(Jesus praying) “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word” (Jn. 17:6).

We have established that Jesus IS the Word that was made flesh (Jn. 1:14) and that the GLORY of God is found in the MANIFESTATION of His Word and we know this to be true because the Apostle John continues our opening text by explaining in the very next verse that as a result of Jesus having manifested the Father’s name unto the men He was given, “Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou has given me are of thee” (Jn. 17:7). So, how did Jesus’ disciples live just three years with this son of Joseph and Mary and come to the conclusion that knowing this man was to also know the Father? Because Jesus (the Word made flesh) manifested His Father’s name unto them (Jn. 17:6).

It may help to know the literal translation of the word “manifest” for us to complete grasp what it is that Jesus, through His prayer, is making known to us. When Jesus says, “I have manifested”, his words are translated to the Greek as saying “phaneroo”.

Phaneroo (def.) – to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to manifest, whether by words, or deed, or in any other way.

a) Make actual and visible, realized

b) To make known by teaching

c) To become manifest, be made known

d) of a person

    1) Expose to view, make manifest, to show one’s self, appear

e) To become known, to be plainly recognized, thoroughly understood.

    1) Who and what one is

To shorten the length of what I’ve already mentioned could easily be a book written on this topic alone, let me just assure you that Jesus did all of the above! But because there is such incredible wealth in the revelation of His manifestation please allow me to share just one aspect of this fulfillment. The final characteristic, from the above list, of His manifestation of His Father’s name, is found in His ability to make His Father’s name “known, plainly recognized, and thoroughly understood by simply being who and what He was/is. Who is Jesus? He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15) and “in Him dwelleth the all the fullness of the Godhead (Greek,theotes – divinity) bodily (Col. 2:9).  What is Jesus? Divine!

It is through who and what Jesus is that He speaks plainly to His disciples in John 14:7 “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him”. And He continues in this revelation as He further explains to Philip in verses 9-10, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” Also in John 8:47 Jesus tells the Pharisees, “He that is of God heareth God’s words…”

Jesus IS the Word!

The Father is known today because Jesus manifested His Father’s name! Jesus told the crowd in John 6:46 that no man had ever seen the Father; He was the only one who had ever seen the Father. Yet, when talking to His disciples, in John 14:9 He tells them, “…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…”

If you desire to see the Father then the process for you is the same as it was for the very disciples of Christ --- THE WORD! Go to the Word looking for Jesus and you will see the glory of Father.

Are you out there?