for by the counsels of the Divine Justice, because Jehovah cannot overlook Sin (“A Letter of Invitation”). Because He loves the sinner, with an infinite love, with divine love, Jesus was sent to pay the wages of Sin, which is death, by the immutable adjudication of the Divine Justice (Rom 6:23, John 19:30).
V. Concluding Comments
This study was inevitably centered in the makeup and function of the blessed Holy Trinity, whom we referred to as Jehovah throughout—Father God, Jesus the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit; the triune Jehovah God[4]. Jehovah is a transliteration of the original Hebrew Yahweh (I AM, Exodus 3:13-15). The Name Jehovah has the ring of eternality to it, of infinity. Jehovah indeed is infinite, by self-revelation, and very definition, and we hold that said infinitude, specifically, is why Jehovah is co-equal in the Godhead. Infinity has no equal except itself.
Jehovah is, among myriad other blessed things, a God who “sends.” He sends Himself, He sends His angels, He sends members of His extended family. He sends. We were interested in one aspect in this regard, and that was His sending Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. It had caught our attention for quite some time that Jesus frequently spoke of “...He who sent Me...”. Those four words on the lips of Jesus again and again we thought was profound and significant, and so we wanted to pull together those utterances, and prayerfully look at them and try to understand Jesus’ message in this glaringly redundant pointing of His, pointing so often to the One who sent Him. Table 1 pulls together what we found, and some thoughts in each case. Much of the study is in that table. In the balance of this section, we are going to summarize the sections above, and then lastly, we shall draw some conclusions with God’s help.
We started by asking “who sent Jesus,” and in the way of addressing this it became necessary to identify Jesus as best as we could. Already the blessed Trinity entered the study at that point, and the identification proceeded along the lines of Jesus’ person if you will in the triune God Jehovah. We said that Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity Jehovah, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, a Trinity co-equal, in every conceivable way. The reason given for co-equality was based on an argument of infinity: The Godhead is infinite, as are necessarily they which comprise the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The basis of the argument is entirely this-worldly, and very simple—infinity has no equal, except itself. That is all well and good, but theological studies need more than arguments from logic, so we wanted to think of this as an argument from logic tempered with divine applications and implications, such that infinity here, its salient application and implication, was understood to be with respect to the self-revealed nature of Jehovah, which is love, and holiness. Jehovah is One in infinite love—we mentioned that this is divine love, totally foreign to the human experience, as is very infinity, the measure of divine love; and Jehovah is certainly One in infinite holiness—quintessential innocence, purity, and righteousness. One in love, One in holiness, co-equal. We tried to think of God’s infinitude from His perspective, and thought it was self-understood (by Him), and therefore self-understood too is the co-equality in the Godhead—that is, Jehovah God certainly recognizes His infinitude. And self-understood co-equality, bound in infinite love and holiness, expresses itself in unanimity of purpose; anything less would suggest asymmetry in the Godhead, which simply cannot hold by the arguments above, at least. And so we said Jehovah is One in purpose. One in love, one in holiness, one in purpose. Thus, we said Jesus was sent as Jehovah, by Jehovah, in the full capacity and exceeding high-plane character of Jehovah; sent somewhere, to do something, in the way of accomplishing the unanimity of purpose in the Godhead.
In addressing the question posed by the opening section, we said that it was Father God who sent Jesus, and discussed the implications for co-equality in the Godhead because of this charge, and again we thought that the argument of infinity held. To here then is a summary of the opening section.
The next section asked where was Jesus sent. We said that at the most general level, Jesus was sent to the earth He created; an earth fallen, an earth given over to Jehovah’s enemy, Satan. Ultimately, Jesus was sent to Israel, the people Israel, whom Jehovah God had chosen to be His peculiar people thousands of years before Jesus’ first advent. A peculiar people in the sense that as His people, they were sanctified, distinct from all other people, a people Israel to whom God had revealed Himself for the express purpose of making them His peculiar, His sanctified, people, in this character resonating with the work He sent them to start.
