Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me

24 APRIL (Jn 12,44-50)

Today Jesus teaches the perfect unity of listening and faith between him and the Father. Who believes in Jesus, does not believe in Jesus, but in the Father who sent him. So also: who sees Jesus does not see Jesus, but the Father who sent him. It is as if Jesus were just a “megaphone”, a “speaker”, an “announcer” of the Father’s voice. The “breath” is of Jesus. The “body” is of Jesus. The voice instead is that of the Father.

Jesus reveals this very truth to his disciples at the Last Supper, after the washing of feet, in his long farewell speeches. It is one of the highlights of these talks.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where (I) am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. (Jn 14,1-11).

This is one of the guiding themes of the Gospel according to John. Here is what Jesus says after the healing of the paralytic at the pool of the sheep, in Jerusalem.

Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, his son will do also. For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes. Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to his Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself. And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation. “I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me. (Jn 5,19-30).

Jesus intends to teach the Jews that their unbelief is a serious, very serious problem. It is not a matter of changing God, passing that is from the God of Moses to him, to be listened as a true God. One must only have the desire to own a pure faith in the same God of Moses, who is also his God, that is his Father. They do not believe in the true God, in that God they say they adore and they daily search the Scriptures of. It is the truth of their God which is lacking in them, and the same is valid for the Scriptures.

Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints give us the true faith in God.