His Son

1) What does Jesus mean with the words ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’? (verse 6)
To answer this question, it’s best to read the previous verses as well. There, Jesus talks about His going away and preparing a place for His disciples, His followers. He tells them they know where He’s going, but Thomas protests, “Lord, … we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”. (John 14:5) The disciples often wondered what exactly would happen to them, and to Jesus. Especially because He tried to warn them about His upcoming suffering (Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23), but they didn’t understand His words at that time. By stating that He Himself is the way, He tells them to look at Him as their example, to keep their eyes fixed on Him. Only then can they come to the Father too. If the Father was the finish line prize, Jesus was the runner’s pathway to victory. Previously, they already heard Jesus say to the Pharisees that His testimony and judgments were true (John 8:14), and that He spoke the truth which He heard directly from God (John 8:40, 45). He also said, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) The Son of God also referred to Himself as the Living Water through Whom everyone could obtain eternal life. (John 4:13-14) Those who would drink from this water would never thirst again; for the life that’s within the water is eternal and never-ending. How many times were these words proven when Jesus healed the sick (bringing new life) and raising the dead? Everything Christ did was in service to others as He was directed through the Father. Together with the Spirit, they worked as One.
Thus, Jesus told His disciples that if they would follow Him, they would know all truth and have everlasting life.

2) How is it that we can see the Father when we look at Jesus? (verse 9)
Jesus often made it clear that He only ever and always followed the will of God; they worked in perfect tandem. (John 6:38) The words He spoke were the words spoken by God the Father as they shared co-equal authority as God. Jesus claimed Himself as being the only begotten Son of the Father in heaven (John 10:36), representing His express image (Hebrews 1:3). The disciples also referred to their Master as ‘the Son of God’ (Matthew 14:33; 16:16). At the very end, even the unbelieving centurion cried out, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”. (Mark 15:39) So then, when anyone looks at Jesus and knows Him, they automatically see the Father and know Him too. Both are equal in power and authority as God, so too, the Holy Spirit as He speaks and binds them together in perfect unity. One divine being represented as 3 unique beings.

3) Why did Philip ask the question ‘show us the Father’ while he spent all this time with Jesus and when can we see the Father through His Son? (verses 8-11)
Philip was generally a little slower to fully believe in Jesus as the Son of God. We can see this when he approached Nathanael under the fig tree. He referred to Jesus as “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45) although he had just witnessed His baptism and thus also heard the words from God “this is my beloved Son”. (Matthew 3:17) Just like Thomas, he also needed to see with his own eyes in order to believe Christ was resurrected from the dead. (John 20:24-29) With Philip asking this question, it was almost like he needed extra confirmation that Jesus was who He claimed to be.  Jesus even confirmed this unbelief when He said, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.” (John 14:11) After Jesus’ ascension into Heaven, Philip did many wonderful works sharing the gospel. A great example is the story the Ethiopian. An angel had led Philip to a man on the roadside and he heard the man reading from Isaiah. Phillip asked the Ethiopian if he understood the words he was reading. After confirming he really didn’t, Philip told him about Jesus! That same moment, the Ethiopian accepted Christ as the Messiah and was baptized! You can read this beautiful story in Acts 8:26-40. This story demonstrates how, through the Spirit teaching the Ethiopian in explaining God’s Word and the help of a believer, a heart was brought to see God through the works of Christ. In Jesus, through His Spirit, we can see and know God!