John 12:44-45 - Exposition

Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me; and he that beholdeth me, beholdeth him that sent me . These words do not occur before, but in every form our Lord had exalted "him that sent him." His doctrine or teaching, his purpose in manifestation, the secret food that sustained him, the Divine presence that never left him alone, the entire background of the mission of his human will and life into the world, the object of faith to men as revealed in his humanity, and that which the spiritual eye ought to see, nay—if the beholder did but know it does see, constitute an unveiling of the eternal Father who sent him into the world (see John 4:34 ; John 5:36 ; John 6:38 ; John 7:17 , John 7:18 , John 7:29 ; John 8:28 , John 8:42 ; John 10:38 ; cf. also John 14:1 , John 14:9 , John 14:24 ). It becomes, then, of high value to grasp the truth. We actually believe in God when believing in him. His mission is lost in the glory of God who appears in him. So far as he is sent, he was necessarily of lower order and rank than he who sent him. His humanity began to be in time; it was generated in the womb of the virgin; it was sanctified and sent into the world; and yet through it there was the highest revelation of the Father. We cannot attribute so stupendous a thought to the evangelist, and at the same time we admit the portentous singularity and uniqueness of the consciousness which could thus aver identity of nature with God and the completeness of revelation that the Speaker was making in himself of the Father.