HE WHO HAS SEEN THE SON HAVING SEEN THE FATHER
In John 14 Philip asked the Lord to show them the Father, and [370] the Lord answered, “Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip?” (v. 9a). After hearing this, Philip was even more puzzled. Perhaps he thought, “Of course, I know You. How could I not know You? You grew up in Nazareth, and You were a carpenter before You came out to preach the word. Your mother is Mary, whose husband is Joseph. You also have a few siblings, all of whom I know.” In fact, if this was Philip’s thought concerning what it meant to know Jesus, then this shows that he did not know Jesus at all. So the Lord went on to say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how is it that you say, Show us the Father?” (v. 9b). Some Bible expositors think that this means that the Lord is the Father’s representative. They would liken this to the president of the United States sending a representative to the Philippines: when the people there contact this representative, it is equivalent to contacting the president of the United States. Actually, this verse does not mean that the Lord Jesus represents God or that the Son of God represents the heavenly Father. What it means is that the Lord Jesus, the Son, is the Father. He does not merely represent, but He is.
When the Lord said, “How is it that you say, Show us the Father?” He meant that He is the Father; thus, when men see Him, they see the Father. The disciples’ asking the Lord to show them the Father is like having the president of the United States come to see you and saying to him, “Please show us the president of the United States.” He would surely be very surprised and say, “You who have seen me have seen the president of the United States; how is it that you say, ‘Show us the president of the United States?’” The Lord had been with the disciples for three and a half years, and they had been seeing Him all that time, yet incredibly they still did not know that He was the Father and still asked Him to show them the Father. They were really making matters difficult for the Lord.
THE SON BEING IN THE FATHER,
AND THE FATHER BEING IN THE SON
In verse 10 the Lord continued, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?” Over the past eighteen hundred years this truth has been gradually neglected. However, the theologians in the early centuries considered this matter to be quite important. They even coined the theological term coinherence, meaning that you are in me, I am in you, and we are in one another mutually. [371] In Christianity’s theology today, many teach the doctrine of the Trinity, and some advocate the use of the term coexistence, but not many have the boldness to use the term coinherence. Nonetheless, in early Christian theology both coexistence and coinherence were used. This is a tremendously great matter: the Son is in the Father, the Father is in the Son, and the Son and the Father are one. This is why the Lord asked Philip how it could be that he had seen the Son yet had not seen the Father.
THE SON SPEAKING
WHILE THE FATHER WAS WORKING
Furthermore, the Lord said, “The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works” (v. 10b). This simply means that the Son speaks while the Father works. Perhaps some will say, “Is this not the same as what the Chinese refer to as playing shuang-huang?” [Translator’s note: shuang-huang is a Chinese variety act featuring two performers, one of whom speaks while the other acts out the gestures.] Shuang-huang involves two persons, whereas here there is only one person: this One is He yet “I.” “I” speaks while He works. The Son speaks, which is to express something outwardly. However, the Son does not speak according to Himself, but the Father who abides in the Son does His works. This indicates that the Son speaks outwardly while the Father works inwardly. The One who is outside speaks, while the One who is inside works. Therefore, are They two persons? We can say that They are two yet one, one yet two. Moreover, it is not that there is one who speaks without and another who works within. The One who works within is in the One who speaks without; that is, the Father is in the Son. At the same time, the One who speaks without is in the One who works within; that is, the Son is in the Father. Hence, the two are actually one. Their coinherence is an unfathomable mystery.
THE FATHER AND THE SON COINHERING
FOR THE DIVINE DISPENSING
Ultimately, we all have to admit that we really do not know all that we think we know. However, there is truly such a fact that the Son is in the Father, the Father is in the Son, and the two are one. This has been clearly shown in the Bible in black and white. Though They [372] are one, there is still the aspect of Their being two; furthermore, though there is the aspect of Their being two, They are one. This is the mystery of the Divine Trinity.
What is the reason for the coinhering of the Father and the Son? It is for the divine dispensing. If God were not triune, if the Son did not speak outwardly while the Father worked inwardly, there would be no possibility for God to dispense Himself into us. Moreover, God’s dispensing is altogether a story of the “Word.” For example, my speaking to you is a kind of dispensing. I am full of knowledge within; what should I do if I want to infuse you with all my knowledge? If I went and found a doctor, he would have no way to inject my knowledge into you. The most simple and effective way is for me to speak to you directly. The more I speak, the more I transmit all the knowledge within me into you. Hence, speaking is a dispensing. In the same way, when you work for the Lord, you need to learn to speak for the Lord so that you can dispense Him into others.
In ancient times when people engaged in war, they relied mainly on the weapons in their hands. Therefore, the Chinese say that a soldier who is skillful with his weapon can defend a key position single-handedly and that even ten thousand men cannot match him. If a soldier is not skillful with his weapon, he cannot fight the battle. If we want to fight the battle, we must have a weapon in our hands. Our “weapon” is the word, and we all should be experts at using this weapon. As experts, we should be able to strike more than just the air. Hence, we all need to be trained. What kind of training do we need? We need the training of infusing: we need to be infused with God’s economy, and the more we are infused the better. Then one day we all will be able to do the same work of infusing God’s economy into others. This is dispensing. John 14, 15, and 16 are all on the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity, and this dispensing depends on speaking.