John 14:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Then, having reached the point toward which His discourse was tending, He says: "And whatever you ask in My name," you will receive, and "I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in Me."

Do you see how again He Himself does this? "I will do it," He says. He did not say, "I will entreat the Father," but, "that the Father may be glorified in Me."

Elsewhere He said, "God will glorify Him in Himself" (Jn 13:32). Here He says that He Himself will glorify the Father.

When the Son appears as possessing great power, then the Father also is glorified.

What does "in My name" mean? It means what the apostles said: "In the name of Jesus Christ... rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6).

All the signs they performed were the work of His power, and "the hand of the Lord was with them" (Acts 11:21).

Explaining to us how one who believes in Him can do great and wondrous works, He says: "If you ask anything in My name."

Here He shows us the manner of working miracles: everyone can work miracles through petition, prayer, and the invocation of His name.

So also the apostles said to the lame man: "In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6).

Therefore He did not say, "Whatever you ask, I will entreat the Father, and He will do it," but, "I will do it," showing His own authority.

"That the Father may be glorified in the Son." For when the son appears as possessing great power, then glory also comes to the one who begot such a son.

See, then, how glory flows to the Father. Miracles were performed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through the miracles people believed the preaching of the apostles. Finally, passing to the knowledge of God, they came to know the Father, and in this way He was glorified in the Son.

"Whatever you ask," He says, "in My name, this I will do," when the time in which I had to appear in a humbled form has come to an end.

What was fitting, I observed for the sake of the divine economy. But now, unveiled as God, I promise to accomplish the works of God.

I do not exclude the Father from such divine glory, but act "so that He may be glorified in the Son."

With the glorification of the Son, He who begot Him must undoubtedly be glorified in Him.

For the Son is manifested as God by nature through many other things, and no less through this: He receives the prayers of the saints and grants them whatever they ask and desire.

How, then, would the Father not be glorified in Him?

He promised, then, that He Himself would do greater works. Let the servant not set himself above the master, nor the disciple above the teacher (cf. Mt 10:24; Jn 13:16; 15:20).

He says that they will do works greater than those He Himself does, but only when He Himself works in them or through them, not when they act by themselves. For to Him it is sung, “I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength” (cf. Ps 18:1).

What, then, are the greater works? Perhaps He means that their shadow would heal the sick as they passed by (cf. Acts 5:15). Healing by a shadow is greater than healing by the hem of a garment (cf. Mt 14:36).

The one He did through Himself, the other through them, yet both were done by Himself. For when He said this, He was speaking of the works of His words.

He said, “The words that I speak to you I do not speak of Myself; the Father who abides in Me, He does the works.” What did He then call works, if not the words of which He spoke?

They heard them and believed. Faith in them was the result of those words. Yet when the disciples began to bring the Gospel, not only a few, as they had been, but whole nations believed.

These works are without doubt greater. Yet He did not say, “You will do works greater than these,” as though we should think that only the apostles would do them.

He said, “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do” (Jn 14:12-13).

Does everyone who believes in Christ do what Christ did, and even greater things than Christ? This should not be discussed in passing or hastily dismissed. But since this discourse must now end, the question must be postponed.

It is not easy to understand what the Lord meant when He said, “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also.” Although this is already difficult to grasp, He added something still harder: “and greater works than these he will do.”

What does this mean? We have not found anyone who did the works Christ did. How then shall we find one who did even greater works?

Yet in the preceding discourse we said that healing by one’s shadow while passing by, as the disciples did, is greater than healing by touching the hem of His garment, as the Lord did.

We also said that a greater number believed through the apostles than through the Lord preaching with His own lips. Thus these works may seem to be understood as greater.

Yet this is not because the disciple is greater than the Teacher, the servant greater than the Lord, the adopted greater than the Only-begotten, or man greater than God.

It is because He Himself deigned to do these great works through them, having said elsewhere, “Without Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).

So that I may not omit other works, which are innumerable, I say that He certainly performed them Himself without the disciples’ participation. Without their participation He made this world.

Since He deemed it fitting to become man, He did this concerning Himself without their participation. And what did they do without His participation, except sin?