The final section asked why was Jesus sent. We said that Jesus was sent to do the work that infinite love is pleased to do. That He was sent to complete the work that Jehovah’s chosen people Israel were sent to start. In that regard we said that Jehovah’s chosen were to be a blessing to all people, where blessing was understood to be oneness with the triune God Jehovah; oneness with the divine Oneness. We said that oneness with the divine Oneness, demands sanctification, because Jehovah is holy. That in their person, in their spirit, in their heart, the people Israel, who were privileged with the knowledge of the one true God Jehovah, were to reveal (=”preach”) Jehovah to all people, so that others might be attracted to Jehovah, and embrace His demands of sanctification for their consummate good. We said that Israel did not do this, that the portrait of God they painted misrepresented God, and thereby His demands for sanctification that allow oneness with the divine Oneness to unfold. In fact, Jehovah’s chosen people but for a sanctified few were as unsanctified, or worse, than those round about them that they were to minister to. Jesus was sent to this Israel because Israel was in trouble, physically, and spiritually (the former trouble always follows the latter trouble). Hanging in the balance were Jehovah’s covenantal promises to Israel, which would stand no matter what, and manifestly so, thanks to Jesus (in the end Covenant always stands because of Jehovah’s activities). We said Jesus was sent to Israel as Messiah, One of whom Jehovah had aplenty foretold, One whom Israel expected, One about whom they were well versed, so that they might recognize Him when He came, and hear Him, and be saved, and restored unto the physical and spiritual utility and vitality Jehovah had long before intended for them. Of course, they did not recognize Jesus, their Christ, nor did they hear Him; they cruelly despised and rejected Him, to His death at their hands. Nevertheless, despite this, they brought about that which Omniscience purposed from the beginning, in keeping with the infinite love and holiness of Jehovah, which was the possibility for their sanctification and restoration, their sweep up into the divine Oneness, through the vicarious death of Messiah on their behalf, and the impartation of His righteousness through embracing Him as He who came to them in the Name of the LORD—Jehovah—thus sent, by Jehovah, in the full, in the infinite, capacity and exceeding high-plane character of Jehovah, very righteousness, acknowledging the need for His righteousness, with gratitude, with a repentant, grateful heart. Here is the Gospel, first preached to Israel by He who was sent; preached to Israel, who was chosen to do this preaching, not to be preached to. Significantly, not only Israel, but all people would soon hear this Gospel. It was said that there was another very important reason why Jesus was sent, and that was that Jesus was to pay the price for Sin—everybody’s—which payment is Redemption, which clears the way for Salvation, life eternal in the presence of Jehovah God; oneness with the divine Oneness. In this way, Jesus was in fact a blessing to all people, consummating the work that Israel was sent to start. This completes the summarizing of the sections above.
Now we would like to discuss the crux of the study:
(1) why did Jesus point so often to the One, Father God, who sent Him? And,
(2) is there a message from Him in that?
As concerns (1), besides identifying (revealing) Father God through the setting attending the need for a given pointing, a major reason is simply practical, and had to do with the settings. Oftentimes in His ministry Jesus came under hostile fire, Pharisaic fire. Jesus came under hostile fire from punctilious keepers of the letter of the Law—Pharisees and otherwise—hostile fire designed to discredit Him, to show Him a blasphemer, a self-motivated doctrinal battering ram pleased to focus its energy on their long-standing traditions and the letter of the Law as they understood and inculcated them. Jesus leaned on Father God in His responses to validate Himself, to validate His actions and His words. To Jesus’ Jewish hearers, specifically Jehovah, was Father (please notice that to Jesus’ antagonists, Exodus 3:13-15, that revelation of God, was “Father God” [Jehovah | Yahweh, I AM]). The notion of Father God is prevalent in the Old Testament thematically, though with few specific references (a very short list of implied references to give the reader a feel for the possibilities: Exodus 4:22, Job 31:15, Hosea 11:1-3; specific references: Deuteronomy 32:6, 2Samuel 7:14, Psalm 68:5, Isaiah 9:6, 64:8, Malachi 2:10—we might have missed some, but there surely isn’t much more than this; the former list is short here, but it could easily be made huge). Jesus was not self-motivated, He was sent, to do, and to say, things consistent with the Truth, and will, of Father God, so oftentimes Jesus’ validations are dressed in words like: ‘...I speak as the Father (Jehovah to His Jewish hearers) taught me; I have not come on my own initiative, but to do the will of Him who sent me; this commandment I have from my Father...’, and so on, blessed words you will notice in the table below. And moreover, Jesus’ validations did not simply lean on the Father with lip service, but came with works, attestations, things the Jews “required.” He reminded them of the works that He performed, and that these bore witness to the One who sent Him (John 10:25). Jesus is the Centerpiece of Scripture; we know that today in hindsight; it is an easy call when one searches for Him in Scripture. But to the Pharisees the Law was that centerpiece—that is what they searched for in Scripture, for in the Law, was God, because the Law came to Israel from the finger of God (to Moses, from God, at Sinai). From their perspective, Jesus broke the Law, thus in their thinking Jesus could not possibly have been sent by Jehovah. And Jesus’ works, not limited to miracles—command of the (His) natural laws, FUSIKOS | physics—were also rejected (Matthew 12:24), even though said works came with power, certainly, and were consistent with Jesus’, with Jehovah’s, TheoLogos, which was at their fingertips, ever so intelligibly spelled out in Scripture. Beautiful, blessed, elegant, excellent, TheoLogos. So exceeding superior, at every turn, to the convoluted, super-added theology upon which these Pharisees and other pious frauds like them rejected Jesus’ claims (they built out of the framework of the TheoLogos a grotesque thing, a choker-monster, that resembled not anymore its Origins).
