So, how well does Jesus know God? How intimately aware is the Son concerning the Father? On the surface, maybe those questions come across as “no-brainers.” Or, maybe they present themselves as worthy of only the most grey-haired and studied theologians. Either way, something caught my eye this morning in John’s gospel that’s got me pondering the depths of understanding that exists between the Father and the Son . . . ’cause it kind of has some implications for me.

“I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
(John 10:14-15 ESV)

It’s one of those statements of Scripture that, if you pause over it for but a minute or two, you can’t help but whisper to yourself, “Really?”

I don’t know that I could articulate the depths to which the the Father knows the Son and to which the Son knows the Father, but from what I can grasp of the concept of the Trinity, I’m thinking it’s pretty a intimate, detailed understanding of One Another. That the Son is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature” (Heb. 1:3a) . . . that Christ Jesus “was in the form of God” but “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Php. 2:6) . . . that the Carpenter of Nazareth upset the religious apple cart by declaring, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) . . . it all speaks to the fact that there exists an intimate union . . . and communion . . . between Jesus and the Father. While awe-invoking . . . probably not too surprising.

Ok, but with that reality bouncing back and forth in my brain, I consider that this great truth is illustrative . . . it’s not the “main event” of what Jesus is conveying here . . . rather, it’s the “supporting material” . . . the “comparative analysis.” If I grasp something of the depths of intimacy between the Father and the Son then I can start to grasp the central truth that Jesus is expressing here . . . that, “I know My own and My own know Me.”

Really? The degree to which I can be in relationship with Jesus compares to the degree to which He is in relationship with the Father? The union that exists between me and the Savior can be likened to the relationship that exists within the Holy Trinity? That the communion potential that has been made available between this sinner-saved-by-grace and the Great Shepherd who laid down His life for lost sheep, can approach the intimate communion that exists between Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? If I’m reading this right, the answers are “Yes” . . . “I’m pretty sure” . . . and, “You betcha’!”

So how amazing is that? That as part of the saving grace of God, we have been brought into a relationship with Jesus that compares to that of His relationship with the Father? I don’t know that I fully comprehend the full potential of that relationship, but I’m pretty sure I want to find out . . . I want to pursue it . . . I want to be an active participant in knowing the Son just as the Son knows me . . . just as the Son knows the Father.

I’m not thinking it’s “rocket science” either. The Word of God . . . the indwelling, intercessory Holy Spirit . . . obedience to that which I know He desires of me . . . belief that the work is His, and what He begins, He will finish . . . and, a determination, as much as lies within me, to be “abiding” and pursuing relationship with Him.

So how well does Jesus know God? About as well as He knows me? How intimately aware is the Son concerning the Father? As intimately aware as I have the potential of being about Him? Really? Yeah . . . really!