John 14:7-12

7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”

Verse 7 is similar to what Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews (John 8:19).

from now on (v.7) — referring to what He was about to tell them, and what they experienced between that point and Pentecost.

Philip’s statement (v.8) — He believed Jesus was the Messiah (John 1:45-46), but didn’t understand (yet) that He was God, even though He had claimed one-ness with the Father many times. As a Jew, Philip required a sign (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3).

Jesus revealed God in His own person (1 Timothy 6:16; John 1:18).

for the sake of the works (v.11) — His miracles were His credentials.

Verse 12 was meant only for the apostles while they ministered regarding the Kingdom to the Jews. The Kingdom requires outward evidence—signs (miracles, sign gifts)—as happened early in Acts but diminished and stopped as Israel rejected the message and Paul turned increasingly to the Gentiles.

greater works (v.12) — salvation

Verse 13 is to be read as a continuation of His promise to the disciples in verse 12.

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