Jesus said to his disciples:
"If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him."
They all did know the Father, after a fashion. Seeing the life of Jesus and his proximity to the Father gave them a better understanding of the Father's heart than the religious leaders of their time, or indeed, anyone prior to the coming of Jesus, could have possessed.
Philip said to Jesus,
"Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
Was Philip saying that he did not in fact know the Father, but wished to? Probably not. Probably he was saying that, precisely because Jesus made the Father so compelling, he desired to see him with all of the implicit intensity of his request. He believed that Jesus had taught him about the Father, and that Jesus was so close to the Father that he could provide for Philip an experience like when God showed himself to Moses (see Exodus 33:18-20).
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
Philip was right that Jesus had a unique relationship to the Father, and that the Father was every indeed so desirable that to truly see him was to be perfectly satisfied, that it would truly be "enough" for him. But he was missing out on that vision and the joy it entailed because he was still trying to look off somewhere in the distance beyond Jesus to see it. He had been meant to understand that the proximity of Jesus to the Father was not merely small, but in fact, non-existent. The Father was in Jesus to such a degree that to see Jesus was to see the Father. Philip could have discovered the answer to his deepest longings by looking to Jesus himself.
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 speak to you I do not speak on my own.
We may give Philip a pass since it was a little confusing. After all Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in Jesus, but there was also a distinction. Jesus did not say that Philip ought to forget about the Father and look at him alone. He wanted Philip to see the interplay of the love of the Triune God that Jesus made present in time and space.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Jesus called attention to himself as revealing an utterly unique relationship with God the Father. He did not presume to usurp the role of the Father. But neither was he merely the closest thing in creation to the Father. His was a relationship that had always been, and would always be, world without end. The words of Jesus revealed this relationship, as did the works that the Father performed through him. Jesus was motivated by his desire to glorify the Father, and not himself. The Father worked to give glory to his Son. This was how Jesus could at once be so exulted but act with such humility. He was God, but did not need to pursue his own ends, or seek his own glory. He was in the form of God but did not regard equality with God as something to which he had to cling. Therefore the disciples had the unique and probably unsettling experience of seeing one who was at once higher than the angels and yet more humble than any other man. This could only be true of the one who was the incarnate Son of God, and it was part of the reason his presence was a revelation of the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.
The works the Father performed in Jesus were meant to lead people to faith. But after Jesus was glorified his disciples would by instruments by which sanctifying grace and the Holy Spirit himself would be conveyed to others. Through the sacraments sinners would be justified, and the spiritually dead would be raised to life. We note the way the Jesus didn't feel himself to be in competition about his works. He desired to be glorified precisely in and through the works of his disciples. It wasn't a zero sum game where if they did too much it would diminish his own status. Rather, the more they did, the more it redounded to the glory of God.
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.
According to Aquinas, when we pray for ourselves (since we can't force our will on others), for things necessary for our salvation, and do so piously and perseveringly, these prayers are always granted. And these are truly the prayers that matter the most. Requests that don't fully match these requirements can be made. In particular we should obviously pray for others. But it is the prayers that Jesus always grants that ensure we are properly situated in regard to the divine will. It is secure in that position that we can be helpful for others, or have a sense of what temporal things may be beneficial, for ourselves or for them. For some reason, this fact tends to disappoint us. We would prefer that Jesus always answer prayers about our lottery tickets, or some other lesser goods. But if we don't recognize that what Jesus promised is in fact the best possible thing we should reevaluate our own priorities. Even in the case of prayer for others, we should not wish to usurp their own freedom to choose for or against the Lord, though we may and must certainly pray that they be open, and drawn, and that they do use their freedom to cooperate. But by explaining to us what he always gives Jesus intends for us to see what we ought to desire the most. It leads to that which Philip desired in his request, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us".
Passion - Holy Ground
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