At last, here and at once, He removed the doubts that could trouble us on this point. After He said, “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do,” He immediately added, “because I go to My Father, and whatever you ask in My name, I will do” (Jn 14:12-13).

After saying, “he will do,” He then said, “I will do.” It is as if He said, “Let this not seem impossible to you. He who believes in Me cannot be greater than I.”

“Even then I will do works greater than now. I will do greater works through one who believes in Me than I did by Myself without his mediation.”

“Yet I Myself do them, whether through him or by Myself. When I do them without his mediation, he himself does not do them. When I do them through him, as though not by Myself, he also does them.”

Moreover, to do greater works through him than without his mediation is an expression not of weakness, but of mercy. For what can servants render to the Lord for all His benefits toward them (cf. Ps 116:12)?

He condescended, among His other gifts, to grant them this also, that He would do through them works greater than those He did without them.

Did not that rich man go away sorrowful after speaking with Him, when he had asked counsel concerning eternal life (cf. Mt 19:16-22)? He heard the counsel and rejected it.

Yet afterward many did, when the Good Teacher spoke through the disciples, what that one man did not do when he heard Him. He was despised by the rich man whom He admonished by Himself.

He gained love among those whom, through the poor, He made poor from being rich. See how, when believers preached Him, He did greater works than when He Himself spoke to those who heard Him.

But there is still something else concerning His doing greater works through the apostles. He did not speak only of them and say, “The works that I do, you also will do, and greater than these.”

Wishing all who belong to His household to take this to themselves, He said, “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do.”

Therefore, if the believer will do them, one must suppose that whoever does not do them is not a believer. It is like this saying: “He who loves Me keeps My commandments” (cf. Jn 14:21).

From this it is clear that whoever does not keep them does not love. He says the same elsewhere: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them I will liken to a wise man who built his house upon the rock” (Mt 7:24).

That is, whoever is not like the wise man either hears these words and does not do them, or does not hear them at all.

“He who believes in Me,” He says, “though he die, yet shall he live” (Jn 11:25). Therefore the one who shall not live certainly does not believe.

So also here: “He who believes in Me, he will do.” And whoever does not do, does not believe. What, then, does this mean, brethren?

Can no one be found among believers in Christ who does not do works greater than Christ? That would be foolish and absurd. It could not be borne. It would be unbearable if it were not understood.

Let us hear the apostle: “To him who believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness” (Rom 4:5). In this work let us do the works of Christ.

Our faith in Christ is already a work of Christ. By this He works in us, and certainly not without us. Hear and understand, then.

“He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also. First I do them, then you yourself do them also, for I do them so that you may do them.”

What works are these, if not those by which an ungodly man becomes righteous? “And greater works than these he will do.” Which works? I ask that this be told me.

Does he who works out his salvation with fear and trembling (cf. Phil 2:12) do works greater than all the works of Christ? Certainly Christ works it in him, though not without him.

I would even say that this is greater than heaven and earth, and than everything that exists on earth and in heaven. “Heaven and earth will pass away” (cf. Mt 24:35).

But the salvation and justification of the predestined, that is, of those whom He predestined for this, will abide forever. In the former there are only works of God. In the latter there is also the image of God.

Yet in the heavens also, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Archangels, and Angels are works of Christ. Does the one who, by Christ working together in him, obtains eternal salvation and justification for himself do greater works than these?

I do not dare hasten to decide this. Let him who can understand, understand. Let him who can judge, judge whether it is greater to create righteous beings or to justify the unrighteous.

It is evident that, if equal power is manifested in both, greater mercy is manifested in the latter. For this is the great mystery of piety.

“He was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by Angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory” (cf. 1 Tim 3:16).

Yet no necessity compels us to understand all the works of Christ when He says, “greater works than these he will do” (Jn 14:12).

Perhaps He said “these” with reference to what He was doing at that moment. At that time He was performing words of faith, and He had spoken of these works just before.

He said, “The words that I speak to you I do not speak of Myself; the Father who abides in Me, He does the works” (Jn 14:10). Then His words, of course, were His works.

Certainly, to preach the word of faith, which He did without them, is less than to justify the ungodly. He performs this in us in such a way that we also perform it.

