No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
Some Christians have interpreted this to mean that only Christians can know God. This is a misunderstanding of what it means to know. Of the various languages that I have studied over the years, English is the only one that only has one word for knowing. Many distinguish between knowing in an absolute way, “I know your phone number” and knowing partially “I know you.” I think we all realize that there are different meanings to the word “know.” I have been blessed to meet and spend time with some very well-known people. I would not say I know them
How do we humans know anything? — Through our senses. We see.; we hear; we touch; we taste; we smell. We read. We listen. We watch. So how can anyone know God?
By virtue of the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of God, every human has some experience of God. But it would be overstating to say that we therefore know God. What we truly know of God is what God reveals.
What Jesus says in the gospel today is absolutely true. Only Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, can truly know God in the fullest sense. Jesus is God incarnate, the fullest revelation of the presence of God. Therefore, any revelation of God, like all creation, is through him.
On this third day of advent, this Gospel challenges each of us to look inside ourselves and ask “how well do I know God?“ As we begin this new year, now is the time for each of us to re-dedicate some part of each day to knowing God better. God has given us the tools. The two most important tools we have are the Bible ( the word of God) and the Eucharist in which Christ gives himself to us. Let us use these tools.
May each of us know God more fully each day and share that knowledge with others.
