Reading: John 16.16-24
Last Sunday we had two Bible readings. We were reminded from John 14 that Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And from Acts 4 where Peter said to the Jewish leaders, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed... Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”.
Both lead to the inescapable conclusion that there is only one Saviour – Jesus – and that it is only through Jesus that we can come to know the Father.
A few years ago one of our northern ministers expressed his concern that most of our public praying is no longer in the name of Jesus. It is not simply the question of concluding our prayers “in Jesus’ name” as a correct formula at the end of a Christian prayer. After all, this phrase isn’t at the end of the model prayer we call the Lord’s Prayer. Nor does the use of these words give some kind of guarantee that “this prayer must be answered” (note the experience of the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19.13-16!). However, if we believe that we can only come in prayer because of who Jesus is and the redemptive work he accomplished on the cross, it is appropriate to conclude our praying with an acknowledgement of the Name in which we come.
A recent post from the US notes, “The North Carolina General Assembly is reviewing its policies on guest chaplains after Winston-Salem pastor Ron Baity was told he could not pray in Jesus’ name. Meanwhile, the group Atheists of Florida is suing the City of Lakeland over its opening invocations ‘in Jesus’ name.’ Several governmental bodies around the country are facing similar fights.”
One of the responses to this issue has come from William Willimon, a bishop of the United Methodist Church, “In public praying, I think Christians attempt to be as hospitable as they can, knowing there are people from other faiths there. On the other hand, we pray in Jesus’ name, whether we mention Jesus or not. So whether Jesus’ name is mentioned, we do have to pray in Jesus’ name. That would mean when I pray a public prayer, I want to sound like a Christian, and I’m not offended if somebody comes up and says ‘Gee, that was a Christian prayer.’ I think, ‘Well, you know I’m a Christian’.”
When we have seen a photo of a church leader kneeling and praying or meditating alongside the Dalai Lama, we ask ourselves, What is going on here? Of course, in 1989 Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth (and present) Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his consistent opposition to the use of violence in his struggle for the liberation of Tibet. He deserves a great deal of respect and honour. Is he the reincarnation of his predecessors? No. Is he a bodhisattva – a perfect human being who is ready to break out of the cycle of reincarnation and enter Nirvana? No, that is a false understanding which doesn’t accord with the truth.
John chapters 14, 15 and 16 all have some of what Jesus said to his disciples about praying in his name.
You may have noticed it at the end of last Sunday’s reading – “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14.13-14).
Jesus has been preparing his disciples for the time when he would no longer be physically present with them. Having told them that he is “the way and the truth and the life” through whom alone there is access to the Father, he goes on to speak of his work – the work done by “the Father living in me” (v. 10). And those who have faith in him will continue doing his work “because I am going to the Father” (v. 12). That is the context of what he goes on to say, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name...” They will be his representatives on earth. Their mission will be to continue and fulfil the next stage of his mission. It will be beyond their abilities – only possible because he is going to the Father and will send the Holy Spirit on them. So their asking in his name is for the supply of all their needs in fulfilling his mission.
In John 15 Jesus speaks about the vine and the branches. Each branch (disciple) draws its life from the vine-stock (Jesus) and is pruned by the gardener (God) for the purpose of producing fruit. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other” (vv. 16-17).
So what is this fruit that will last? Is it the gathering of many believers into the Kingdom? Maybe, but the main focus is on character – the character than can only be produced as a person remains united to Christ. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (vv. 7-8). There is a rather big condition there – “if you remain in me and my words remain in you” – so it isn’t a carte blanche for us to ask irresponsibly. And he goes on, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (vv. 9-12).
So the “fruit” the Lord most deeply desires to see in us is genuine love. On that basis “the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul writes that “if anyone is in Christ, he (or she!) is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (5.17). Actually, in the original Greek Paul is so excited that he leaves out the verbs – literally it reads, “if any in Christ, new creation!” Ever get discouraged? Don’t see it properly yet? Then come to the Father. That’s the prayer to ask “in Jesus’ name”. Any slowness to see it happen is on our side, not God’s!
As we move into John 16 the theme is specifically the task he is giving them – the persecution they will face (vv. 1-4) and the work of the Holy Spirit in the world to bring about conviction of sin and righteousness and judgment (vv. 8-11) and in them, as the Spirit of truth, by making the truth of Christ clear to them (vv. 12-15).
But a change is coming in their relationship to him. “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me” (v. 16). They are puzzled, confused, though to us the reference is obvious – they will grieve when he is crucified and rejoice at his resurrection. However, there will be a radical difference. Up to now they have simply brought their issues to Jesus. “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (vv. 23-24).
Jesus goes on, “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father” (vv. 25-28).
Of course, Jesus, our great High Priest, “ever lives to intercede” for us (Hebrews 7.25; and in Romans 8.34), and “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8.26). What Jesus is saying in these verses from John 16 is that they will have – and that we now have – direct access to the Father in his name. We will ask the Father directly in his name.
The Christian life is a life “in Christ”. It is only possible through Jesus who is “the way, the truth and the life”. It is only possible because Jesus gave his life on the cross as the perfect and complete sacrifice for human sin. It is only possible because Jesus rose to life again on the third day, having conquered sin and death. It is only possible because Jesus ascended to the right-hand of the Father where he ever lives to intercede for us.
The Christian life is a life united to Christ, abiding in him, drawing vitality from him, expressing his character and life within the life of this world. In a real sense it is the life of Christ through us. When we think of the Church as the Body of Christ, we aren’t thinking principally of the group of his followers, of those who give him allegiance. Rather, the Body is the means by which Christ continues to do his work in the world.
So what is the basis of Christian praying? Do we simply throw our desires into the air, hoping that somehow the loving Lord will catch them and do something about them? No, that’s not Christian prayer! Christian prayer is “in the name of Jesus”, and that means:
• We come as sinners redeemed at great cost by the precious blood of Jesus.
• We come, ourselves unworthy, as those welcomed into the Father’s family by Jesus the worthy one. We come with confidence (Hebrews 10.19-25) in the name of Jesus.
• We come as those who are joined to him, receiving his grace day by day and moment by moment.
• We come as part of Jesus’ Body whom he equips to live out and continue his mission in the world.
We pray in Jesus’ name. We can no other because there is no other.
Father, we come
in Jesus’ name!
We cannot come
except he came –
Jesus who took
our sin and shame.
In him we live,
in him we grow,
our life to give,
his grace to know,
living for him
while here below.
Father, we come
to heed your call,
needing your will
or else we fall,
centred on you,
our All-in-all.
© Peter J Blackburn, 16 October 2011, Edmonton Uniting Church
Except where otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, © International Bible Society, 1984.