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I. THE SPIRITUAL CRY OF MANKIND. Philip represents all men in their deepest spiritual experiences. What is this but the cry of spiritual orphans for a lost Father. "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him." The cry implies an underlying belief —

1. In the existence of a great Father. In the human heart —

(1) there is no atheism; that is a phantom of the brain. The idea of God is at the root of all ideas.

(2) There is no pantheism. The heart craves a person.

(3) There is no molochism. The heart craves a Father, not the representation of God in certain theologies. This belief is instinctive; you cannot reason it away. It is the hope of the sinner on his death bed. The heart turns to it as the flower to the sun.

2. In the sufficiency of the Father's manifestation. Until the Father comes the soul will have a gnawing hunger and an aching void. It will satisfy —

(1) The intellect. Solving the problems insoluble to reason, and whose crushing weight philosophy but augments.

(2) The affections. It will unfold, purify, harmonize, and centralize them. The prodigal was flooded with joy in the warm caresses of his father's love. As the genial sun of May sets the choristers of the grove into music, the presence of the Father will not only hush all the cries of the child, but fill the heart with filial rapture.

II. THE SATISFACTORY RESPONSE OF CHRIST. In Christ the Father of man appears to man in man's nature.

1. This was now amply attested (vers. 10, 11). Who but the Father could have wrought those works which He accomplished, inspired the doctrines He proclaimed, produced such a character as He manifested?

2. This was now practically ignored (ver. 9). Note here —

(1) A criminal neglect of means. "Have I," the medium of His power, the organ of His thoughts, the image of His character — "been so long with you," etc.

(2) The finality of the revelation. "How sayest thou then," etc. There is no other revelation of the Father to come. "No man hath seen God," etc. If you cannot find the Father in Me, you will never find Him, neither in the universe nor in the speculations of philosophy. Conclusion: Without this, whatever else thou hast, thy destitution is terrible. No amount of worldly wealth, social influence, intellectual culture will be of real and lasting service without this revelation of the Father.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

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KJV: Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

WEB: Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."