“Promises of the Way” (John 14:7–14)

Series: “John: Life in Christ’s Name”Text: John 14:7–14

By: Shaun Marksbury Date: April 21, 2024

Venue: Living Water Baptist ChurchOccasion: AM Service

Introduction

There are a lot of books, videos, and teachers out there selling “how tos” on best tune in to God and discover His voice for yourself. Remember, however, that as the Lord is saying farewell to His disciples, He reveals what they need for life. He began this chapter by comforting them concerning His soon departure.

They need these comforts, for there are many false ways in the world. Jesus says those memorable words in v. 6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Despite what others are selling, He is the only way. And if they claim to believe in Him, they should hold to what He promises above all else.

We consider ourselves to be disciples, as well, followers of the Way. So, as we read His words this morning, we too are considering His comforts. This morning, we see that Jesus promises followers of the Way to unite them to the Father (vv. 7–10), to give good works (vv. 11–12), and to answer prayers (vv. 13–14). Let’s consider the first of these.

Jesus Promises to Show Us the Father (vv. 7–11)

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

Some of you may be scratching your heads a bit concerning the wording of v. 7. Different translation options stem largely from a textual issue here. For instance, the NASB says, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” That almost sounds like a rebuke. But, the newer LSB, which is supposed to preserve the NASB except with a few improvements, changes this to “If you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also,” which sounds more like a promise.

There’s a lot to explain with that. There’s some question in the Greek text in how to best read this. Some theologians land on this reading as a rebuke, but the logic of this part of the passage seems to be more of a promise, with surprise and rebuke to follow in v. 9. As the NET Bible notes here, “In this case Jesus promises the disciples that, assuming they have known him, they will know the Father. Contextually this fits better with the following phrase (v. 7b) which asserts that ‘from the present time you know him and have seen him’ (cf. John 1:18).” So, I believe the LSB has rightly corrected the text, matching a few other translations. To read this verse in the LSB, Jesus says, “If you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

So, this is a promise that those who know Jesus will know the Father. Jesus is claiming full deity, which is why He can show the disciples the Father. This matches what John has demonstrated throughout this Gospel. It’s strange that people today seem to think Jesus never claimed to be God, but that is the only conclusion we can draw from these kinds of statements. We must accept Christ at His word. This is why He is the only way to the Father (v. 6), because He is the perfect representation of God.

So, Jesus promises that they who know Him will know the Father. He goes on to say that the disciples will move deeper in their understanding, using another Greek word for “know” in the second half of this verse. He says that, since He is about to be lifted up, they will come to know the Father more, which will be especially true after the sending of the Holy Spirit. Jesus drives this home by saying they “have seen Him,” meaning the Father, because of their time with Jesus.

Philip doesn’t understand this yet. He says, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” We must understand that he asks for what anyone should want — a view of God. As one study notes, “Philip was probably longing for a theophany (cf. Ex. 24:9–10; Isa. 6:1) or some visible display of God’s glory.” (A theophany is a visible appearance of God, either in physical form or as a manifestation of light, like in the shekinah glory.) Philip’s problem isn’t wanting to see God; it’s thinking that he’s not seeing the Father in Christ.

It’s easy to be hard on the disciples, but remember that they are humans struggling with these claims in real time. Similarly, there are people today who have the whole Bible and still don’t understand that Jesus is claiming to be divine. This just demonstrates that the disciples didn’t yet have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit at that moment to help them understand.

Jesus expresses surprise in v. 9. Philip asks to see the Father, and Jesus takes that personally, for He is one with the Father. As the Apostle John said in the opening chapter of this Gospel, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:18). The Jewish leadership stand condemned for not recognizing the Father in Jesus (John 5:37–38). Jesus said that only He has seen the Father to reveal Him (John 6:46), and He later said that knowing Him is knowing the Father (John 8:19). In John 10:30, He said to believe He “and the Father are one.” As He says here, the Father is in Him and He is in the Father.

