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Have you ever felt completely separated from God with pain, fear, and anxiety setting into your heart in a way you just couldn’t shake?

On the night before His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus knew His disciples were about to face their greatest fears, pain, and anxiety. He wanted to prepare them. While gathered in the upper room, we read the words of comfort He spoke to them, as recorded in the Gospel of John.(1)

It’s important to remember that the focus of John’s Gospel is to help us see, discover and know Jesus as the Son of the Living God. John wanted us to behold Jesus in the fullness of His glory as God incarnate. Jesus’ desire for His apostles—and for us—is that we would see the glory of the Father and come to know the Father through Him. Before He spoke these words of comfort, Jesus had told the disciples that He was going to His Father’s house to make a way for them—and us—to join Him. He seized that moment to remind them that if they truly knew Him, they knew the Father as well.

Throughout the Gospels, the apostle Philip brought people to Jesus. As soon as Jesus called him,(2) Philip immediately went to find Nathanael and brought him to the Lord.(3) And from that moment on, he continued to introduce people to Jesus, including the Greek pilgrims who sought Him earlier that week.(4) So it was only natural that Philip, with a heartfelt desire to see the Father, said to Jesus, “Lord, you don’t need to take us to Him. We know that You are His Son. Simply show Him to us, so we can get a glimpse of Him like Moses did, and we will be satisfied.”(5) Just like the Greeks had said to him, “We would see Jesus,(6) he is now saying to Jesus, “We would see the Father!” And just like the Greeks knew that Philip could help them to see Jesus, Philip knew that Jesus was able to show him and the others the Father.

Can you think of a greater desire than “we would see the Father”? It’s a desire that surpasses any earthly goal we may have—the yearning to behold the glory of God. i don’t believe Jesus responded to him with frustration. Instead, He patiently helped Philip—and the others in the room—understand that in seeing Jesus, they had seen the Father.

Oneness can be defined as “the quality or state or fact of being one: such as singleness, integrity, wholeness, harmony, sameness, identity, unity and union.”(7) Jesus wanted Philip, all the disciples–and all of us—to know that He and the Father are One, in every sense of the word. They are One in appearance, as Jesus said, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.” “Everything that I am, and everything that I do is a reflection of the Father.”(8)

“The words I speak are not My own,”(9) Jesus said. The Father and the Son can never contradict one another. The Son speaks only the words of the Father—words that are enduring, true, honest, and without error. The Word of the Father became flesh in the person of His Son(10) and that Word is unfailing love and faithfulness. If we’ve heard the Son, we’ve heard the Father.

Jesus also said, “My Father, who lives in Me, does His work through Me.”(11) Every miracle and every action—including Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection—was in accordance with the Father’s plan and the Father’s timetable. Each act was a work of the Father through the Son, and of the Son in the Father, for they are one in appearance, in word, and in work.

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He went on to say, “Anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works.”(12) Those who believe in the Son are one with Him. When Jesus says, “belief,” He doesn’t mean mere mental assent. He’s not simply describing some intellectual exercise. Rather, He is talking about a belief that involves our entire being—heart, soul and mind—a complete surrender of our life to Him. As the apostle Paul wrote:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (13)

We are one with Him in His work. We no longer focus on our own work, but on joining Him in His, responding to His activity and invitation. In doing so, we witness “even greater works,”(14) because it is the work of His Holy Spirit in and through us. Paul also writes:

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”(15)

We are also one with Him In bringing glory to the Father through prayer. Jesus said, “You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it!”(16)

Even if we don’t know what to pray, His Holy Spirit within us will guide us in prayer:

“The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”(17

We are united with Him in prayer, as His Holy Spirit works within us and the Son of God intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father

Lastly, we are one with Him in love through obedience. Jesus said, “If you love Me, obey My commandments.”(18) He also told His disciples that the world would know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another.(19) Obedience is not what makes us His; rather, we obey because we are His. Our obedience is an expression of love, not an expression of law. It’s a reminder that our bond with Jesus is one of love, not obligation. We are one with Him through obedience, which is our response to the love He first showed us—a love that led Him to the cross.

That night in the upper room, Jesus wanted His disciples to fully understand His oneness with the Father, and their oneness with Him. Today, as we take up the cross and follow Him, He wants us to fully understand that we are one with Him—and with one another—through Him.

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You can read about Jesus’ assurance to His disciples in the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John.

This post is taken from chapter 36 of my book, Taking Up The Cross. For more information about the book, c click here.

(1) John 14:7-15 (NLT)

“If you had really known Me, you would know who My Father is. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him!”Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father! So why are you asking Me to show Him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak are not My own, but My Father who lives in Me does His work through Me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen Me do. I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it! If you love Me, obey My commandments.”

(2) John 1:43

(3) John 1:45

(4) John 12:20-22

(5) John 14:8 (NLT)

(6) John 12:21 (NLT)

(7) “oneness.” Meriam-Webster.com. 2024. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oneness (11 Sep 2024)

(8) John 14:10(NLT)

(9) John 14:10 (NLT)

(10) John 1:14

(11) John 14:10 (NLT)

(12) John 14:12 (NLT)

(13) Galatians 2:20 (NASB)

(14) John 14:12 (NLT)

(15) Romans 8:11 (NLT)

(16) John 14:13 (NLT)

(17) Romans 8:26-27 (NLT)

(18) John 14:13 (NLT)

(19) John 13:35 (NLT)

Photo by JesusPixs on Lightstock

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