Doing the Impossible — Major Ian Thomas

The Feeding of the Five Thousand and the Impossible Christian Life

I'd like you to turn with me tonight to the sixth chapter of Mark's Gospel, Mark's Gospel, Chapter 6. And we're going to turn to this passage as commencing with the thirty-fourth verse, which records a very familiar incident.

We shall commence to consider this story in Mark's Gospel, Chapter 6. We shall probably continue our exploration in the same story, but recounted in the sixth chapter of John's Gospel. And we'll conclude our exploration of the story in the fourteenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel.

The three Gospels recording the same incident, but giving us, as it were, a three-dimensional view of what happened, and the purpose that the Lord Jesus was seeking to fulfil. Mark's Gospel, Chapter 6, and verse thirty-four.

And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were a sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. Literally, translated, it says, he preached a long sermon.

And I always find that a great encouragement. It was a long sermon. It had lasted almost all day. And the evening was closing in upon them. The folk were tired and hungry. And the disciples could see that very fast there was approaching in a situation that was calculated to be very embarrassing.

And so when the day was now far spent, verse thirty-five, his disciples came unto him and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far past. Send them away, that they may go out into the country, round about and into the villages, and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat.

Taking the three relevant sentences out of those two verses, verses thirty-five and thirty-six, what they said to the Lord Jesus was this, This is a desert place, send them away. They have nothing to eat.

We must get them off our hands, and quick. We have nothing with which to feed this great multitude. And the record says that there were five hundred men. And Matthew adds that apart from the men, there were the women and the children.

And if meetings in those days were anything like meetings in these days, and there were five thousand men plus the women and the children, it was a big meeting. Well, that was a perfectly reasonable conclusion to come to, don't you think?

Here was this vast concourse of people, already tired and hungry. The only reasonable, obvious, sensible thing to do would be to get rid of them, send them home. But the Lord Jesus answered and said to them, verse thirty-seven, Give you them to eat.

You don't send hungry people away, you feed them. But immediately they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred penny worth of bread and give them to eat? Master, they said, this is a sheer impossibility.

All that we have is barely sufficient for our own modest needs, let alone for this great company of people. It's impossible, we can't. And in so many words, the Lord Jesus said to them, You're right, it's impossible.

That's precisely why we're going to feed them. And I'm going to show you how to do the impossible. And that really is the object of the exercise. From now on, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to demonstrate to his disciples how to live a quality of life that cannot be explained except in terms of God.

Conversion and the Christian Life

Are you a Christian? I think most of you will understand what I mean by that question. You know I'm not asking whether you're a church member of some particular religious organization. You know that I'm not asking you whether you were born in the United States as opposed to the heart of Africa.

I think you understand what I mean when I say, are you a Christian? What I mean is this, are you converted? Have you repented toward God and humbly received Jesus Christ as your Redeemer? Do you know that though you never deserved it, your sins are forgiven because he died for you upon the cross?

And are you fully convinced by the witness of God's Holy Spirit to your spirit that he, God the Holy Ghost, has come back to indwell your redeemed humanity as the seal of your redemption? To demonstrate the fact that for his dear sake, Christ who died for you, your name has been recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life and numbered amongst those for whom Christ died and who has been accepted in the Beloved.

I think you understand what I mean when I ask you, are you a Christian? May I assume that you are? It isn't a safe assumption. Almost certainly in such a gathering as this, there are folk who are not Christians.

And in saying that, I don't challenge their sincerity, nor the zeal and earnestness with which maybe some of them go to church regularly, even read their Bibles and pray. But maybe you're still hunting, seeking, questing to come to that joyful place of assurance.

That enables you to partake of all the good of that for which Christ died upon the cross and rose again from the dead. So although it wouldn't be a safe assumption that all here tonight are Christians, may I assume it for the moment?

Then as a Christian, what quality of life are you living? Is it a quality of life that can be explained in terms of you? Or is it a quality of life that can only be explained in terms of God? Somebody has rightly said that for you and for me to live the Christian life is not difficult.

