Joh 14:7, 9 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 7. If ye had known me . By this Jesus does not intend to say that they were not truly his disciples, but that they had not a full and accurate knowledge of his character and designs. They still retained, to a large extent, the Jewish notions respecting a temporal Messiah, and did not fully understand that he was to die and be raised from the dead. Ye should have known my Father also . You would have known the counsels and designs of my Father respecting my death and resurrection. If you had been divested of your Jewish prejudices about the Messiah, if you had understood that it was proper for me to die, you would also have understood the purposes and plans of God in my death; and, knowing that , you would have seen that it was wise and best. We see here that a correct knowledge of the character and work of Christ is the same as a correct knowledge of the counsels and plans of God; and we see, also, that the reasons why we have not such a knowledge are our previous prejudices and erroneous views. From henceforth . From this time. From my death and resurrection you shall understand the plans and counsels of God. Ye know him . You shall have just views of his plans and designs. Have seen him . That is, they had seen Jesus Christ, his image, and the brightness of his glory ( ), which was the same as having seen the Father, .

John 14:7

Verse 7. If ye had known me. By this Jesus does not intend to say that they were not truly his disciples, but that they had not a full and accurate knowledge of his character and designs. They still retained, to a large extent, the Jewish notions respecting a temporal Messiah, and did not fully understand that he was to die and be raised from the dead.

Ye should have known my Father also. You would have known the counsels and designs of my Father respecting my death and resurrection. If you had been divested of your Jewish prejudices about the Messiah, if you had understood that it was proper for me to die, you would also have understood the purposes and plans of God in my death; and, knowing that, you would have seen that it was wise and best. We see here that a correct knowledge of the character and work of Christ is the same as a correct knowledge of the counsels and plans of God; and we see, also, that the reasons why we have not such a knowledge are our previous prejudices and erroneous views.

From henceforth. From this time. From my death and resurrection you shall understand the plans and counsels of God.

Ye know him. You shall have just views of his plans and designs.

Have seen him. That is, they had seen Jesus Christ, his image, and the brightness of his glory (Heb 1:3), which was the same as having seen the Father, Jn 14:9.

John 14:9

Verse 9. So long time. For more than three years Jesus had been with them. He had raised the dead, cast out devils, healed the sick, done those things which no one could have done who had not come from God. In that time they had had full opportunity to learn his character and his mission from God. Nor was it needful, after so many proofs of his divine mission, that God should visibly manifest himself to them in order that they might be convinced that he came from him.

He that hath seen me. He that has seen my works, heard my doctrines, and understood my character. He that has given proper attention to the proofs that I have afforded that I came from God.

Hath seen the Father. The word Father in these passages seems to be used with reference to the divine nature, or to God represented as a Father, and not particularly to the distinction in the Trinity of Father and Son. The idea is that God, as God, or as a Father, had been manifested in the incarnation, the works, and the teachings of Christ, so that they who had seen and heard him might be said to have had a real view of God. When Jesus says, "hath seen the Father," this cannot refer to the essence or substance of God, for he is invisible, and in that respect no man has seen God at any time. All that is meant when it is said that God is seen, is that some manifestation of him has been made, or some such exhibition as that we may learn his character, his will, and his plans. In this case it cannot mean that he that had seen Jesus with the bodily eyes had in the same sense seen God; but he that had been a witness of his miracles and of his transfiguration--that had heard his doctrines and studied his character --had had full evidence of his divine mission, and of the will and purpose of the Father in sending him. The knowledge of the Son was itself, of course, the knowledge of the Father. There was such an intimate union in their nature and design that he who understood the one understood also the other. Mt 11:27 Lk 10:22; Jn 1:18.

(k) "he that hath seen me" Col 1:15