In Jesus’ Name
John 14:1-14[1]
I’ve shared with you recently that some of the things Jesus
said have puzzled me for most of my life. Perhaps one of the most confusing
statements is “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and
thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart but believe that
what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you” (Mk 11:23)! On the
face of it, that kind of thing seems blatantly exaggerated. But that may have
been the point. Some biblical scholars think that “mountain-moving” faith was
the subject of a proverb that was popular in Jesus’ day. That would suggest what
seems almost obvious: that Jesus wasn’t speaking literally. If he was, I don’t
know what he meant!
Our Gospel lesson for today presents us with a similar promise
and a similar problem. Jesus promised his disciples, “I will do whatever you
ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).
And he repeated that promise in the next verse: “If in my name you ask me for
anything, I will do it” (John 14:14). I’d have to say that if we take this
promise too literally, we may be distorting Jesus’ meaning. There are a lot of
people in this world who ask for a lot of things “in Jesus’ name,” and they
expect (or perhaps claim!) that they will get what they ask for! I’m afraid
they may find themselves skating on thin ice when it comes to their faith if
they try that approach!
I think if we look at this promise in the light of its
context, which is always a good idea when approaching the Bible, we’ll find a
very different meaning to praying “in Jesus’ name.” Our lesson for today begins
with a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples concerning whether or not they
truly believed that he was who he claimed to be and what he was doing was the
Father’s will. Jesus prompted this discussion by saying, “If you know me, you
will know my Father also” (John 14:7). That was a difficult thing for any
Jewish person to comprehend in that day. How could knowing a human being equal
knowing God? I’m not sure it’s gotten any easier for us today. I think Jesus
recognized how difficult a challenge it is for faith, and he called his
disciples to “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” on
the basis of the works he had done (John 14:11).
It’s this dialogue about their faith that leads up to the
promise that the Father will grant them anything they ask in Jesus’ name. And
yet, it’s important to note that the point of this passage is that if Jesus’
disciples believe in him, they “will do greater works than these” (John 14:12).
I’m not sure which one poses a bigger challenge for faith: really believing
that Jesus shows us the Father, or really believing that that our faith will
enable us to do “greater works” than he did! I think I’d have a hard enough
time hoping to do the works that Jesus did, let alone “greater works.” But
despite any second-guessing on our part, Jesus clearly promised to accomplish
his work, and do even greater things, through flawed and fallible people like
his disciples.
It’s in that context that Jesus promised “I will do
whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son”
(John 14:13). I think Jesus probably knew that his disciples were having a hard
time believing all that he had done. I would think he also knew that they felt
overwhelmed by the statement that they would do “greater things” than Jesus had
done. And he was promising them that he would provide them with everything they
needed to carry out that work.
That’s the real basis for Jesus’ promise to do whatever
they asked in his name. He was reassuring them that they could ask for the
insight, the faith, the courage, and the strength to do the “greater things”
that he promised them they would do. Think of it: how else could “the Father be
glorified in the Son” than for Jesus to empower his disciples to continue the
work he had begun. I would say that the story of the disciples’ ministry in the
book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament shows us how they did just that.
What they did “in Jesus’ name” was to continue his work of bringing the peace
and justice and freedom of God’s kingdom to those who needed it most.
Unfortunately, many believers in our day have separated
this verse from its context and turned it into a means of getting whatever they
want. People who call themselves “Christian” pray for all kinds of things in
Jesus’ name. A whole lot of it has nothing to do with Jesus’ work. That’s what
happens when you pick and choose verses from the Bible. I think it’s fine to
pray “in Jesus’ name” when we’re asking God to provide basic life needs. But
there’s a big difference between what we need and what we want!
The lesson John’s Gospel has for us this week is that
praying in Jesus’ name is first and foremost about praying for God to help us
carry out the work of Jesus in our community and in our world. I don’t think that
means we shouldn’t pray for our needs or even at times our desires. It’s only
natural for us to turn to our creator with the deepest desires of our hearts.
But Jesus’ approach to prayer suggests that the desires of our hearts ought to
be shaped not by the values of our culture, or our own selfish interests, but
by the principles of the kingdom—compassion, peace, justice, and freedom. When
our prayers “in Jesus’ name” are shaped in this way, we will be praying for
God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done. When we do that, we won’t just
be praying in Jesus’ name, we’ll be living in Jesus’ name. That kind of living
is what gives us the confidence that God will answer in a way that best
promotes his purposes in our world.
[1] ©2023 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 5/7/2023 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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