What did Jesus Really Mean...?

What did Jesus mean when he said, whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name I will do it’ The particular verses that are to be considered in this assignment appear in conclusion to a point Jesus began making at the beginning of the chapter. To understand what Christ is saying in John 14:13-14 we need to take into consideration how His discourse began to see what point Jesus was driving at. In light of the surrounding context, careful attention needs to be paid to words such as ‘whatever’ in verse 13 and ‘anything in verse 14. Are such words all encompassing? Is it absolutely anything? Is it whatever without exception? Does the surrounding context require us to qualify these two words? In this assignment I will attempt to address these two areas of enquiry in order to answer the question, ‘What did Jesus mean when he said, whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name I will do it’. John chapter 14 begins with Jesus encouraging his disciples with these words, ‘let not your heart be troubled’. The immediate question of the reader is why would the hearts of Christ disciples be troubled? Reading further into the text, verse 2b informs us that Jesus was going to be leaving those who loved him so dearly. So pre-empting the sadness of the disciples, Jesus calls their hearts not to be troubled but to belief in God and in Him. Jesus response to Thomas’ question lays the first foundation to our understanding of verse 13 and 14 of this chapter. Thomas confesses that he doesn’t know where Jesus is going to, so how can he know the way he should follow (v5). Jesus replies with the revolutionary and very memorable statement, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody comes to the father except through me.’ Much could be said about these words of Christ, but most important to this enquiry is to notice the implications of Jesus declaring himself the only way, the only truth and the only life that a person needs to come to the Father. In other words, the person who wants to follow Christ to where he is going (to the Father), anyone who wants to be among those who Christ ‘... will come again and take to [Him]self’ (v3) must follow the only way Christ has provided for salvation, sanctification and glorification. They must hold on to the truth of the Gospel, by understanding its indicatives and subsequent imperatives, and finally have the eternal life that only Christ can give (John 3:3-5, 1 John 5:11). To put it another way, a person who want to be found in the kingdom of heaven must obey Christ on earth. Another aspect of the discourse of Jesus in John 14 is the unity of the Father and the Son. In verse 8, Philip’s request shows his lack of understanding of this hard but crucial principle. ‘Lord show us the Father and it is enough for us.’ Jesus then gently and patiently rebukes Philip by reiterating what he has already said in verse 7, ‘whoever has seen me has seen the Father...’ (v9) ‘Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?’ Failure to understand the oneness of the relationship between the Father and the Son as demonstrated by Philip, will cause a fractured understanding of how we approach God, and in particular how we approach prayer as is referred to in verses 13 and 14. If the Father and the Son are one, can a Christian ask Christ to do something or not do something that the Father would not approve of? Can Christ operate outside of the glory of the Father? Surely the answer must be no. Christ himself makes this point crystal clear in verse 10b, where he points out even the words he speaks are not ‘...on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his work.’ This truth provides more helpful context to the particular verses under investigation. According to what has been uncovered about the oneness in the Godhead here in the text, when Christ says, ‘Whatever you ask in my name...’, this must be qualified by our understanding of the truths we already know about God. God is one, in three persons, so we must put the ‘whatever’ into its specific context. Christ is not saying ask absolutely whatever you like, even if the request should be sinful or outside of the known will of God and he will do it. Rather, Christ is continuing with the earlier encouragement he began in verse 1, giving his disciple free and uninhibited access to pour out their hearts their worries or needs directly to the Father, via Christ in whom the Father dwells in. Christ isn’t giving license to his disciples to request an easy life, or for them to hold on to their pet sins without consequence or to be rich and successful in this world at any cost, as this would be in contradiction to passages like John 16:33 where Jesus assures us we will have tribulation. Also 1 Thessalonians 4:3 teaching our sanctification (our growing more and more in holiness into the likeness of Christ) is the will of God.  He is however, granting them free access to remain in close fellowship with God as they have enjoyed while Christ was with then bodily, after He has left them to go to be with the Father. In conclusion, John 14:13-14 is an unfettered access to the heavenly throne of God, direct access to our Father, given to us so that our hearts be not troubled at the absence of Christ physically here on earth. The context gives the necessary caveats which ensure a proper understanding of the text. Firstly, we must follow Christ as He is the way, He is the truth and He is the life we need in order to approach God. We cannot use the name of Christ to request any and everything if we have not followed His way ,believed His truth, or do not have His life dwelling in us. Secondly, we must believe who Christ says he is, the Son of God and one with the Father. This truth prohibits us from fragmenting the Godhead by thinking we can ask Christ to do whatever we desire even if such a request wouldn’t bring glory to the Father. We need to know the will of God, as is written in His Word so that our prayers are informed by God’s will not contradictory to it.