Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles

 Lectionary: 561

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?

 W e often hear in both the Old and New Testaments God's people asking to see the face of God. Teachers of their faith must have told them that no one can look on the face of God and live, and yet their desire is so intense they cannot refrain from asking. 

Moses is remembered for his face to face conversations with God, but he is the only man ever given that privilege. Exodus says of him, "The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face as a person speaks to a friend." And Jesus Ben Sirach says, 

Because of his trustworthiness and meekness

God selected him from all flesh;

He let him hear his voice,

and led him into the cloud,

Where he handed over the commandments,

the law of life and understanding... (Ecclesiasticus 45:4-5)

But the Bible remembers dreadful consequences for anyone else who presumed to approach the LORD in an overly familiar manner. While he accompanied the Ark of the Covenant as it was marched in procession toward Jerusalem, Huzzah meant only to prevent the precious relic from teetering and collapse, but he was struck dead for daring to touch it! King David got the message and decided he'd build a fabulous and fitting temple in Jerusalem before he'd bring it in. 

Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel were given spectacular visions of God; and then commissioned to announce what they'd seen. But the incidents are described without explicit reference to God's face. Abraham saw three men when he bartered with God to save his nephew Lot from the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah. The next morning, as he saw a mushroom cloud ascending over the cities, he realized he had survived a truly terrifying encounter with the Holy!  

Remembering these rare incidents, we can wonder what drove Philip to make such a request of Jesus. It must have been sudden and spontaneous, like a child, and without the caution of experience. Perhaps he was moved by the Spirit of Psalm 63:

O God, you are my God—

it is you I seek!

For you my body yearns;

for you my soul thirsts,

In a land parched, lifeless,

and without water.

I look to you in the sanctuary

to see your power and glory.

For your love is better than life;

my lips shall ever praise you!

A young man and a good runner, he was apparently given to outbursts and unexpected impulses! Saint Luke tells of Philip overtaking a passing carriage, asking the passenger what he was reading, and then announcing the Gospel to him.  

Ever since the "Apostolic Age," Christians have wondered what Jesus looked like. A human being, he certainly had a human face; thousands saw it and many were familiar with it. Veronica, whose name means true image, touched the Lord's face as she wiped away the blood and sweat. Every generation in every culture has imagined him as one of their own race and ethnicity. It appears in paintings, drawings, sculptures, film, and television! And yet no one knows what the young, first century Israelite looked like. 

Which is probably just as well; it gives us more freedom to imagine and approach God as beloved and worthy of our trust. Unlike the Jews before the birth of Jesus, we dare to imagine his face and speak his name. With them, and with Saints Philip and James, we sing God's praises and hope to see him face to face in eternity. For... 

...you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering,

and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect,

and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.