Our Gospel passage today continues with the Upper Room discourse and teachings that Jesus gave to His disciples the night before He was crucified. With only hours left to spend with His disciples, these last lessons were very important. In this portion of that sacred discourse our Savior speaks about His relationship with the Father, answered prayer, and His promise of the Holy Spirit.
As our passage begins, the Apostle Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus’ response is that if one has seen Him, they have seen the Father (vs. 8-11). Here Jesus is saying that He and God the Father are one. He isn’t just a “good teacher or philosopher” as some believe. He is God. Jesus is more than just a representation of theological attributes. He is God in the flesh. Looking at Jesus is looking at God. He is the visible, tangible image of the invisible God. Jesus is the complete revelation of what God is like. To know Jesus is to know God. This is not true of any of the other “religious leaders” of other false religions. To know Jesus is to know God. Over and over again the Apostle John emphasizes this in his Gospel.
Jesus continues on in His discourse by telling the disciples of the works that they and we would do in His Name (vs. 12). When Jesus said those who believe in Him will do greater things than these, He was not confining such works to the physical realm. After all, what is greater or more amazing than raising the dead? Instead, the emphasis is on spiritual, rather than physical miracles. Through the power of the Holy Spirit the disciples would carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Down through the ages believers have led multitudes of souls to salvation in Jesus’ Name. What greater miracle could there be than that? We cannot do this in our own power, but rather in the power of the Holy Spirit, which could not be sent until Jesus returned to the Father.
Next Jesus gives us a promise that whatever we ask in His Name He will do (vs. 13-14). Many people believe and act as if this was some kind of magic formula, that all they have to do is tack “in Jesus Name” to any prayer and they will get their wish. Asking “in Jesus’ Name” is not a magic formula to say and expect it to “work”. Our prayers should be for God’s purposes and Kingdom, and not for our selfish reasons. Our prayers should be on the basis of Jesus’ merit, and not our personal merit. They should be for His glory alone. What we ask must be fit to be asked in His Name, according to God’s character and will. He will not grant requests contrary to His Nature or His will. We cannot use His Name as a “golden ticket” to fulfill our selfish desires. Our requests need to be in line with what Jesus would wish and stand for. When they are, He has given us the authority to petition God (Hebrews 7:25). We can then come and ask for what we need.
The final thing Jesus speaks of in this passage of Scripture is His promise of sending the Holy Spirit (vs. 16-17). That promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, and since then, whenever someone accepts Jesus as Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to immediately indwell them. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God within all believers, helping us live as God wants us to, and helping to build His Church on earth. By faith we can appropriate the Spirit’s power each day. He will be with us forever, living with and in us. The world cannot and will not accept the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (vs. 17). He is the source of truth, and communicates the truth to believers. Apart from the Holy Spirit men cannot know God’s truth. He is all that we need. Some other names the Scriptures give the Holy Spirit are advocate, guide, helper, comforter, and counselor. He is all of that to us.
When we follow Jesus and keep His commandments, we will be able to do many great works in His Name, see our prayers answered, and live in fellowship with the Holy Spirit which dwells within us.
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