It's a sheer impossibility. Have you found that out yet? If you haven't yet discovered that for you to live the Christian life is a sheer impossibility, although you may be converted, really regenerate, it's absolutely certain that you haven't yet begun to live the Christian life.

Did you know that it's possible to have the Christian life without living it? The majority of Christians, real Christians, who have received the Christian life haven't begun to live it because they've never really grasped what the Christian life is.

But of this you can be certain tonight, that if the quality of life that you are living as a Christian can be explained in terms of your enthusiasm, your sense of devotion, your sense of loyalty to Christ, your dedication, your effort, your willpower, then you're not living the Christian life.

And the best that you can produce is just a well-meaning but shabby imitation of the real thing. Because the real Christian life is impossible to you and impossible to me. Apart from the one who is that life, Jesus Christ himself.

For the Christian life is Christ. And that's exactly what it takes to be a Christian. Nothing more, nothing less. And that's exactly why he died upon the cross. To make this kind of life possible for you and for me.

Supposing the quality of life that you're living as a Christian can be explained in terms of you, what have you got to offer to the neighbours next door? Maybe they're not Christians and don't profess to be.

And they would say to you, the quality of life that we are living is explained in terms of us, and the quality of life that you're living is explained in terms of you. You happen to be religiously inclined and we don't.

So what? That happens to be your particular hobby, it doesn't happen to be ours. The club you go to is the church. The club that we go to is another kind of institution. But within your religious context, the church you go to, the professed faith that you have, the ecclesiastical, theological concept of life, the philosophy upon which you base your activities, happens to be in a religious circumference.

And you live your life explicable in terms of you within that context. We live our lives explicable in terms of us within our context. What's the difference between you and us? You go your way, we'll go our way.

That by and large is why the public in general is not terribly interested in the faith that we profess. Because as far as they're concerned, it's simply a choice of context. Not a difference in nature of life.

Jesus Knows What He Will Do

Now the Lord Jesus was going to show his disciples what it really means to live a life healthily related to God. Now how did he do it? Let's turn now to John's Gospel, Chapter 6. John's Gospel, Chapter 6.

And in this record, John takes, as it were, a magnifying glass and looks at the incident and enlarges it. And we can examine it in greater detail. Verse 5 of Chapter 6 of Gospel of John. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, When shall we buy bread that these may eat?

And this the Lord Jesus said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. This he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. When the Lord Jesus asked this question to Philip, was he seeking counsel?

Was he at a loss? Was he embarrassed? Was his back against the wall? Was he found on the wrong foot? Was he trying to find a way out of an awkward and difficult situation? No, he knew what he was going to do.

Exactly. Have you really discovered that the Lord Jesus, who has redeemed you and now lives within you, always knows what he's going to do? Have you discovered that? Are you living in the good of it? Rejoicing in that wonderful fact and experiencing it daily, vindicated by his overwhelming all-sufficiency for every situation and for every contingency as it arises.

Are you living in the good of that? The Lord Jesus, who always knows what he is going to do, the God who knows the end from the beginning, who's never found at a loss, who is completely panic-proof. Are you?

Have you been panic-proof all day? Are you quite sure you were when you came down to breakfast this morning? If you come down to breakfast. Most of your homes are on one floor, so you'd have to be in a balloon or something to come down.

We have an upstairs normally. Are you sure that you've been panic-proof? In the office? Did your secretary think so? Your business associates? Are you a schoolteacher? Are you quite sure your class thought you were panic-proof just a few hours ago?

The Lord Jesus was panic-proof always. Unhurried. Never in a stampede. Because, you see, if you know exactly what you're going to do, you never panic. And the measure in which you are enjoying the life of Jesus Christ will be the measure in which you never panic.

Remain inwardly utterly unhurried. Or you may have to run sometimes if you're nearly going to miss it. But inwardly you're unhurried. What's the quality of life that you're living? Now, Jesus Christ wasn't at a loss.

Then why did he ask this question? Maybe he wanted to know something about Philip. No, he didn't. He didn't want to know a thing about Philip for one good reason. He knew all there was to know. And he knows all there is to know about you.

