October 26

Knowledge of Christ

Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? — John 14:9 BSB

There seems to be pain in the Master’s question to Philip. This disciple had been with Jesus for three years. He had seen His beautiful, gentle life. He had witnessed His works of power. By this time, after such long and close intimacy, Philip should have known Jesus well. Yet here, Jesus tells him that he did not really know Him.

The lesson is that it is possible to be with Christ for a long time, to know much about Him, and yet not truly know Him. Philip knew Jesus as a man, a miracle worker, and a person of remarkable character. But he seems never to have gone beneath the surface in understanding Him. He did not know Him as the revealer of the Father. He did not see divine glory shining from His life. To know Christ only as a man, without recognizing His divinity, is not to know Him at all. Leaving out the divine aspect of Christ means missing the true Christ altogether.

We may be very familiar with the facts of Jesus’ life, from His birth in Bethlehem to His ascension from the Mount of Olives, and yet not know Him personally as our Savior, the One who saves us from our sins and helps us in our need. Such knowledge will do us no good unless it leads us to know Christ as our Savior, Lord, and Friend.

It is touching to think that the Son of God walked with His disciples for so long, with all the glory of divinity hidden within His humanity, and yet they did not recognize Him for who He truly was. But is it any better with us? God’s love surrounds us at all times, flowing over us with infinite tenderness, yet how often we remain unaware of it! Our prayer should be, “Lord, make Yourself known to us!”