General John 6:46

[LeeB]

John 6:46. Is Jesus saying in this verse that he has seen the Father ?

I would like to hear from all of you what you think of this verse. Is it a bad translation or some addition by trinitarians ? If it is true what would the implications be ? Please respond. Thank you. LeeB

 

[Bvenski]

Its more of a perception in Jesus's mind, per the Greek. Nobody knows God the Father better than his son. Nobody.

The 10 uses of ἑώρακεν, from a quick review on my part, all appear in the sense of seeing by understanding, not with eyeballs.

 

[Bvenski]

Check out 3 John 1:11

....the one who does evil has not seen God.

ἑώρακεν is used here the same way, not with the eyeballs.

Greek reads better:

....the one doing evil not has seen the God

 

[LeeB]

The argument could be made that the first part of this verse, “not that anyone has seen the Father” , seems to indicate seeing with the eyes just as John 5:37 does. The very next words of “except he who is from God” is an exception to, “not that anyone has seen the Father”. Then “ he who is from God” identifies Jesus, who is from God. Normally humans cannot see spirit except God opens their eyes to see. Elisha and his servant apparently were enabled to see spirit. 2 Kings 6:15-17
Did Jesus have the same or greater ability as Elisha ? Strongs G3708 includes sight by mind or eye, which is the same for both uses of the word seen. To choose whether by sight of eye or mind is inconclusive Unless the text leans one way or the other. Do we know all the abilities of Jesus which his God made possible? Do we know enough to say emphatically that Jesus did not actually see his Father ? As far as one doing evil not seeing God, evil is not even mentioned here and would certainly not apply to Jesus.

I thank you Bvenski for you valuable input to this question and hope to have more viewpoints from others here on Simply Christian.

 

[LeeB]

Yes , the first part of the verse does indicate seeing with the eyes.
Good job Kaironaut.

 

[LeeB]

The original questions remain. Other men have seen angels and Paul saw the glorified Jesus. Would it be beyond reason that Jesus saw angels and also Satan and perhaps God ?