Sometimes the president of a company or large corporation will give authorization to a lower staff member to make decisions or make agreements with other companies. This other staff member will go out in the name of the head of the company, perhaps using his personal letterhead or stamp, and make these decisions. Of course, this staff member is to only make decisions that he knows his boss would approve of; ones that the boss could give his name to, his seal of approval. If instead he makes selfish or improper decisions in the name of the boss, that privilege might be revoked. In our verses today from the Gospel of John, we read about a privilege that has been granted to believers. Let’s look at this and what other things the Lord Jesus tells us in this Scripture passage.
As our passage opens, the apostle Philip asked Jesus to be able to see God the Father. Jesus responded by telling the disciples that whoever has seen Him has seen the Father (vs. 8-11). This proves the falsehood of heretical beliefs which teach that Jesus was a created being, was not divine, or not divine until after the resurrection. Jesus is God in the flesh. He is the visible, tangible image of the invisible God. There are no attributes of deity that Jesus does not possess. Everything that is true of the Father is true of the Son. The only way to see the Father, to know Him, is through Jesus. The words that Jesus spoke are actually ones coming from God the Father. The honest search for God and truth will end in Jesus Christ. To know Jesus is to know God.
Jesus continues by stating that His followers will be able to do the works that He did, and greater works than Him (vs. 12). This is greater works in number, not in magnitude - bringing the Gospel to the world. Jesus’s ministry was mainly limited to Israel. The disciples and those following were to go to the ends of the earth, and have brought countless numbers of people to the saving knowledge of Jesus. The only way the disciples would be able to do this was through the power of the Holy Spirit. He could not be sent until Jesus returned to heaven.
Then Jesus stated a very wonderful promise, that if we ask anything in His Name, He will do it (vs. 13-14). There are some things that we need to understand about these verses. Jesus has instructed us to come to the Father through Him, and to ask for what we need. Those who have a saving relationship with Jesus have the right to use His Name in prayer. For God to hear and answer our prayers we must first be saved. After salvation, we must walk in righteousness before Him. If we knowingly continue in sin, and do not repent, God will not listen (Psalm 66:18).
“In Jesus’s Name” is not a magic charm or formula. Our prayers must be consistent with Jesus’s character and will. God is able, and will do whatever is in His will. We need to submit our desires to His will. We must obey Him and His will, not our own. We must come to Him with clean hearts and hands, solely on the merits of His Son, Jesus. God will not say yes to what will hurt us or derail His purpose. Are we seeking to glorify God, or are our motives selfish, greedy or impure?
Praying “in Jesus’s Name” means we are acting as His agent, and is not something we should just randomly tack on to the end of any prayer of ours. We are to be acting as the agent of Jesus’s will, and when we are, He promises us unlimited resources to do His will. God will not grant requests that are contrary to His nature or His will. However, when we recognize Jesus’s authority as the Son of God we can pray in His Name and have access to God. Asking in Jesus’s Name means we want to do God’s will and to glorify Him.
Jesus then promised to send the Holy Spirit to all believers (vs. 16-17). God has not deserted us. We have His continual aid through the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells all believers. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, called alongside for aid in times of trouble. The Holy Spirit is the source of truth, and communicates this truth to believers. Apart from Him, no one can know God’s truth.
Let’s take comfort and strength with these promises that Jesus has given us, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the authority to come in prayer to God in the mighty and powerful Name of Jesus.
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