Everything. Constantly in the Gospels we read that the Lord Jesus answered the unspoken thoughts of friend and foe. He knows every thought who discerns every thought and intent of the heart. There's nothing that's passed through your mind while I've been talking to you for the last few moments that hasn't been read and recorded by God.

Incidentally, what have you been thinking about since I've been talking to you? Where have you been? Oh, I know your body's been sitting there propped up against the back of the bench, but where have you been?

I've long since ceased to be deceived as a preacher that Socrates sitting in front of me is still there. It's amazing how far you can travel and still be sitting in the same bench and looking in the same direction and appear just as intelligent.

I wonder where you've been. Wouldn't it be interesting to know where everybody's been in the last ten minutes? Who you've been talking to, with what situations you've been grappling, what conversations you were engaged with, how many other people you've met who are not in this building at the moment.

Where have you been? Well, I want you to know this, that wherever you have been, and whatever situation you may have grappled with in your mind, and whoever you may have met, and whatever you may have been doing in your thoughts, has been known and recorded.

Something of which we should remind ourselves from time to time. And the Lord Jesus Christ did not need to ask Philip one single question to know anything about Philip. He knew the whole story. Then why did Jesus Christ ask Philip this question?

Because he wanted Philip to know something about himself. And maybe that's why the Lord Jesus Christ has brought you here tonight, to meet with you and talk to you, so that you tonight may discover something about yourself, and about the quality of the life that you have been living as a Christian.

The Lord Jesus Christ wanted Philip, as an apostle, one of the devotees of Jesus Christ, one of his most loyal and earnest followers, he wanted Philip to discover the sheer bankruptcy of his experience of God.

He wanted Philip, as an apostle, to discover how pathetically, tragically low was the level of his relationship to Jesus Christ. For Philip answered him, verse 7, 200 pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

When personally challenged by the Lord Jesus, how he was going to measure up to this particular situation, 5 ,000 men plus women and children, all hungry and all tired, what are you going to do, Philip?

What was the criteria, so far as Philip was concerned? What really mattered in this situation? All that mattered, so far as Philip was concerned, was how much money they had in the bank. So with what, or with whom, was Philip reckoning?

Jesus Christ? No. So far as Philip was concerned, in this particular situation, Jesus Christ might just as well have been dead, or never existed. Supposing we suddenly notice somebody in the crowd, whom we recognize to be completely atheistic in outlook, a complete infidel, utterly materialistic in all his calculations, a down-to-earth, brass-tacks individual, who would consider anything beyond the context of human endeavor totally irrelevant to any possible situation.

And we say, excuse me, would you mind coming over a moment, we'd like to ask you for your advice. We've got 5 ,000 men here, plus their women and their children, and we're in a bit of a quandary because they're all very hungry and we'd like to feed them.

Have you any suggestions? What do you think the first question that individual would ask, out of the background of his infidelity, his unbelief, his materialistic philosophy of life, what would be the first question?

How much money have you got? So how different, actually, was Philip from that man in terms of behavior, in the way he faced the situation? No different at all. And if that man had been asked his opinion of Philip, and Philip's attitude in this situation, he would have said, he is reacting purely in terms of himself.

His attitude, behavior, and reaction to this situation is explicable in terms of Philip as a man, in the context of human resources. And whether God is alive or dead, exists or doesn't, it wouldn't make any difference whatever to Philip.

And he would be right. Well, you profess to be a Christian. You say that the God you serve and love is an almighty God, that he indwells your humanity, that you have dwelling within you the Holy Spirit of the living triune deity who created the universes, threw them into space, and holds them there by the word of his power.

Would you tell me today, as you think back, even over the past few hours alone, the past twenty-four hours, at most the past seven days, just how far in the various situations that have pressed in upon you, circumstances that have pressed in upon you, just how far have you reckoned with Jesus Christ?

How far haven't you reckoned with Jesus Christ? How far have you grappled with those situations on the basis of what you are and what you have, the material resources, the friends, circumstances, all explicable apart from God, apart from Jesus Christ?

