Some products make large promises for themselves – or at least those advertising them do. But all too often, the reality is a great let-down – far from being and doing what they claim, they disappoint and annoy.
And this passage can also be taken that way – it makes the most amazing claims and promises but is that really how it is? Taking it as it stands, people might say, ‘Well, I asked for healing and never got it’; ‘I wanted a life-partner and never found one’; ‘I prayed for an opening to serve God but only found closed doors’.
Then, in the light of these words, some answer that the problem lies not in the promises or the one who makes them but in the one doing the asking – if only they had sufficient faith then God would have answered their prayers and how.
And so we’re left asking whether Jesus’ words are the empty claims of a spiritual salesman or, if not, whether the fault lies in our small and ineffective faith? Neither option is attractive. But there is a third option: maybe we need to pay more careful attention to what Jesus is actually saying here. How should we understand his words? What is he really promising to his disciples, then and now?
1. Greater Works & the faith that produces them
One of the most tantalising aspects of Jesus’ words here is the promise that his disciples will not simply do as he has done but will do greater works than even Jesus has done. What does that mean – the dead regularly raised, every sickness healed, all storms stilled?
Clearly, if that was Jesus’ meaning then the church has never lived out his words, not even in the book of Acts. A much more likely explanation is that the church will see many more conversions than Jesus did in his ministry – a point which is certainly true. But we still haven’t got the heart of what Jesus is saying.
i) The ‘why’ of greater works What these greater works are is intimately tied by Jesus to the reason why they will do them: “because I am going to the Father” (v.12).
Jesus is going to be glorified and that will inaugurate a whole new age in which his Spirit will be poured out upon his people. In 1:50 and 5:20 Jesus speaks of greater things which are connected with his glorification – when he ascends, a new day is born which is justifiably called ‘greater’.
This is very similar to what Jesus says about John the Baptist and the one who is least in the kingdom being greater than John. Why is that the case? Because John is the last of the old covenant prophets; a whole new age is being brought to birth in and through Jesus – and that age is born when Jesus ascends and pours out his Spirit (see Mt. 11:11ff).
So the greater works are so-called because they are works that proceed from the reality that Jesus has been exalted. What was begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus reaches its fullness when he is exalted and his church sent out in mission to the world – we have a full message to proclaim of a Saviour who lived, died, rose and ascended – it is a glorious message which yields greater works.
ii The need for faith But the promise of Jesus in v.12 (and it is a solemn promise; “I tell you the truth”) is a conditional one. Jesus says “anyone who has faith in me will do…” – and that is a very important qualification.
But what precisely is he saying? Is he intending to make a point about the quantity of faith a person has, so that his words really mean ‘anyone who has sufficient faith in me…’? That’s how some explain his words but elsewhere Jesus tells us that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed we can move mountains (Lk. 17:6).
The point is not so much about quantity but the nature of faith and who it is focussed upon. Jesus is speaking about trust in him as the risen and ascended Lord of glory, a faith that is focussed upon him and his Kingdom (with all its concerns).
It isn’t a matter of having a strong enough trust in Jesus that will then yield what we’re hoping for; Jesus is calling us to a trust that honours him as Lord, that seeks first his kingdom and righteousness.
And, very importantly, there is a link between faith and obedience in the wider context – it is those who obey what Jesus commands who will be conscious of fellowship with the Father and the Son and who will know most of the work of his Spirit in and through them (v.15ff).
2. Praying for anything & receiving it
Having promised that his disciples will do greater things, Jesus follows it in vv.13,14 with a promise that they can ask for anything in his name and he will do it. This falls into similar territory, with the same possibilities for misunderstanding and misuse; we need to pay close attention to what Jesus actually says here.
i) The purpose of prayer Again, Jesus speaks here of why he will answer his disciples’ prayer: “so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (or, more accurately, “so that the Father may be glorified in the Son”).
This is entirely in keeping with what Jesus teaches in the Lord’s Prayer, that we focus on God and his glory, longing for his name to be hallowed and his will to be done. Jesus will answer the prayers of his people in order that his Father may be glorified – and that is no surprise, it was the heartbeat of his whole mission.
ii) Praying in Jesus’ name And this helps us to grasp what Jesus means by the condition he sets upon the prayers he will answer, that they are asked ‘in his name’. To ask in Jesus’ name is not to simply attach his name to the end of our prayers but to ask in line with the character of the Son and in line with the character of his mission.
So there is no way that Jesus is giving his people carte blanche here to just ask for what they want and they can have it; this is a call to pray in line with God’s will and for God’s glory. This is prayer with God and his kingdom at the very centre.
And notice that the contrast in these verse is not between what Jesus did and what his disciples will do; it is between what Jesus did and what he will continue to do through his people – “I will do whatever you ask in my name” (v.13).
3. Living it out
So Jesus makes some amazing promises – how should we respond to what he has said?
i) By recognising the age we live in and responding with faith in Jesus, a faith that is not just a formal belief but personal trust and commitment. We live in the age of ‘greater works’; the age of the Spirit.
That holds amazing promise for our life in this world, but the challenge is to live out our lives with faith in Jesus, with him at the centre, with his concerns firmly upon our heart, with an obedience to his word that yields a sweetness of fellowship with Father and Son and that issues in a greater awareness and experience of the power of his Spirit.
ii) By praying in Jesus name and so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. There is the closest connection in these verses between having faith in Jesus and praying in Jesus’ name – the two belong together; if we are believers, we are to be pray-ers too.
Praying in Jesus’ name means we must endeavour to pray in line with his will and for his glory, which means we need to soak our minds in the scriptures so that our prayers reflect their concern for God’s glory. The burden of our prayers is not to be our comfort and ease, nor the security of loved ones but rather the glory of God in the Son.
As we do that, Jesus has encouraged us to expect that our prayers will be heard and answered; after all, he has gone to the Father and has poured out his Spirit, making this the day of greater things. Shouldn’t that give a real impetus to our living and our praying, both personal and corporate?
