Years ago, a love song emerged from the gritty streets of Philadelphia called “If You Don’t Know Me by Now.” The lyrics stated:
All the things that we’ve been through
You should understand me like I understand you
If you don’t know me by now
You will never, never, never know me.[1]
The truth is, really knowing somebody takes more than time. It’s less about intuition and more about intention. So, when a couple stands before a pastor to get married, there are not two persons seen; there are six. There is the man that he thinks he is. There is the man that she thinks he is. And there is the man that he really is. Then there’s the woman that she thinks she is. There is the woman that he thinks she is. And there’s the woman that she really is. And the key to marriage lies in knowing who in the world I have gotten married to!
John says, “It doth not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:2, KJV). Soulmates are not found; soulmates are fashioned. Soulmates are not discovered; soulmates are developed. You do not bump into a soulmate; you become one. When we stand excitedly and lovingly before our beloved at the start of marriage, we cannot see what lies around the corner. As he stood before Jesus at the start of his ministry, Philip could not see what lay around the corner.
But John is crystal clear about his purpose for writing and Jesus’s purpose for coming. John records Jesus saying, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10)[2] and “this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). John explains that the stories he included “are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
Philip’s story
John’s burden is that we know Jesus not just for facts or argument, but in order that we experience
- an amazing Messiah
- an astounding faith, and
- an abundant life.
John wants his readers to know Jesus with an unparalleled intimacy that will transport them from the joyful depths of abundant life to the ecstatic heights of eternal life. But how realistic is this? Can we really know Jesus like this? In fact, those who stood face to face with Jesus every day—did they know Jesus like this?
Let’s ask Philip. John records, “The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph’” (John 1:43-45).
Philip is at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. He stays with the Messiah throughout all of His ministry. But how would Philip, as a mature disciple, relate to His Master at the end of His public ministry? Spoiler alert: I read the end of the story.
The reason why mature members and seasoned saints miss Jesus is because He is around us but not in us.
Jesus announces that He is going away. This is what the incarnation was leading up to. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus came from His Father. He would go back to His Father. Then He would return and take us to His Father. The disciples’ assignment (and ours) is to get to know Jesus more deeply every day until He returns. But the disciples missed it.
Peter misses it. “Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward’” (John 13:36).
Thomas misses it. “Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’”(John 14:5, 6).
And Philip misses it. Philip sees this as his opportunity for greatness. He had, in reality, learned nothing from the foot-washing service, aptly called the ordinance of humility. Philip wanted to see the glory of God manifested right in front of his eyes. After all, it had happened to others. Theologians call them theophanies. And some believed that the bigger the revelation, the greater the person. I see Philip’s mind in overdrive, looking through the corridors of history at all the prominent workers for God who had a revelation of God.
- Moses had a story. Moses asks God, “Show me Your glory” (Ex. 33:18). And God says, All I can show you, Moses, is my back parts, you couldn’t handle any more!
- Jacob had a story. Jacob wrestled with an angel from God and come to find out the Angel was Jesus Himself.
- Ezekiel had a story. He finds himself at the Potter’s house. And while the human eye just sees a wheel, Ezekiel saw a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
- Peter, James, and John have a story. They had seen Jesus transfigured on a mount. Moses and Elijah were there—but he, Philip, was not.
Philip wanted his own story. So, he thinks that if Jesus can just make divinity flash through humanity, right now, at his request, it would seal his name as one of the all-time spiritual greats. So, Philip says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” And Jesus looks at Philip and says, “Have I been so long with you, Philip, and yet you don’t know Me?” (John 14:9).
- For three and a half years, you’ve heard My preaching, and yet you don’t know Me?
- For three and a half years, you’ve listened to My teaching, and yet you don’t know Me?
- For three and a half years, you’ve witnessed my healing, and yet you don’t know Me?
It’s almost as if Jesus was saying, “If you don’t know me by now, you will never, never, never know me.”
The only remedy
Oh, this breaks the heart of God! The commentator Elliot says, “There is in our Lord’s words a tone of sadness and of warning. They utter the loneliness of a holiness and greatness which is not understood. The close of life is at hand, and Philip, who had followed Him from the first, shows by this question that he did not even know what the work and purposes of that life had been. They speak to all Christian teachers, thinkers, workers. There is a possibility that men [and women] should be in the closest apparent nearness to Christ, and yet have never learnt the meaning of the words they constantly hear and utter; and have never truly known the purpose of Christ’s life.”[3]
Ministers, ministry leaders, and members, we, who are outwardly the closest to Christ, are in the greatest danger. The reason why mature members and seasoned saints miss Jesus is because He is around us but not in us. The reason why professional pastors and accomplished administrators miss Jesus is because He is around us but not in us. The reason why elders and Bible workers miss Jesus is because He is around us but not in us. The disciples were connected on the outside but disconnected on the inside. In public, they were deep, but in private, they were shallow. In public, they were holy, but in private, they were hollow. In public, they looked righteous, but in private, they were filthy rags. The song says, “The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.” But this passage says, the longer I serve Him, the more complacent I grow. The only remedy is knowing and loving Jesus Christ.
Church leadership expert Delbert Baker says, “The path to unity in diversity is found through a selflessness and genuine love relationship with Jesus Christ.”[4] Pastoral leadership expert Ivan Williams says, “Church work—attending meetings and setting up tables often crowds out the real work of the church. It is not the doing of spirituality but rather the daily practice of being in close relationship with God, realizing and knowing who He is.”[5] Community leadership expert Robert Kennedy III says, “Christ invites us to come to Him with full knowledge that not all will accept His invitation. He does this because of His love for us. He allows Himself to face rejection because the relationship that He desires to have with all of His creation is worth the pain that He will face from some.”[6]
Jesus says, “Your problem is you’ve been around Me but I’ve not gotten inside of you.” So He gave us the Lord’s Supper. I prefer the term Lord’s Supper to Last Supper. Because—
- The last time we saw Jesus, He was holding a towel, but the next time we see Jesus He’ll be wearing a crown.
- The last time we saw Jesus, He was walking dusty streets, but the next time we see Jesus, He’ll be walking streets of gold.
- The last time we saw Jesus, Peter was reduced to tears, but the next time we see Jesus, God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes.
- The last time we saw Jesus, He hung thirsty on a tree, but the next time we see Jesus, He’ll give us fruit from a tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
What will it take for us to be there? (1) an amazing Messiah, (2) an astounding faith, and (3) an abundant life. So, Ellen White suggests, “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.”[7] Why? Because “this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
[1] Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (composers), “If You Don’t Know Me By Now.” https://genius.com/Harold-melvin-and-the-blue-notes-if-you-dont-know-me-by-now-lyrics.
[2] Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quoted is from the New King James Version.
[3] Charles John Ellicott, Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers. https://biblehub.com/john/14-9.htm.
[4] Delbert Baker,Make Us One: Celebrating Spiritual Unity in the Midst of Cultural Diversity (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1995), 20.
[5] Ivan Williams,Keep the Flames Burning in Your Ministry: Addressing passion, burnout, and renewal in your ministry (Sacramento, CA: Brighter Hope, 2004), 21.
[6] Robert Kennedy III and D. Robert Kennedy, eds., Equipping the Warrior: 75 Leadership Devotions for Men (Ashton, MD: Robert Kennedy, 2019), 22.
[7] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1898), 83.