This is another important passage demonstrating the deity of Christ and the intra-Trinitarian relationship. We don’t want to misunderstand what He means here. Jesus isn’t saying He is the Father, which is a heretical error known as modalism — God doesn’t appear transform into the Son for a time, then back into the Father, then into the Holy Spirit. Jesus prays to the Father, and we see the Holy Spirit interacting with Jesus in the Gospels. Yet, there is complete unity in the Trinity, so that the Son can claim fully deity and say that the one who has seen Him has seen the Father.

Jesus is God incarnate, “the exact representation of His nature” (Heb. 1:3). So, Jesus patiently repeats to His misunderstanding disciple, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” As one study notes, “no theophany was necessary, for by seeing Jesus they were seeing the Father!” That makes the question Jesus ask all the more personal and searching — “how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” Jesus is the theophany, the only one who shows the Father!

Jesus doesn’t just state this; He evidences His claims once again in the next two verses, paralleling teachings He’s already given. As one study notes,

The proof of the union of Jesus and His Father is threefold. They should believe Jesus (a) because of His character (I am in the Father [cf. v. 20] and … the Father is in Me); (b) because His words are the Father’s (The words I say to you are not just My own (cf. 7:16; 12:49–50; 14:24); and (c) because the miracles reveal God’s working through Him (the Father, living in Me … is doing His work.… believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves; cf. 5:36). One of the key elements in John’s Gospel is the stress on the signs as gracious pointers to faith (cf. 5:36; 10:25, 38; 11:47; 12:37; 20:30–31).

Jesus doesn’t call them to blind faith about who He is. He demonstrated His deity with His works. And if He is who He said He is, then He can show us the Father. He’s the only one who can.

His works demonstrate the veracity of His claims. Of course, these works lead us to the next verse and the next point:

Jesus Promises to Give Us Good Works (v. 12)

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

If Jesus is who He said He is, then that means that He can change the way in which we live. That change, of course, starts with believing Him, as He commands in v. 11. Note that this is not just about trusting Him, but also believing He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. The works He does evidence His claims at deity, and those works demonstrate something else, as well.

So, Jesus begins with yet another of His, “Truly, truly” statements. In the Greek, it’s amen, amen, and it always marks a solemn phrase. In this case, it’s about the one who believes or continues in belief about Jesus. Faith will transform the works that any believer in Jesus performs.

Yet, we’ll need to take a moment to consider how these works are transformed. Jesus says that the believer will perform the works that He does, and not only that, “greater works than these he will do”! This has been misunderstood by many in Word-Faith and Pentecostal circles today. There are churches led today by pastors who believe they receive private visions and revelations from God as to how to lead their churches, and they encourage their people to each pray for prophecies from God. There are churches with healing rooms — rooms which were all closed during COVID. There are whole teams of people who pray over dead caskets, believing that they will be able to perform resurrections, though none have happened, yet. There are also churches that claim other works; one in north Georgia was claiming that a Bible in a clear Rubbermaid container was miraculously producing oil, which it sold in vials so people could get healed with it, but an investigation revealed that a pastor had just been buying mineral oil from the local Tractor Supply. There are many such stories that prove people claiming fulfillment of this verse are usually exaggerating their claims or simply charlatans. The consensus of the early church is that the miraculous works of the early church ceased with the apostles.

So, what is Jesus saying here? Well, the apostles certainly did perform like miracles as to Jesus, but these were, as 2 Corinthians 12:12 says, “the signs of a true apostle.” In context here, though, Jesus is talking about His glorification through His departure — His crucifixion, His resurrection, and His ascension — and the fact that He is paving the way to the Father. As such, the works here refer to the proclamation of the gospel. Jesus’s ministry was mainly restricted to Israel, but the Spirit-empowered disciples would take the gospel to all the nations. As one study notes, “Peter’s message at Pentecost brought more followers to Jesus than did Jesus’ entire earthly ministry. The disciples were able to do this work because Christ would go to the Father and send the Holy Spirit to empower them.” Moreover, whenever a spiritually dead sinner comes to new life in Christ, a miracle occurs, meaning that the collective evangelistic efforts of church history have multiplied these miracles millions of times over.