‘...Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord [=Jehovah]: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these...’ (Mark 12:28-31, KJV). And the point is that the learned scribes quite concurred (Mark 12:32-34). Now if Matthew 5-7 does not ring that Father-bell upon which they concurred, nothing else in the world does either. The Sermon on the Mount is just one example we mention to show their motivations had other bases. Of course it is easy to point a better-than-thou finger at these pious frauds from the distance of millennia removed; let us by God’s grace watch ourselves in our dealings with Jehovah God and others lest be like them; God forbid.
So as concerns (1), besides identifying (revealing) Father God, a major reason is simply practical, and had to do with the settings. Another reason had to do with love, and respect, and co-equality. No way would Jesus hijack from the Father the honor accruing to the things He Jesus did—which things were true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report and virtue, praiseworthy... (cf. Philippians 4:8, NKJV). In this way, Jesus honored the Father, whom He loves with an infinite love (and vice-versa of course). Co-equality at the scale of deity needs no such hijacking; co-equality at the scale of deity stands at ease in the servant’s role. So Jesus gives credit to the Father to whom He Jesus is tethered in the unanimity of purpose behind these lovely things that Jesus took from the point of design: ‘...Go ye thus, my beloved Son...’, to the point of execution: ‘...Here am I, send me...’, in the oneness of the divine Oneness (Fig. 1).
Now as concerns (2), restated: is there a message from Jesus in these glaringly redundant pointings to the One who sent Him, in these Father-bells? As far as we know there is nothing explicit in Scripture to that effect. If there is a message, maybe more than one, Jehovah God shall by His grace grant His children, those that ask, seek, knock, that insight.
Praised be thy Name great Jehovah God, thou true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report and virtue, thou praiseworthy; thou Papa, whom we adore and love...
Illustrations and Tables
Figure 1. Here am I, Send Me.
Figure 2. Father-bells (John 8:28-29, 5:20, 14:6-and one cannot appropriate Jesus apart from His Word, which is the Father’s Word, which is Jehovah’s Word, which is found in the Christian Bible and nowhere else. Father-bells ring all up and down the pages of the Christian Bible because that sacred book is centered on, pivots on, Jesus Christ, who has revealed the Father, and the triune nature of the one true God, Jehovah). As the picture text below indicates, Jesus did the works of the Father, perfectly, which means He Jesus is the window by which to see how the works of the Father were meant to unfold in shoe leather).
Table 1. He Who Sent Me. The table is long, and meant to be a study in its own right; you may wish to come back to it.