Let's all examine our own hearts tonight. Just how far have I individually reckoned with Christ in the constant sequence of events that constitute my life? Because this will give you a reasonable estimate of your knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Andrew, the Boy, and Faith in Christ

One of his disciples, Andrew Simon Peter's brother, said to him, there's a lad here which has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? Andrew was the next on the list and he came up and apologized to the Lord Jesus for introducing to him a small boy who insisted that with five loaves and two fishes he could feed five thousand men plus the women and the children.

Could anything be more stupid than that? Then why did Andrew bring the boy? Well, because I think Andrew was a warm-hearted individual. I think he had tried desperately hard to dissuade the boy, but the boy refused to be dissuaded.

And there are few people that can be more persuasive than a small boy. I've got three of my own, and I know. I can imagine Andrew having tried very, very hard to say to that small boy, look here son, five loaves and two fishes, just have a look, just have a look round.

Five thousand men, it might go round, but plus the women and the children. If the children there had any kind of appetite commensurate with some of the young folk I've been staying with recently, that's a problem.

I think the boy came to Andrew because Andrew was one of the friendliest of the disciples. There's no recorded miracle that he wrought, there's no recorded sermon that he preached, but he did have a reputation for bringing people and things to Jesus Christ.

It seems that folk could come easily to Andrew. Sometimes I say he must have had a face like a doormat, that said welcome on it. Some folk go around and wonder why nobody ever comes to them, because they've got faces like a notice on the door, beware of the dog.

But Andrew was friendly, and it may be he just smiled at the kid, or punched him in the tummy as he poured, you know, to show he was friendly. The best way to make friends with a boy is always to hit him.

He understands the language. He became an apologer. I can almost imagine the kind of conversation that went on between that boy and Andrew. Andrew would explain to him that it was utterly inadequate. About your size son, you wrap yourself round it.

I'll tell the master, he'll be pleased, I'm sure he'll appreciate it, but I don't think we ought to disturb him, because he's preaching. Five loaves you see son. And that boy, maybe it looked almost indignantly into Andrew's face, and he'd say something like this, he said, I don't mind whether it's five loaves, or fifty loaves, or five hundred loaves, or five thousand loaves.

That's not the point. Take me to that man. He'd learned the principle of living a life utterly inexplicable, without explanation, except in terms of God. You see, because Philip, the two hundred pennies were all important, Jesus Christ was completely unimportant.

Because to Andrew, the five loaves and the two fishes were all important, Jesus Christ was totally unimportant. Because to that small boy, Jesus Christ was all important, the five loaves and the two fishes were totally unimportant.

That's why the Lord Jesus knew what he was going to do. Because he knew that in that great crowd, unsung, unrecognized, there was one small boy, who in the simplicity of his heart, he was no theologian, he didn't claim any scholarship, he didn't pretend to be a great philosopher, but in the simplicity of his heart, he had entered into a faith relationship to Jesus Christ that made everything possible, through the God of the impossible.

And Jesus Christ could accomplish, with what that small boy could present to him, in that attitude of mind towards Jesus Christ, what he couldn't possibly begin to accomplish through his own disciples.

That's why they were in such sore need of this instruction. But he knew what he was going to do. And what did he do? He took that boy's loaves and fishes and brought them here. It's always a thrilling story, this one to me, because it means that he knew what he was going to do.

That boy was known to Jesus Christ long ever before Andrew spoke to him. And almost certainly every meeting of such a character as this, tucked away somewhere that's a person, maybe just a small boy or girl or man or woman, utterly unrecognized, unknown, nobody's ever credited them with any particular capacity or any particular promise, but Jesus Christ knows that boy.

He knows that girl or that man or that woman. He's got the whole glorious program already mapped out in his mind, what's going to be accomplished, because that unknown individual has already begun to grasp the principles of a life that defies explanation, except in terms of God, which is the normal Christian life.

The Father Works Through the Son

Well, how did the Lord Jesus do the miracle? Because remember, he's trying to teach his disciples how to do the impossible. Verse 11. Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down.

And likewise to the fishes, as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore, notice very carefully the wording, they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves.

There's no question of doubt left to us in the record that the twelve baskets were filled with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. I simply mention that in passing because there are some very, very, very, very, very clever people, you see, who would explain to you that there's no miracle involved here.

