Sts. Philip and James

Homily for the Feast of Sts. Philip and James

Phillip’s request in today’s Gospel passage exemplifies the frequent use of a misunderstanding in order to let Jesus point to a deeper meaning. When Philip says, “Lord, show us the Father,” he has in mind “see” with the physical eye. He also gives voice to a common human yearning: just let me see God; show me, and I can believe and be satisfied.

The significant word, “see,” appears in Jesus’s response to Philip: “Whoever has seen me has seen the father.” This reply clarifies Phillips misunderstanding of what it means to see God. He shows that the seeing of which he speaks is a deep kind of knowing, a knowing so closely related to believing as to be almost synonymous with it. The interplay of seeing, believing, and knowing is a pervasive theme in this Gospel. The link between seeing and believing has been noted frequently. It becomes prominent again at the end of the Gospel when Jesus tells Thomas to put his fingers into the nail prints and his hand into his side. He then says to Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

The evangelist is not simply playing with words. Seeing, believing, and knowing God are all based on the concrete, physical works that Jesus has done in Philip’s presence. To this companion of the road and table, Jesus says, “if you cannot believe that I am one with God as a metaphysical proposition, you can at least believe me for who I am and because of the remarkable things I have done.

It is also in this Gospel that the Pharisees are condemned because they fail to see God when they see Jesus. John writes of a man born blind who comes to believe in Jesus when he is given sight by Jesus. When the Pharisees, who can see, fail to believe in Jesus and cast the man out of the synagogue, Jesus proclaims them spiritually blind.

It is in the Letter to the Hebrews that we are told: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Indeed, though we cannot see him, we have come to believe and are constantly growing in our knowledge of who Jesus is.