The disciples of Jesus wished to know the Father too, who Jesus had spoken about so often. But He told them, “To have seen me is to have seen the Father. I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” Jesus is the visible manifestation of the unseen God. He was before time. He is the primeval ageless Word of God. For in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (Jn. 1:1). He is the Word through whom God created all things (Jn. 1:3).
Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of the Father, who only became incarnate from the Virgin Mary because God needed to recreate the world, destroyed by human disobedience, and to restore the dignity of man. He is God from God and Light from Light. He is one being with the Father. Thus, to have seen Him is to have seen the Father and to know Him is to know the Father.
Repair
The appearance of Jesus in human form is an event that changed human history. It is a great story. He came to repair what was damaged through man’s revolt against his God and to restore what, as a result, was lost. His manifestation in flesh reminded us that we too are gods. Yes, that is what we are, gods. The scripture testifies to that: “I say, ‘You are gods; you are all children of the Most High” (cf. Ps. 86:2). God created us in His image and likeness. We have something in common with Him. We bear the seal of His identity. We live in Him. We move in Him. We have our being in Him (cf. Acts 17:28). This god-identity is actually what constitutes our priceless dignity. We are part of him—little divinities.
However, we lost our identity – our character as gods – to pride and arrogance. Like sheep, we went astray to the extent that we could no longer help ourselves. He sent His Word to restore this identity and to help us recall that we too are gods. We can claim our original identity by believing in Him and answering the call to repentance— “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength” (Is. 30:15). This is the only path to renewal and restoration. This is the message of Paul and Barnabas in the first reading of today and indeed the Church is charged to spread to the nations— “that salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47).
New Self
To regain the lost identity, the old self, which has been corrupted by sin, must be cast away and a new self, renewed through the saving blood, must rise in glory with the risen Lord to new life in Christ. Accordingly, St. Paul admonishes that whatever that belongs to the earthly nature must be put to death: “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language” (Col. 3:5,8). Thus, can we reclaim our character as gods and be able to effectively operate as gods that we are. It is against this background that Jesus said in today’s gospel: “I tell you solemnly; whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works” (Jn. 14:12).
