The Truth Of John 14:14, In Context
“If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14 KJV)
Reading this one verse out of the proper context of all John chapter 14, some believe Jesus is promising to give us any and all we want just by invoking His name. That is very wrong teaching! It is very wrong believing.
Let’s look at more surrounding context to see the true meaning.The previous chapter is the context of the subject in chapter 14. In chapter 13 is the Last Supper and Judas goes off to betray Jesus. Jesus’ time of the passion has come and His suffering and eventually the cross. Jesus foretold the disciples He would be persecuted and put to death and rise again earlier.And Peter is very worried now, as are the others. Jesus knows what will happen to the disciples through this ordeal about to begin and in chapter 14 is talking about them coming under persecution. Chapter 14 starts with,
“Let not your heart BE TROUBLED: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” (John 14:1 KJV)
Look how Jesus loves them even in the very face of His passion events about to unfold.
Jesus does not say, nor mean, ‘ask anything from me and I will do it’. In verse 14, Jesus specifically states “…ask any thing in my name”. This has a totally different meaning.
So I ask you, would anything against the will of God be granted in Jesus’ name? No. Only what God’s will is for us. Jesus is about to suffer and die. That is God’s will to save us. And He is encouraging the disciples to believe on Christ and continue in His name as they soon face hardships in persecution. Jesus is talking to them as ambassadors of Christ, speaking and living in His physical absence as He is about to die on the cross.
In the last verse of chapter 13, Jesus tells Peter he will even deny knowing Christ three times. An analogy, though paling in comparison to the passion of Christ, shows the true meaning of John 14:14 and ‘in Jesus’ name’.
Did you ever watch a TV show and a police officer is running after a store robber and yells out, “Stop in the name of the law!” ? The officer does not yell out to ‘stop in my personal name’. The officer acts on behalf of the government as an ambassador for the city government. He is to follow government laws in his job and the task at hand, which includes protecting others. The government GRANTS HIM certain authoritative powers to do their jobs ‘in the name of the government and it’s power’. Now can a police officer go and do whatever ‘they will’ in the name of the government? NO! They can only work by the will of the government with it’s rules and regulations right? They do their jobs in the name of the authority and will of the government; in their name.
That is the truth of John 14:14. If we ask anything in the name of Jesus, as an ambassador of Jesus, and so in the will of Jesus, in His physical absence He will do it. He will still be with them!
Jesus continues in John 17 and prays for the disciples to the Father, and us also as believers and ambassadors with great encouragement. Read it. It is so amazing a prayer for us by Jesus to the Father! A prayer that WILL be answered!
In the Gospel of Grace Jesus gave to Paul to teach the Gentiles (you and me today!), he also talks about believers being ambassadors for Christ to the world. That from the moment we believed on Christ that our Spirit was reborn in the very righteousness of God, IN CHRIST, and that we become ambassadors for Christ because Christ lives and works through us.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21 KJV)
Using proper context is so very important and gives us greater discernment against false teaching. Always be suspicious of a teaching based on one verse out of the context it was written. Even if being falsely taught in a pulpit.
