Jesus Explains the Father
The Word is God expressing himself; the Son makes the Father known.
Words are interesting things.
A word takes something that is inside us and brings it outside. I have an idea, a thought, a feeling or an intention. Until I express it, you cannot really know what is going on inside me. But when I speak, something that was hidden becomes known.
My word is an expression of me.
That makes the opening of John’s Gospel particularly striking:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1 NIV)
John could have introduced Jesus in many ways. Instead, he calls him the Word — the Logos.
A few verses later he tells us:
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14 NIV)
God expressed himself.
And his expression was not merely a sentence, a book or a message from heaven.
The Word became a person.
God Expressed
Jesus is not simply someone who carries a message from God. John says something far more profound than that. The Word was with God, the Word was God, and the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 14).
We might put it this way:
Jesus is what God says.
If we want to know what God has to say about himself, ultimately we look at Jesus.
That is what makes the Christian claim about Jesus so significant. God has not merely sent us information about himself. He has expressed himself personally.
But John is not finished.
At the other end of the opening section of his Gospel he writes:
“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” (John 1:18 NIV)
The Greek word translated “has made him known” is exēgēsato. It is related to the word from which we get exegesis.
People who have studied preaching or theology will know that word well. To exegete a biblical passage is to draw out its meaning, to unfold it, explain it and make it understood.
John uses that kind of language about Jesus and the Father.
Jesus has made the unseen God known.
There is a beautiful movement through John 1.
The Word is God expressing himself.
The Son is God explaining himself.
God expressed → God explained.
And both are Jesus.
God Explained
That changes the way I think about revelation.
We sometimes imagine that Jesus came primarily to give us accurate information about God. Certainly he did teach us about the Father. He spoke the Father’s words (John 12:49–50). He taught his disciples to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9). He described the Father’s love, goodness and care.
But Jesus does more than provide information.
He embodies the explanation.
When we want to understand God’s compassion, we do not receive compassion merely as a theological definition. We watch Jesus moved by the suffering of people in front of him (Matthew 9:36; Mark 1:40–41).
When we want to understand God’s attitude towards sinners, we watch Jesus sitting at tables with people respectable religion had pushed away (Luke 5:29–32; Luke 15:1–2).
When we want to understand divine greatness, we watch Jesus kneel with a towel and wash his disciples’ feet (John 13:1–17).
When we want to understand love, we eventually find ourselves standing at a cross (John 15:13; John 19:16–30).
Jesus explains the Father with words, but he also explains the Father with his life.
That matters because theology can sometimes become surprisingly abstract. We use words such as omnipotence, holiness, justice, mercy, sovereignty and glory. Those words matter. I use them. I teach them.
But what do they actually look like?
Christian faith gives us somewhere concrete to look.
Look at Jesus.
Jesus Does Not Rescue Us From the Father
This is also why I am increasingly uncomfortable with any picture that makes Jesus appear kinder than the Father, as though Jesus is persuading an otherwise reluctant God to love us or Jesus wants us while the Father merely tolerates us.
That is not the picture Jesus gives us.
Jesus does not rescue us from the Father.
Jesus reveals the Father.
The compassion we see in Jesus is not Jesus talking God into compassion. It is the heart of God being expressed before us. The welcome of Jesus is the welcome of God. The holiness of Jesus is the holiness of God. The self-giving love of Jesus is not an exception to God’s character.
It reveals God’s character.
John begins his Gospel by telling us that God has spoken.
But God’s Word is not merely something to be heard.
He has a face.
And his name is Jesus.