I have a few comments on this often-referenced verse.
John 14
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
Many have laid claim to this passage as a promise from Christ that He will
answer our prayers, if we make the requests “in His name.” And no matter how
you twist this verse, you can not get away from the simple formula herein
prescribed: Ask in my name, and it’s yours!
Not only that, but we are told that “whatever” we ask, He will do it. In
fact, it is even repeated, “anything” you ask in His name, He will do it.
Are there no limits? And is asking “in my name” a magical formula or
incantation that we simply invoke to get anything we want?
Here, let me give it a whirl:
Lord, I would like a million dollars to be put into my mailbox immediately,
preferably cash! And I make this request “in Christ’s name.”
This is better than having a genie in a lamp. All you have to do is just add
“in my name” to any number of requests (unlike the genie, he only gives you
three), and presto, you got it. And what if you lose the lamp; you’re out of
luck. Here, all you have to do is remember the magic formula. How simple!
Wait one minute; I’ll be right back…
I’m back. Sorry for that brief delay.
Maybe I better take a look at this verse a little closer, since I just
checked the mailbox and did not get my promised million dollars. I
distinctly remember saying “in Christ’s name.” Hey, what gives?
I personally find the Apostle John borderline genius. If you ever take
Greek, you will be told that the easiest Gospel to read in Greek is John’s.
Without a doubt, this is true, but not because he was some unlearned
fisherman using simple words. Rather, because he had the ability to reduce
the complex to the simple, and better than any other Gospel writer (in my
opinion). He just had the ability to say so much with few words.
His opening verses for this Gospel are nothing short of brilliant. You could
literally study these verses for a lifetime!
So, what does John mean when he says that all we have to do is ask “in His
name” and our prayers will be answered?
I think if we take the first and last word of this prepositional phrase it
may become more apparent. It is like John to pack so much meaning in simple
phrases. Unpacking the meaning of his simple, yet deep, phrases is one of my
favorite things to do in this life!
Let’s begin by looking at the preposition: “in”
Like many Greek prepositions, this preposition must be interpreted based on
grammatical, syntactical, and contextual indicators.
The preposition John chooses here is the most frequently used preposition in
the New Testament. (If you ever get bored one day, you can count them; it is
used 2,752 times in the Greek New Testament.) Quite naturally, a preposition
used this often would have a variety of meanings. Just to give you an idea,
here are a few of the ways it can be translated, depending on the various
indicators:
This list is pretty much the same list you will find in any Greek 101 book.
Spatial/Sphere: in the sphere of
Temporal: within, when, while, during
Association: in association with
Cause: because of
Instrumental: by means of
Reference: with reference to
Manner: with, in this manner
Standard: according to the standard of, in accordance with
Greek scholars compile this information by studying thousands of uses of
this preposition. They have to categorize each use and consolidate as much
as possible. After examining literally thousands of Greek writings, the
above categories emerged. It is a tedious process, but a relatively simple
one.
If we put other related verses together with this one, we see that Christ is
assuring the believers that their prayers will be answered just as His were.
If we pray as Christ did, our prayers will be answered. But there is the
rub. Our prayers have to be patterned after Christ’s. The things that Christ
prayed for are the things we should pray for. The desires Christ had, we should have.
So, there are some limits put on our prayers. We can ask for “anything” as long as
Christ Himself asked for it first. Based on the development of this context, John uses the Standard use of the
preposition here. We could actually translate this with more precision: in
accordance with. Our prayers should be in accordance with the prayers of
Christ.
End Part 1
John 14
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
Many have laid claim to this passage as a promise from Christ that He will
answer our prayers, if we make the requests “in His name.” And no matter how
you twist this verse, you can not get away from the simple formula herein
prescribed: Ask in my name, and it’s yours!
Not only that, but we are told that “whatever” we ask, He will do it. In
fact, it is even repeated, “anything” you ask in His name, He will do it.
Are there no limits? And is asking “in my name” a magical formula or
incantation that we simply invoke to get anything we want?
Here, let me give it a whirl:
Lord, I would like a million dollars to be put into my mailbox immediately,
preferably cash! And I make this request “in Christ’s name.”
This is better than having a genie in a lamp. All you have to do is just add
“in my name” to any number of requests (unlike the genie, he only gives you
three), and presto, you got it. And what if you lose the lamp; you’re out of
luck. Here, all you have to do is remember the magic formula. How simple!
Wait one minute; I’ll be right back…
I’m back. Sorry for that brief delay.
Maybe I better take a look at this verse a little closer, since I just
checked the mailbox and did not get my promised million dollars. I
distinctly remember saying “in Christ’s name.” Hey, what gives?
I personally find the Apostle John borderline genius. If you ever take
Greek, you will be told that the easiest Gospel to read in Greek is John’s.
Without a doubt, this is true, but not because he was some unlearned
fisherman using simple words. Rather, because he had the ability to reduce
the complex to the simple, and better than any other Gospel writer (in my
opinion). He just had the ability to say so much with few words.
His opening verses for this Gospel are nothing short of brilliant. You could
literally study these verses for a lifetime!
So, what does John mean when he says that all we have to do is ask “in His
name” and our prayers will be answered?
I think if we take the first and last word of this prepositional phrase it
may become more apparent. It is like John to pack so much meaning in simple
phrases. Unpacking the meaning of his simple, yet deep, phrases is one of my
favorite things to do in this life!
Let’s begin by looking at the preposition: “in”
Like many Greek prepositions, this preposition must be interpreted based on
grammatical, syntactical, and contextual indicators.
The preposition John chooses here is the most frequently used preposition in
the New Testament. (If you ever get bored one day, you can count them; it is
used 2,752 times in the Greek New Testament.) Quite naturally, a preposition
used this often would have a variety of meanings. Just to give you an idea,
here are a few of the ways it can be translated, depending on the various
indicators:
This list is pretty much the same list you will find in any Greek 101 book.
Spatial/Sphere: in the sphere of
Temporal: within, when, while, during
Association: in association with
Cause: because of
Instrumental: by means of
Reference: with reference to
Manner: with, in this manner
Standard: according to the standard of, in accordance with
Greek scholars compile this information by studying thousands of uses of
this preposition. They have to categorize each use and consolidate as much
as possible. After examining literally thousands of Greek writings, the
above categories emerged. It is a tedious process, but a relatively simple
one.
If we put other related verses together with this one, we see that Christ is
assuring the believers that their prayers will be answered just as His were.
If we pray as Christ did, our prayers will be answered. But there is the
rub. Our prayers have to be patterned after Christ’s. The things that Christ
prayed for are the things we should pray for. The desires Christ had, we should have.
So, there are some limits put on our prayers. We can ask for “anything” as long as
Christ Himself asked for it first. Based on the development of this context, John uses the Standard use of the
preposition here. We could actually translate this with more precision: in
accordance with. Our prayers should be in accordance with the prayers of
Christ.
End Part 1
