Jesus is patient

 JESUS IS PATIENT

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

JOHN 14.9 ESV

Love is patient.

1 CORINTHIANS 13.4

READ THE STORY: JOHN 14

Have you ever wished you could have walked with Jesus? Been one of His disciples?

What a privilege to live with Jesus for three years, spending day and night with the Teacher, watching Him not just when He commanded the attention of thousands, but watching Him slumber in the helm of a boat tossed by waves. Watching Him play with little children. Watching Him enjoy a well-roasted leg of lamb. Watching Him command the winds to quiet and the dead to rise.

If anyone had a front-row seat to witness Jesus’ divinity, it was these disciples.

Yet even these twelve men didn’t quite comprehend Jesus.

After all they had seen, they still didn’t understand who Jesus was. After the Last Supper, Jesus comforts His disciples, but Peter, Thomas, and Judas (not Judas Iscariot) all ask questions for clarification. Philip speaks up, saying, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” In these last moments with Jesus, he wanted a theophany — a visible display of God Himself.

After all He had done, Jesus could have been understandably disappointed with Philip’s request.

Consider how patient Jesus had been with His disciples. He interpreted parables for them. He gave them unique glimpses into His power over stormy winds and waves. He gently rebuked their lack of faith while simultaneously reinforcing their faith. He redirected their attention when they bickered among themselves about who was the greatest. He corrected them when they wanted to call down fire from heaven on the inhospitable. Every step of their three-year journey, Jesus had been infinitely patient with them, answering their questions and reorienting their sight to see God’s kingdom, not as they expected it, but as Jesus was bringing it.

And here they are, on their very last night together, and still they don’t get it.

“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?” He asks.

But rather than grow exasperated with Philip and His other disciples, notice Jesus’ patience with them. He doesn’t grow angry or insult their intelligence (though such a rebuke might be warranted). He reminds Philip that he had seen God this whole time he had been with Jesus, because: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (Jn 1.18).

Throughout His three-year tenure with His disciples, Jesus revealed His Father through His character, His words, and His miracles. He lived and loved before them, and His greatest demonstration of love was yet to come.

Prayer 

Precious Jesus, Your patience knows no limits. Thank You for the patience You demonstrated toward Your disciples, because I can so relate to their limitations. Thank You for being patient with me on my imperfect journey of walking with You. Help me also patiently love my family and friends. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

If you want to read more 

Mk 4.35–41, Lk 9.51–55, Jn 1.16–18, 1Cor 13.4, Gal 5.22–24