John 14:8-17, 25-27
In this passage, Jesus declares a profound ontological union with God: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Metaphysically, this reflects a mutual indwelling—Jesus is not merely a messenger, but the divine Logos through whom the Father is fully present and at work. His words and actions are not autonomous but manifestations of divine will.
From a Platonic perspective, Jesus can be seen as a daemon—a divine spirit intermediary between God and humanity, as described in Symposium and Ion. Like the magnetic chain of divine inspiration, Jesus channels the presence of the Good into the world, linking souls to their divine origin. In this view, he is a living expression of participation in the Form of the Good, and his presence stirs the soul to remembrance, recognition, and ascent.
Jesus is thus both the revealer and the revealed: the one in whom the invisible becomes visible, and through whom divine harmony reaches the soul. His works are like Platonic signs—footprints of the divine—inviting trust, awakening memory, and guiding the soul back toward its source.
John 14:8-17, 25-27
Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
[Note: In John 14:13–14, Jesus promises that prayers offered in his name will be answered—not as license for self-serving requests, but as a mystical formula of alignment. To invoke his name is to pray with a soul shaped by his presence and ordered toward divine purpose. Theologically, he mediates divine will; metaphysically, he is the conduit through which the soul participates in divine action. In a Platonic frame, Jesus acts as the highest daemon—the living link between humanity and the Form of the Good—transforming the soul so that it asks not from ego, but from divinely harmonized desire. In such asking, the Father is glorified, and the Son fulfills his divine work.]
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
[Note: John 14:15 — “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” — reveals that love is the soul’s highest ordering principle. Theologically, it shows that fidelity to Christ is expressed not in sentiment alone, but in obedience to his law of divine love. His commandments—to love God and neighbor, to love as he has loved—are not external rules but invitations to participate in the divine life. Metaphysically, such love harmonizes the soul with the Good. In Platonic terms, Jesus acts as the daemon who reorients desire (eros) toward divine purpose (agapē), transforming the soul so that obedience is no longer compulsion but a natural expression of love’s ascent.]
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