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Scripture |
Comment |
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Matthew 10:40 |
This blessed verse shows how Jehovah’s extended family is swept up into the divine Oneness. |
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Matthew 15:22-24 |
Jesus was specifically sent to the people Israel, a people with whom He had been working for millennia in preparation for His visit. From there the greater purposes of Jehovah unfolded. |
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Luke 4:18 |
Please consider here another study “Jesus Our Jubilee.” |
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Luke 10:10-16 |
As above Jehovah’s extended family is swept up into the divine Oneness to the extent that what is done to His family is done to Him. This is very revealing. Moreover, in this set of verses we get a preview of the divine wrath to come upon those who spurn the divine grace and kindness and love and mercy offered to them (cf. Hebrews 10:29). |
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John 4:34 |
Here is an Architect involved in the building of a Building the design of which He contributed to. Here is love and respect for the Father, and passion for the successful outcome of the Mission—the building of the Building, and love for the extended family that will populate that Building together with the Architect. Praised be your blessed Name great Jehovah God. |
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John 5:19-24, 25-30, 31-32, 36-38 |
Vv. 19-24 The co-equality of Jehovah; moreover, Salvation depends on faith in Jesus and He who sent Him, namely, Father God. That is, Salvation, is faith in Jehovah. It is the Work of the Godhead. This is a major takeaway from this study. The big picture of Scripture is fellowship with Jehovah God. This is what Jehovah God desires; that is what He has co-labored and co-sacrificed to make possible (“A Letter of Invitation” for some more background); vv. 25-30, the unanimity of purpose in the Godhead concerning eternal life, judgment; verse 26 is interesting with respect to the co-equality in the Godhead: KAI TW hUIW EDWKEN ZWHN EXEIN EN hEAUTW—here we must not lose sight of John 1:1-2 by the same inspired author of course. Vv. 31-32 (cf. Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15, Proverbs 27:2, John 8:17) The infinite Wisdom is not divided against itself; that which Jesus testifies about Himself is precisely that which Father God testifies about Jesus which is precisely that which He, Father God, would testify about Himself. Why? Because of the divine Oneness; the divine Oneness into which Jesus wished to sweep these lost sheep with whom He was conversing. Vv. 36-38 The works that Jesus performed testified that He was sent by the Father—how so? More than just the miracles to be sure. Jesus worked the works of Scripture, which is the Word of God; therein is He Jehovah found, made lucid, identified. That is why so many including the Jews of Jesus’ day cannot appreciate who Jesus is—they cannot identify Him aright because the Word of God is not in their heart and between their ears. Plenty of junk occupies those spaces (talk, tech, TV, on it goes); no room for (Jehovah) God as He presents Himself, but lots of opinions about Him, all worthless when they come from a Wordless base, just noise. When Jehovah’s Word abides in a person, so does Jesus—that’s the litmus test. And where Jesus is, there the Father is—now there’s a lovely Father-bell (Fig. 2). |
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John 6:37-40, 48-54, 55-57 |
Vv. 37-40 ‘...I have come not to do not my own will but the will of Him who sent me...’. The unanimity of purpose in the Godhead was, and is, to extend eternal life to every soul whose name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 3:5, “A Letter of Invitation”). And like the manna from heaven that sustained life for a time to its eaters, thus Jesus was sent as the Bread of Life, to sustain eternal life, for as many as would as it were eat Him per vv. 48-54, 55-57. O the grand sweep into the divine Oneness of this divine program of Salvation so lovingly and passionately extended to fallen humankind by our forgiving, our redeeming God Jehovah, who has given and continues to give so of Himself to make blessed entry into the divine Oneness a reality (Hebrews 7:25—He helps us overcome, Revelation 3:5, John 3:16). Praised be thy beautiful and blessed Name great Jehovah God. Multiplied thank you and thank you great God, Amen. |
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John 7:28 |