This is evidence that faith transforms: those who believe will do works like Jesus, and even greater. Incidentally, this shows us the product of true faith in someone’s life. Some have said that a person can believe in Jesus, be saved, and still live the exact same way. Sometimes, a person is even baptized as a child, but lives for the next twenty or so years in absolute rebellion to the truth, but he will still say he’s a Christian, and church officials will affirm that! Then, thankfully, at some point, that person then decides to bow to the Lordship of Christ and begins displaying fruit. Biblically speaking, though, if that person didn’t want to follow Christ when he was younger, but now wants to follow Christ, that person has just been converted. That’s because the Lord has taken the faith taught in the man’s youth and stirred it within him to save his soul.

That is the best understanding within context. In v. 15, Jesus says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” In v. 23, He says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” He then moves into chapter 15 with the illustration of the vine and the branches, saying that those in Him will bear fruit, meaning keeping His commandments (v. 10). It’s a sad reality that so many miracle ministers who misinterpret this verse fail morally; for instance, the founder of the International House of Prayer, Mike Bickel, has been disgraced when his decades of abuse came to light. If we instead take this in context, this is a promise that we can keep Christ’s commands.

We can do the good works of Christ, keeping His word like He kept the word of the Father because of Jesus’s departure. Again, Jesus would leave in resurrected life, ascending to heaven, and He will send the Holy Spirit. Moreover, He is interceding for us on the part of the Father. That not only means we can do these greater works, we can know we’ll have heavenly assistance, as we consider next.

Jesus Promises to Answer Our Prayers (vv. 13–14)

Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

We will need help from heaven if we are to walk in the Way and share the message of Christ to a hostile world. In another couple of verses which we sometimes misunderstand, Jesus promises to answer our prayers for help. In His ascension, He is interceding for us. Let’s consider what He means here.

First, He talks about prayer, but note that the prayers are to Him. That isn’t immediately clear in v. 13, as the prayer could be directed to the Father. Of course, there is nothing wrong with praying to the Father; He also says the Father (who He is in and who is in Him) will grant these requests (John 15:16; 16:23–24). But, note that the prayer is in the name of Christ, and Christ promises to do whatever is requested. Moreover, in v. 14, He specifically says that He is answered requests directed to Him. So, it is just as okay to pray to the Son as to the Father.

What does it mean to pray in Jesus’s name, though? Does this mean that, as long as we pray with the words, “in Jesus’s name,” we can get whatever we want? No!

In the ancient world, to operate in someone’s name was to act as a representative. In this case, we are to pray according to His will. As John explains later, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14–15). If it is a prayer for one’s passions and not for the glory of Christ in God, then He may not grant the request (cf. James 4:3). If it is a prayer according to His name, though, He will answer it as He promised in Matthew 7:7–8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” So, this doesn’t mean that we use His name as an incantation to get what we want.

Note that this further supports the deity of Christ — He receives and responds to prayers, as well. No where are we told to pray through an intermediary. Jesus doesn’t say He’ll do whatever you ask His mother, Mary. He doesn’t say He’ll perform a request you give to the priest. This is more personal than that: He will directly hear and answer any prayer you pray to Him in His name. And in that way, the Father is glorified in the Son.

Conclusion

This is building to the next section. We will see that it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we have the strength that we need to obey the Lord. We can, as v. 15 says, demonstrate our love for the Lord by keeping His commandments. It is only through His power that we can exercise such obedience, and we see here that the Lord promises to help us as we ask Him in His name, granting us these good works, even showing us the Father. This is what the way, the truth, and the life can do for each of us.

If you are a Christian, I hope that you are walking as a follower of the Way. You do not have to continue living your life in bondage to sin. You can do mighty things before the Lord, and don’t get hung up on questions of whether that means you can prophesy, speak in tongues, heal people, etc. Rather, see this as a promise that you can move the mountains of lust and pornography. You can overcome your anger toward others. You can end your substance addictions in Christ. You can be new creations in Him.

If you don’t know God, this can be true of you, as well. Come to know the Father through Jesus Christ. He’s the only way to the Father. Believe in Him, that He is who He says He is, and you can experience the miracle of new life, as well.