It was simply that the boy shamed everybody else. And when he stuck his hand in his shirt and pulled out his own packed lunch, everybody else was so ashamed of being so selfish that they hadn't shared theirs, that they all put their hands under their shirt and they all pulled out their packed lunch, you see.

Everybody shared everybody else's sandwiches and everything in the garden was lovely. And all they had to do was to go out and pick the sandwich bags up and put them in the basket. That's called scholarship.

And you get a PhD for that. The key to the pulpit. But folk who happened to be there at the time weren't so easily convinced of such a simple solution. Verse fourteen, those men, the five thousand of them, plus their women and their children, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world.

This is something that cannot be explained except in terms of God. And this obviously, manifestly determines who this person is. There was a notable miracle wrought. The impossible was accomplished. But how?

It's tucked away in verse eleven, you'd hardly notice it. We get accustomed to reading our Bibles without really thinking sometimes of the significance of what we are reading. You might imagine when it says Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks, that all he did was bow his head and say grace.

That wasn't it. Jesus took the loaves and when he had said thank you, given thanks, who did he thank? Himself? Wasn't he God? Well then who was he thanking? The Father. Why did Jesus Christ thank the Father?

Wasn't he a member of the triune deity? Doesn't John record in the same gospel, chapter one and verse one, that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and was God and by him this Word all things were made?

That without him was not anything made that was made and that in him the creative Word was life and this life was the very light of men and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth?

Then why should the creator God, who was manifest in the flesh and walked this earth and at this moment was about to feed five thousand hungry people, why ever should he thank anybody but himself? For a very good reason.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, he made himself of no reputation. He humbled himself. He took upon himself the form of a servant. He became a man and was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

This is a mystery. There is absolutely no doubt left to us in the Bible that the Lord Jesus Christ is completely one with the Father and the Holy Spirit in deity. Always God, utter God. He never once repudiated the fact that he and his Father were one.

But although the Lord Jesus Christ is God, was God, and always will be God, when he came to this world, he didn't come into this world to be God. Had he done so, nobody would ever have seen him. Because John's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 18 says, no man has seen God at any time.

The only begotten of the Father, he hath declared him. If Jesus Christ had simply come into this world as God, to behave as God, nobody would have seen him. God is a spirit. They that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

But when the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, although he was God, he came to be man, and so was God and was man at one and the same time. But although he could be God and be man at one and the same time, he could not behave as God and behave as man at one and the same time.

Have you ever grasped that fact? For a very good reason. God is the only person who has the right to be self-sufficient. God is the only person who has the right always to be independent. God is the only person who has the right never to obey anybody.

God is the only person who has the right at any time to please himself. But God, the triune deity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, created man to be dependent upon the Creator. And that man as the creature can only function as the creature, as the Creator intended the creature to function, so long as he, the creature, is totally, relentlessly, moment by moment, step by step, dependent upon the Creator.

So that if the Lord Jesus Christ was to behave as man, and as man was intended by God to behave in dependence, he could not be dependent and independent at one and the same time. That would be a sheer impossibility.

The amazing thing is this, that the Bible teaches us again and again, and from the lips of the Lord Jesus again and again, and particularly in John's Gospel where he claims total equality with the Father, he constantly places himself in total submission to the Father.

Just look back just one chapter. Chapter 5 and verse 19. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing. How much? Of himself. Wasn't he God? Didn't he create the universes?

Yes. Didn't he throw them into space? Yes. Isn't he the one of whom it is said in Hebrews chapter 1, that now returned to share with the Father the glory that he had with the Father before ever the world was?

Isn't it said of him that he upholds them at this moment by the word of his power? Yes. While you and I are sitting here at this very moment, there's only one person who is upholding all things by the word of his power.

It's the Son. And yet when he was here on earth, he said the Son can do nothing of himself. Verse 30 of John 5. I can of mine own self do nothing. Nothing. Look in Romans chapter 15, verse 3. Romans 15, verse 3.