Jesus of Nazareth they knew. But Father God, whom they pretended to worship there in the temple, they did not know (they knew not Truth, God’s very reality), and so they did not recognize He whom He sent, namely the incarnate Son of God, very Truth, in their midst. Is this oversight dismissible, or, understandable? If someone we grew up with suddenly appeared claiming to be God no doubt we all would fast depart from such a one—in our day, Scripture is closed, prophecy has been fulfilled precisely in Jesus, and the only time we shall ever manifestly see God Himself here in the land of the living is at Jesus’ second advent (a global affair), but in Jesus’ day, especially as concerns the Jews, Messiah had not yet come, and Jesus came into their midst with exhaustive proofs (Truth!) of the type that they had wearied themselves in memorizing, sporting them on their foreheads and dress and whatnot, and still they missed Jesus (rote can be a devil). Big difference between that day and our day. We are looking anticipatorily for Jesus’ second advent, they were looking for His first advent, but of course they did not know that it was Jesus, ‘...that skinny boy that grew up yonder in Nazareth, the carpenter’s son...’—that they were looking/waiting for. When He comes again, no one will miss it. |
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John 8:14-18, 26-29, 42 |
Vv. 14-18 Again Jesus specifically references Father God as He who sent Him. With respect to this verse set please compare John 16:28. Jesus knew exactly who He was and where He came from (certainly not just a skinny kid that grew up in Nazareth). He stepped out of heaven and into the lower order of His creation (Imagine that), down here where swollen heads and fat hearts and eyes, thus swelled up by hijacking His blessings, soon rewrote the Script a little more to their liking, an excellent Script, a vibrant, vital, victorious Script, He intended for this once higher order become lull, lacking, losing, by way of Rebellion (in heavenly places, in low places, Rebellion all around). He, as Jehovah, came to remediate that; to fix it, fix it up right; to make this low-plane stuff down here higher order again. To sweep it up into a beauty and elegance and excellency befitting those for whom Jehovah ever had and has deep affection, the jewel of His creation, become low, rebels. And to do that, for us, He had to (no, wanted to) first pay the cost of our Rebellion. What a Savior. How good it is that we have you great savior God. Praised be your great Name. Amen. We should back up a couple of verses to continue: John 8:12-13, 14-18. Jesus makes sure here to satisfy a puny mindset (puny judgment—John 8:15-16, and just think of the sort of judgment He could have rightfully invoked, but He did not—deity is way above that sort of thing; the time for righteous Judgment is later); a puny mindset that sees Him ever as that skinny kid that grew up in Nazareth, become blasphemer, and in the way of response He satisfies a good mandate that He Himself instituted—that the testimony of two must needs hold before convictions are levied (it is good, and yet we see how easily wicked hearts might twist this, this part of the good Script, meant to protect the innocent). It is in this context that Jesus leans on the Father again as the One who sent Jesus and, that Father God and Jesus’ testimony is seamless; the two are One. How that answer must have peeved those snakes Jesus was talking to (cf. another setting (John 10:24-25, 30). Going by what we have learned from the Script, hardly has this world known a more slippery warm-blooded snake than certain Pharisees of Jesus’ day (“Matthew Chapter Twenty-Three Commentary”). Vv. 26-29 (John 8:26-29) ‘...when you see the Sacrifice, then you’ll know...’ That Cross, there was just no way to dodge it. Right? Wrong. There was, but Jesus did not want to dodge it (He is the Greatest, He is my Lord, and my Hero, He is my great savior God). ‘...when you see the Son of Man lifted up, then you will know that I am He...’. And the triune Jehovah hung in solidarity, indeed testified, in precisely such a bleeding posture. Why? There is a whole world’s population-sized bunch of reasons (“A Letter of Invitation”). “...He who has sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him...”. How beautiful, these few words. Verse 42 (John 8:42) Jesus said "...if God were your Father, you would love Me...". This is a profound statement by Jesus, so apropos across the ages (updated 03/21/2017, A.s.). |
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John 12:44-50 |
Believing in Jesus is believing in the Father who sent Jesus, and seeing Jesus is seeing the Father who sent Jesus. Why? And it only follows, and is confirmed, that rejecting Jesus is rejecting the Father who sent Jesus. Again, why? Both questions may be answered simply by the fact that Jesus spoke not on His own initiative, but spoke precisely that which He was commanded to speak. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the Logos, the Word, of God (John 1:1-2, “John Chapter One Commentary”). Please notice carefully: said commandment, the immutable Word, was and is eternal life (and that was Jesus’ “meat”; it was Jehovah’s good pleasure). From that necessarily followed the Cross, Redemption, and Salvation, which Salvation is life eternal in the very presence of Jehovah God. That, was the commandment Jesus received. Notice that received here means as though given by another (Father God) and as though accepted by another (Jesus). Given and accepted (John 12:49-50 respectively). Is co-equality in the Godhead burdened here? No way. The only thing that is burdened is my own exceeding inability to appreciate aright this infinite love usward. |
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John 13:20 |
