When it comes to people, the "You in Me, I in You" riddle only makes sense when a physical person and a spiritual person are joined together. Let's say I have this special ability to move things with my mind, and I have used that power for the government for years and years. Now I'm old, about to die, and I'm about to leave the government with a hole that no one else can fill. Rather than just dying, I pass my spirit into my children, giving the government a handful of mental movers as long as my children learn how to connect to my spirit and learn the subtle nature of the connection. They would have to learn how to let me move things through them. It would be an interesting relationship, one that would require a lot of patience, listening, and submission. But in the end, it would be best for everyone. Simply put: I would be in my children, giving them my life and power. And my children would be an extension of me--my hands and feet, my branches. Now if my power came from a relationship with something else, like an alien spirit, then I would remain in connection with that spirit, but still give my spirit to my children, making a chain, like gears. The alien speaks to me, I speak to my children, things start moving, the government smiles. This is how the Godhead works, and it explains their unity. Look at these verses: 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 initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. John 14:10 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. John 16:13-15 
Hold on a second? Neither of them speak on their own initiative? So if the Holy Spirit speaks, he is just saying what Jesus told him to say, and if Jesus is speaking, he is only saying what the Father told him to say? So if I hear from the Holy Spirit, ultimately I have just heard from the Father. It is a system called Glorification. In other words, the nature of the Godhead is to let the OTHER person be seen and heard. No wonder Jesus said, "Pray to the Father." The Father is the head of the chain. So how can we practically apply this ourselves? Where do we fit in the chain?
The Chain of Command
The Mystery Explained
He who 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? John 14:10 Jesus asks the question as if the riddle should make everyone sort of smile sheepishly, nod their heads, and sort of elbow each other in the ribs. But . . . can you explain it? Why didn't this riddle get into the discussion when people were trying to solve the whole, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" issue? The Roman bishops used a Latin word homoousion, meaning “same substance,” to describe the relationship between the Father and Son. Both are God, and God is one. But why create a solution that seems even more difficult to understand than the solution Jesus presents here in John 14? Some may not think this riddle is important, but Jesus uses it again, the second time he includes his disciples. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:20 The third time, he includes US: I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us. John 17:20-21 So let's start with the most simple of the three riddles: Jesus and his Father. How can they both inhabit one another at the same time? It seems to defy the laws of science. But Jesus, as he often does, provides his disciples with a parable to understand it. The parable is very familiar and can be found in the very next chapter--the vine and the branches. 
Let's break it apart: Jesus is the branch. The Father is the vine. How is the branch in the vine? That's easy, we can see how that works. The branch is growing right out of it. It is an extension of the vine's life, an extension that produces green leaves for healing, and fruit to offer sustenance and strength to others. The life of the vine finds expression through the branch. But remove the branch, and the branch is dead, good for nothing but to be bundled up and burned. How is the vine in the branch? In this case, it is not the physical vine that is in the branch, but the life of the vine. The vine takes the water and nutrients from the soil, and gives it to the branch, allowing the branch to live and grow and bear fruit. We're talking about the indwelling Spirit of God. This is also true of an arm and a body. The arm allows the body to express itself and to accomplish things. But the life of the body gives the arm everything it needs to live and grow. By being an active member of the body, it is connected to the brain through the nervous system, and receives the blood it needs from the heart. In the same way Jesus received life from his Father, and functioned in response to that life. But if the vine and the branch are the exact same thing---homoousion . . . Now I'm confused. There is much more to be said about this subject, but for now I want to challenge you to take the vine and branches illustration and apply it to the other two mysteries (John 14:20 & John 17:20-21). Can you explain them?
Join the Trinity?
Jesus never claimed to be the same person as His Father. Not once. He only claimed to be ONE with his Father, so much so, he could say, "When you see me, you see the Father." It seems that the only way the Council of 300+ bishops at Nicaea could explain the seemingly dual nature of Jesus was to assert that Jesus and His Father were exactly the same person. But since Jesus never makes that claim, we should be hesitant to blindly accept the claims of these men who were making decisions over 300 years after the events. This may sound like heresy, but my challenge is to the bishops, not to Jesus himself. If Jesus claimed unity with his Father, that's what he had. He didn't claim to be of one substance with his Father, which is what the Nicaean and Athanasian Creeds so boldly declare. This was their best solution. But we don't need to jury-rig this one. The answers are presented in John chapters fourteen through sixteen, the passage where Jesus gives final instructions to his disciples. It is in this passage that Jesus explains his unity with his Father, then invites them to share in the same kind of unity with him after his ascension. Wait a second. Join the Trinity? We can't even understand it, much less join it. "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one." John 17:20-22 How can we possibly be one "as they are one," if we could never understand their unity? The mystery, as Jesus presents it in John 14, is answered in a riddle: Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who 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 initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works." Clearly the Bishops at Nicaea were not science fiction fans. They would have loved that solution. What about you? Can you explain the riddle (in bold above)? If you know the answer, be thou silent...
The Elusive Nature of Jesus
"If, in this city, you ask anyone for change, he will discuss with you whether God the Son is begotten or unbegotten. if you ask about the quality of bread, you will receive the answer that 'God the Father is greater. God the Son is less.' If you suggest that a bath is desirable, you will be told that 'There was nothing before God the Son was created.'" -- Bishop of Constantinople, 4th Century AD. This is what happens when you announce that to be Roman is to be Christian. You end up with a lot of confused people. The nature of Jesus is hard enough for us good, Bible-reading, modern-day Christians to understand. In 325, to stave off heresy and put an end to the debate, a Council of about 300 bishops got together at the order of Emperor Constantine in a place called Nicaea. There, they developed a Creed that included the following statement: We believe in One Lord, Jesus Christ the only son of god. God from god, light from light, true god from true god. Begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. The Holy Spirit didn't officially join the Trinity until around 500 AD with the Athanasian Creed, though the inclusion was assumed and inevitable. From that day to this, the nature of Jesus is easily explained. Here, let me try. We'll have a Question and Answer time. Q: If Jesus was truly God, why did he say things like, "Why do you call me good, only God is good?" or ""But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Who was he praying to all the time? Himself? A: That was Jesus in his humanity. Q: If Jesus was truly man, how could he walk on water, feed 5000 men with a little boy's lunch, or command fish to jump into fishing nets? A: Don't you know that Jesus is 100% man and 100% God? Jesus was being in God in those instances. See, it's simple. Depending on the circumstance, you can just attribute the appropriate aspect of God's nature. That clears everything right up. Does anyone else feel like our brains are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole by just calling the square peg round? If we are to believe the Bible, we must accept that Jesus walked at times as a God and at other times as a man. But how is this possible? Can he split his nature like that? Does the doctrine of the Trinity really give satisfying answers to ALL the questions that the scriptures present? Was Jesus forsaking himself on the cross. Was he begging himself to take the "cup" from him in the Garden of Gethsemane? Judging by the fact that no one responded to the poll question: "Did Jesus know if the world was round?" I can see that this issue is not as clear cut as we pretend it is. How do you personally grapple with it?
