John 12:44-45 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.
Mary Kay cosmetics works because it has many representatives who work toward a common goal. They all make money while selling something they think is a good product. And costumers must think it is a good product because they keep buying the product!
Each Mary Kay representative in some small way is a spokesperson for Mary Kay Ash, the founder. They speak her words and the words of her marketing department. When we see one of those iconic colored cars, we know the owner has a close affinity with Mary Kay Ash.
But meeting a Mary Kay representative is not the same as meeting Mary Kay Ash. The representative is not the founder. They are two different people!
Our text today points out a claim that is hard to hear for some. This is the claim: If you see Jesus you are seeing the Father. That would be like saying, if you see a Mary Kay representative, you see Mary Kay Ash herself. This stretches the imaginations and bends our perception of reality.
Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead. He has eaten a meal with him and his family. Many of the Jewish leaders have come to faith in Jesus. They believe He is the Promised One, the Messiah, the fulfillment of prophecy. They have been waiting since the prophets spoke, over four hundred years. And now that moment has arrived.
Jesus has been welcomed into Jerusalem as the Messiah, riding on a young donkey. Again, a sign of His Messianic identity. And many people from all walks of life have responded by putting their trust in Jesus. A revolution is beginning, but not the type Rome or the Jewish leaders think. It is a revolution of the heart, not of political realms and political powers.
Jesus cries out and makes the connection between Himself and the Father. If you have really connected with Jesus, then you have connected with the Father. “I and the Father are one.”
This connection goes beyond a Mary Kay representative and Mary Kay Ash. When you see a representative, you only see the representative, not Mary Kay Ash.
But Jesus makes the claim, another in a long string of Truth claims, that when you see Him you see the Father, the One who sent Him. Jesus is not God’s representative. We are His representatives. Jesus is the Founder, not one of the Founder’s spokespersons. Jesus isn’t a prophet, a spokesperson. Jesus is God.
Now if this were the only time Jesus made such claims, then we could easily dismiss it. But the Gospel of John is filled with these claims. And just like Jesus’ claim to be “the resurrection and the life,” and then proving it by his actions in raising Lazarus from the dead, so Jesus’ claim about seeing the Father is proved when there is new life that happens when people trust in Him exclusively.
Jesus speaks the Truth about God, and those who hear those instructions and obey, get the results of that obedience, a new life. And they are hearing not just Jesus’ words, but the words of God. Now that is a Truth claim.
And we had better never stand in that position with God. We are always derivative in our words. We don’t speak God’s words in the same way that Jesus spoke them. He spoke them as a co-owner of the words. We are only representatives, and we speak as representatives. We can never speak God’s message the same way that Jesus spoke His message. Jesus owned the brand. We only represent.
The Arnold Journey 