July 15 Like Son, Like Father

John 8: 19 And so they were saying to Him, "Where is your father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me, nor my father; if you knew me, you would know my father also."

First of all, you might say, "She's got that little quote all mixed up. Isn't is Like father, like son?" Yes, that is the way it is often said, but I think when we are looking to know God, this is an accurate rendition of that little aphorism. Jesus said it himself - if we want to know God, we must know Jesus.

Consider also John 8:38, "I speak the things which I have seen with my Father; therefore you also do the things which you have heard from your father." and verse 42, "Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on my own initiative, but He sent me." And on to verse 55, "and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him, and if I say that I do not know Him, I shall be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word." And further on in John 12:44-45," And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in me does not believe in me but in Him who sent me. And he who beholds me beholds the One who sent me."

I guess the point is, and maybe you don't need any reminder of this, we can know God better as we consider Jesus. Among the first things that come to mind when I think about this is that Jesus felt. He had emotions. He wept over Jerusalem. He expressed grief during the time of Lazarus' death. He loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus, his friends. He cared for his earthly mother consigning her to John's care. He was so patient, enduring Thomas's doubts and blessing him. He knew what was ahead of him on the cross, the pain of separation from the Father, the physical pain of the cross, the bewilderment to overcome his followers, and he suffered. He sought the Father and in his prayers, so intense were they, that he sweat blood. It is the intensity of his feelings here that I want to consider, and even though He know how horrific is was to be for Him, He did it for us...self-sacrificially.

So like the Son, is the Father. He weeps when we sin, when we fail, when we hurt. And I have to think that He rejoices when we succeed, when we glorify Him, when we overcome - because those things bring us joy. God the Father sacrificed for me, as Jesus sacrificed for me. God the Father is patient with me as Jesus was patient with Thomas. God the Father perseveres in my life as Christ persevered with the disciples regardless of their infighting and failures.

I guess I didn't think through the reality of what it meant to know the Father by knowing the Son. Furthermore, I think I missed a lot when I started listing the attributes of God, like a lesson, rather than searching to know Him because He is a Person Who matters.