Seeing and Explaining God

John begins his Gospel with a profound claim about the identity and mission of Jesus:

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

- John 1:18

Here John contrasts two ideas–seeing God and explaining Him. To see God implies direct vision of His essence, which Scripture teaches is impossible for mortal man (Exodus 33:20; I Timothy 6:16). God is invisible and beyond the reach of human senses.

However, John does not leave the matter in mystery. He introduces a new way God makes Himself known: through the Son, "the only begotten God" who is in the closest relationship with the Father. John says that Jesus has explained God. The word used (exēgeomai) is where we get "exegesis"–to interpret, to make clear, to unfold meaning. In other words, Jesus is the living exegesis of God.

This is not simply rhetorical variation; it is a theological point. To "see" God is not granted to human eyes, but to "know" God comes through Christ's explanation in His teaching, miracles, character, and ultimately in His death and resurrection. Jesus Himself confirmed this when He told Philip, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).

John is teaching that "seeing God" is impossible in human terms, but in Jesus, God is fully "explained" and thereby made known. To know Christ is, in the truest sense, to see God.