Unspoken Sermons · Chapter
The Knowing of the Son explained
This chapter explores the relationship between knowing God the Father and recognizing Jesus Christ as His Son.
What happens
This chapter explores the relationship between knowing God the Father and recognizing Jesus Christ as His Son. It emphasizes that spiritual perception comes not through physical sight or hearing, but through a heart attuned to God's will and truth. The author argues that those who have not heard the Father's voice or seen His shape are reproached not for lacking physical experience, but for failing to cultivate the spiritual sensitivity that would allow them to recognize Christ. The chapter underscores the necessity of inner transformation and obedience to divine truth as the means by which one comes to know the Son.
Themes in this chapter
Revelation Through Christ
The chapter emphasizes that knowing the Father is possible only through the Son, and that recognition of Christ comes from spiritual insight rather than physical evidence.
The Individual Relationship with God
The reproach to the Jews highlights the necessity of a personal, obedient relationship with God, wherein one hears His voice and has His word abiding in the heart.
Inner Transformation and Perfection
The chapter calls for inner readiness and truthfulness, arguing that spiritual understanding grows through doing what is true and allowing the truth to transform the soul.
Characters to notice
- Jesus Christ
Central figure whose words are examined; he reproaches the Jews for not recognizing him as sent by the Father, and his teachings are presented as the embodiment of divine truth.
- God the Father
The Father who bears witness of the Son; his voice and shape are not physically perceived but spiritually known; the chapter discusses how knowing the Father leads to recognizing the Son.
- The Jews
Addressed by Jesus as those who have not heard the Father's voice nor seen His shape, and who do not believe in the Son; they are reproached for their lack of spiritual perception.
- St. John
Referenced as the recorder of Jesus' words and the one who stated 'No man hath seen God at any time'; his statement is reconciled with Jesus' reproach about seeing God.
- Moses
Mentioned in the context of the rock in the desert, as an example of waiting for understanding rather than presuming to reason from what is not understood.
Key passages
“How am I to know that a thing is true? By doing what you know to be true, and calling nothing true until you see it to be true; by shutting your mouth until the truth opens it.”
The way to recognize truth is to act on what you already know to be true, and to refrain from claiming something as true until you personally perceive its truth; remain silent until the truth itself compels you to speak.
This emphasizes the practical, experiential approach to discerning truth, rooted in obedience and humility.
“The words of the Lord are not for the logic that deals with words as if they were things; but for the spiritual logic that reasons from divine thought to divine thought, dealing with spiritual facts.”
Christ's teachings are not meant to be analyzed as mere verbal propositions, but to be understood through a spiritual reasoning that moves from one divine idea to another, engaging with spiritual realities.
This distinguishes between superficial intellectual analysis and deep spiritual comprehension of Jesus' words.
“If ye had ever heard the Father’s voice; if ye had ever known his call; if you had ever imagined him, or a God anything like him; if you had cared for his will so that his word was at home in your hearts, you would have known me when you saw me.”
If you had truly listened to God, understood His nature, and cherished His will so that His word lived within you, you would have recognized me as His Son when you encountered me.
This paraphrase captures Jesus' reproach that the Jews' failure to recognize him stems from their lack of genuine relationship with the Father.