Christianity is a Family Affair. Notice: Jesus sends (Jesus wants your fellowship dearest reader; come on in, join the family, the door is being left wide upon precisely for you; we are all expectantly waiting for you! “A Letter of Invitation”. And what a blessed eternity awaits all of us, we and our God, bound up together in the divine Oneness. This is to His glory you know; it is for Him a Name. let us praise His Name just now. We praise you great Jehovah God. Amen.). |
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John 14:24-28, 29-31 |
Verse 24 Again and again Jesus rings the bells that resound this theme: there is some precursor subject, Jesus straightaway addresses it, and finishes with the likes of ‘...but the Father who sent Me...’. It is so glaringly prevalent; oftentimes it comes in response to Pharisaic hostility and inappropriateness, to put it kindly. We wanted you to hear these lovely “Father-bells,” and so we put them into this table so that you may treasure them as we do. Vv. 25-26 Jehovah is a Trinity, co-equal. In this verse set Jehovah is revealed in the fullness of the Godhead: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. O the Holy Spirit, the mighty One, mighty fierce One, the mighty tender One. He whom we oftentimes refer to as the Timeless Worker. A working man or woman might say ‘...He puts the hammer down...’. He ‘hovered over the waters’ at creation (Genesis 1:2), He watched over the people Israel in their great Exodus (Exodus 40:38), He incarnated Jesus! (Luke 1:35; none other than God could incarnate God; Jesus is the Son of God, this is the work of God), and so much more (for example Acts 1:8), and here now He is...sent, to do another sort of work, which He continues to the day. ‘...the Helper, whom the Father will send in My [Jesus’] Name...’. He too is sent, just as Jesus was sent. Verse 28 (John 14:28) Jesus returns to the Father, to He who sent Him (blessed Father-bells all about now). He is seated at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3), having taken upon Himself the deity to which He could not, would not, avail Himself whilst in the lowly flesh: hOTI hO PATHR MEIZWN MOU ESTIN (for the Father is greater than I). Co-equality problems? There is an argument that holds Jesus referenced His incarnate state here. Possibly so, makes sense. In any case, the argument of infinity is as strong or stronger and supports the former: by mundane definition, which is what we are concerned about now, infinity cannot be greater than infinity; it remains to be seen whether these mundane laws we are familiar with hold in heaven; but then surely heaven is a logical place! In sum, this is the conviction that we maintain: there is absolute co-equality in the Godhead (not just sometimes, not just a little bit), a blessed Godhead, a Trinity, who is by Name, by self-revelation, Jehovah (I AM, Exodus 3:13-15). Vv. 29-31 (John 14:29-31), another Father-bell, can you hear it?! |
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John 17:21-23, 25 |
Verse 21 When Christians live in harmony, loving one another, sanctified unto God, it shines forth the divine love which Jesus, on behalf of the Godhead, extended usward. It is manifest oneness with the divine Oneness—in holiness (sanctified unto God), and love (the divine love). Jesus brought this totally foreign character to humankind—at great cost to God (thus he loves us with an infinite love, divine love)—so that we might be introduced to it, to learn about it, and enter in to this divine love, this totally foreign experience, and when we do, foreign as it is to the world, it is like a beacon that shines forth the source of its peculiar (to the human experience) Source. Vv 22-23 Perfection, which bespeaks of God, comes through Unity. Not just any sort of unity here, but oneness with the divine Oneness. Impossible task, this perfection, yes, but for the Glory imparted to the believer (John 14:26-27), even the very Spirit of God. Verse 25 (John 17:25) The world will never believe that Jesus was sent by Father God because it does not know the Father, from whom Jesus proceeded; the world is in straits here because it cannot hear God, but those who know God, those blessed to hear Him, not least in His Word, His self-disclosure, straightaway know that Jesus was sent by God; the people of God recognize in Jesus Father God (updated 03/22/2017, A.s.). |
Table 1 Sources: A.s., BLB Scripture search tools.
Works Cited and References
“A Letter of Invitation.”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/aletterofinvitation.html>
“Blue Letter Bible Study Tools.
Blue Letter Bible.
< http://blueletterbible.org >
“Great and Grand Worker Divine.”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/greatandgrandworkerdivine.html >
“Isaiah Chapter Six Commentary.”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/commentaryisa6.html >
“Jesus Our Jubilee.”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/jesusourjubilee.html >
“John Chapter One Commentary.”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/commentaryjohn1.html >
“Matthew Chapter Twenty-Three Commentary.”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/commentarymatt23latest.html >