Even Christ pleased not himself. God has a right to please himself. But the moment the Lord Jesus deliberately of his own free volition, and he need never have done so. But the moment in fulfillment of the plan that had been agreed is between himself, the Father and the Holy Spirit before ever the world was.

He came out of eternity into time, stepped from heaven to earth. He placed himself as man in that relationship to the Father that left him no option whatever but to be totally dependent, incomplete and unquestioning obedience.

And that's why it says in Hebrews chapter 5 that he learned obedience. Even God had to go to school. You see, God had never obeyed before. God had to become a man to learn to obey. It's one of the characteristics of true manhood.

Obedience. Submission. Availability. To God. And the Lord Jesus Christ had come into the world to demonstrate to man, man's true relationship to God. For he says, as my Father sent me, I'm going to send you.

If the Father had sent the Son to be God and behave as God, that wouldn't have helped you and me very much, would it? Could Jesus Christ ever have sent you and me to be and behave as God as the Father sent him to be and behave as God?

The Father sent him to be and behave as man so that he, 33 years later, restored to his position with the Father, could send you and send me to be and behave as man. And what he's saying is this. I'm going to show you how you're going to behave later in your relationship to me.

It'll be the way that I now, as man, am behaving in my relationship to my Father. And I want you to know this, that the office of man is to be totally available, completely submissive and obedient to his God.

And I agreed with my Father and I agreed with the Holy Spirit that I should come to this world, and though I am in complete equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit, I'm going to behave in your presence as though I were a perfect man.

And I want you to watch me very closely. I want you to keep your eyes glued on me and see how I behave because the way I behave is the way you're going to behave. As my Father sent me, I'm going to send you.

See? So what did he do? He said, Father, there are 5 ,000 men here, plus the women and the children. They're all very hungry. We've got five loaves and we've got two fishes. Thank you, Father. Then he began to break.

Who did the miracle? Who? Who did the miracle? Look in John 14, in verse 10. Notice the relationship. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me.

He doeth the works. Who? The Father. He doeth the works. So who fed the 5 ,000? The Father through the Son. Because the Lord Jesus was demonstrating how a man can do the impossible. How a man can be so available to God that God in that man can accomplish only what God can accomplish.

Jesus Christ could have fed the 5 ,000 himself as God. He had the right to do it. He was God. But he refused to. It says in Philippians chapter 2 that he humbled himself. And that's why it says in Philippians 2, let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus.

You are to adopt this attitude toward the Lord Jesus that he deliberately for your sake and mine adopted towards the Father. And if you'll do that, he says, in the same 14th chapter of John, when I have gone back to be my Father, to be to you as men what my Father is to me now as man, you'll do the things that I do and greater works than thee.

Simple, isn't it? He said, soon I'm going back to my Father. When my job's done, I'm going back. And I shall share with my Father again the glory that I had with him before ever the world was. Then what my Father is to me now, I'm going to be to you then.

That what I now am to my Father, you will then be to me. It's a thrilling and a wonderful thing. It's tremendously comforting. It'd be no comfort to me if I simply had to gaze upon Jesus Christ living and behaving as God and try to be like him.

That would be a message of despair. But the thrilling and the wonderful thing is this. The Lord Jesus says, I'm teaching you to live on a basis that will make possible to you, by virtue of your relationship to me, what is possible to me now by virtue of my relationship to the Father.

You see, all the limitable resources of deity are available to the man who is available to all the illimitable resources of deity. Everything that God is, is available to the man who is available to everything that God is.

Understand? That's what Hebrews 11, 6 says. He that cometh to God must first believe that God is, and that he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. All that God is, is available to the man who diligently seeks God, who is.

You see, the Lord Jesus, as utter man, was completely available to the utter availability of the Father to the Son. The Father was as available to the Son as the Son was available to the Father. There was complete identity.

I'm in my Father, available to him. My Father's in me, he's available to me. And my Father is completely available to me because I am completely available to my Father. So I enjoy the Father and the Father enjoys me.

And that's why, in the activity of Jesus Christ, there was absolutely no margin of difference between what the Father did as God and the Son did as man. So every act of Jesus Christ was an act of deity, clothed with his humanity.