The apostle Philip (not the Deacon Philip, who we heard about a week or so back) shows up a lot in the Gospel of John.
In one of Philip’s appearances in the Gospel, he says to Jesus …. ‘Just show us the Father!’–– And Jesus’ response? Phil, Phil, Phil. Have I been with you all this time and you still don’t get it? If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father!’
That is one of the most powerful and foundational insights into our faith as Christians. It’s right up there with “God is Love” And it’s no surprise that it comes from John’s Gospel. Here we are, 2000 years later, asking the same question as our friend Phil ….. What is God like?
You want to know what God is like? Jesus is what God is like. Jesus is God’s self-revelation. Or as Jesus said …. I’m what God is like! If you’ve seen me you’ve seen God!
So when we look at Jesus, what does it show us about what God is like and what God does? Well …
- God travels light, not a lot of baggage being carried around
- God is merciful, God forgives, God reconciles,
- God spreads healing, usually through human hands
- God brings people to an understanding of their own intrinsic dignity,
- God overturns the paradigms of this world, the paradigms of expediency and usefulness and power and authority and instead
- God shows us the wisdom of love, of mercy, of leading from within and from behind, through service and what looks to the world like weakness––
- God is someone who washes your feet. Who serves you.
- God is not afraid to be broken up and crushed and passed out.
- God is love and unconditional acceptance,
as the Muslims say ir•Rahman ir•Rahim––All-Merciful, All-Compassionate, and as our Jewish forbears would say, Rachamim .. a veritable womb of mercy.
That’s what Jesus was like; that’s what God is like.
Paul’s letter to the Colossians says it well ….. Jesus is the image (‘ikon’) of the unseen God… not the painting of an icon with its theological richness, but God wrapped up in a Palestinian Jewish man who walked dusty roads and ate and drank with us.
Have you ever asked yourself why we have a Liturgy of the Word when we gather together for Mass? Why we read Scripture in our celebrations with families and community? Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals? Morning and evening prayers?
It is because in spending time mulling over the scriptures, especially the Gospels, in hearing about what Jesus did, we begin to see what Jesus was like. And from seeing more clearly what Jesus was like, we catch a better glimpse of what God is like.
There is a wise old saying that we become what we gaze at, we become what we behold. So thats why Philips words are so profound.
This time of being apart and secluded can provide time for us to be nourished by the word of God. To discover through the scripture what Jesus was like. So that by becoming more like Jesus in how we live our lives, we become an image of the image of God.