A Study in John 14

‘And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son’, John 14. 13.

Sometimes we quote this verse without the first word, ‘And’. This small word is quite important in understanding the context of the passage. According to Strong, ‘This word is a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force’.¹Usually, it is used to connect words or clauses linked in sense.² Accordingly, John chapter 14 verse 13 is linked to chapter 14 verse 12 and even to the whole chapter.

In this chapter, the Lord Jesus addresses the eleven disciples. The events were shortly before His suffering, death, and resurrection. The Lord appreciated the earthly limitations of His disciples. They needed the Holy Spirit to fully understand all of the divine truth regarding His suffering and the glories that should follow, v. 26. The Holy Spirit would bring back to their remembrance what the Lord said, and teach them spiritual truths. The disciples had difficulty understanding His deity and oneness with the Father, His mission and the cross, His ultimate glory with the Father, and, especially, their future mission.

We should not be surprised to see phrases in this chapter like, ‘believe also in me’, ‘If ye had known me’, ‘yet hast thou not known me?’, ‘or else believe me for the very works’ sake’ and ‘at that day you shall know’. The disciples did watch the Lord performing great works and certainly were surprised to hear that greater works were still to be done and to be done by them. The Lord Jesus did no miracles for His glory but for the glory of the Father, John 17. 4. So, ‘greater works’ means works that would bring greater glory to the Father. This could not happen before the death of the cross, the burial, the resurrection, the Lord’s ascension to glory, the sending of the promised Holy Spirit, and, finally, going out with the gospel message to the whole world.

The disciples were satisfied with the glory they witnessed in the days of ‘his flesh’. They did not know the divine glory the Lord had with the Father before the world was, the position associated with which He was going to resume. Otherwise, they would have rejoiced for Him. For now, they needed to have His commandments and keep them, to love Him through keeping His words, and, when it will come to pass, they will believe. He gave them His peace.

Now it is easier to understand John chapter 14 verse 13, ‘And [in regards to such greater ministry] whatsoever ye shall ask in my name [the name above every name], that will I do [all the works are still done by none other than Him], that the Father may be glorified in the Son [that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of them, 2 Cor. 4. 7]’.³

We can read so many prayers in the Acts of the Apostles, and I would say all of them were centred around their greatest commission to preach the gospel and establish the church for the glory of God. ‘And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus’, Acts 4. 29, 30.

As the Lord promised, these prayers were answered. Many times, we pray for our daily needs, and there is nothing wrong with that. But let us seek the glory of God in every answer to our prayers. ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you’, Matt. 6. 33.

How great was their ministry? Let us hear the answer from the enemies, ‘These that have turned the world upside down’, Acts 17. 6.

The disciples always gave the glory to God in all that they did. ‘And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus’, 3. 12, 13.

Before we can ask anything according to His will, first we need to live according to His will and for His glory. ‘And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us’, 1 John 5. 14. Equally, John records the Lord’s words, ‘If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you’, John 15. 7.

Many have misquoted John chapter 14 verse 13, as they did also with other scriptures, to support false teachings under deceiving slogans. Such doctrines are ‘the commandments and doctrines of men’, Matt. 15. 9. Such teachers twist scriptures unto their own destruction, 2 Pet. 3. 16.