It remains to learn how the words should be understood: “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (Jn 14:14). A serious question arises because believers ask many things and do not receive everything asked.

But since this discourse must now end, let at least a short delay be granted before this is considered and interpreted.

The Lord gave great hope to those who trust in Him when He said, “because I go to My Father, and whatever you ask in My name, I will do” (Jn 14:12-13).

Therefore He went to the Father in such a way that He did not abandon the needy, but heard those who asked.

But what does “whatever you ask” mean, when we see that many who believe in Him ask and do not receive? Perhaps it is because they ask for evil things.

The Apostle James rebuked this when he said, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (Jas 4:3).

If anyone intends to use for evil what he wishes to receive, God in His mercy will sooner refuse him. More than this, if people ask Him for something that will harm them, they should fear something else.

They should fear that what He might in His mercy not fulfill, He may fulfill in His wrath.

Do we not see how the Israelites received woe for themselves, being moved in their requests by blameworthy desire? They longed to eat meat (cf. Num 11:32; 21:5), while manna had been sent down to them from heaven.

They felt revulsion for what they had and shamelessly asked for what they did not have. It would have been better not to ask for the food their base desire lacked.

It would have been better to ask that they be healed of their aversion and accept the food at hand. For when evil delights us and good does not, we must pray God that good may delight us.

This is better than good becoming harmful to us. Eating meat is not evil, especially since the apostle said, “Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Tim 4:4).

Rather, as the same apostle said, “It is evil for a man who eats with offense” (cf. Rom 14:20). If only it were an offense to man, and not rather an offense to God.

The Israelites greatly offended God when they rejected what Wisdom had given them and asked for what desire demanded. Even if they did not ask, they murmured about what they lacked.

But so that we may understand that God’s creature is not blameworthy, but stubborn disobedience and excessive greed are, the first man found death not through pork, but through fruit (cf. Gen 3:6).

And Esau lost his birthright not through chicken, but through lentils (cf. Gen 25:34).

How should we understand, “Whatever you ask in My name, I will do,” if God does not fulfill some things asked by believers? Or should we suppose that this was said only to the apostles?

By no means. For how did He come to say this? Above He said, “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do.”

We have already discussed this in the preceding discourse. So that no one might attribute such power to himself, He added, to show that He Himself performs these greater works, “because I go to the Father; and whatever you ask in My name, I will do” (Jn 14:12-13).

Did only the apostles believe in Him? Therefore, in the words “he who believes in Me,” He was addressing those among whom, by His mercy, we also stand, though we do not receive everything we ask.

"And whatever you ask of the Father in My name, I will do." That is, everything you ask while invoking My name. By the word "I will do," Jesus Christ indicated His power. "That the Father may be glorified in the Son," because the almighty power of the Son is glory for the Father.

Then, addressing His speech no longer to Philip alone but to all, He continues: Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. But if this is not enough, believe Me because of My works themselves.

These works will not cease with His departure. Whoever believes in Him can perform still greater works. They already had this power, but it was small in comparison with the power of Jesus.

Jesus, offering them consolations, says that from the Father, to whom He is going, He will ask for power to perform miracles greater than those He Himself performed, such as the conversion of whole nations.

This is not all. If they faithfully follow His commandments, then when He is with the Father in heaven, through Him they may ask all things of the Father.

The Lord promised to send them another Helper, already known to them even now, who would never leave them as Jesus would.

The answer to Philip is finished, and the Lord again turns to consoling His disciples in their separation from Him.

Connecting this consolation with His immediately preceding discourse, the Lord consoles them here by saying that after His departure, if only they remain in faith in Him, the disciples will be able to do such works as Christ did.

They will even do greater works than these. This will happen not because of any superiority of the disciples over their Teacher, but "because I go to My Father."

That is, after the Ascension, I will enter into full possession of divine glory and authority.

Through those who believe in Me, I will accomplish by the power of the Holy Spirit, whom I will send them from the Father after the Ascension, still greater miracles than those I now perform.

This is why He reminded them of what He had said earlier about the power of faith and about the need for them to possess this power.

Earlier He had told them that strong faith, unshaken by anything, can work extraordinary miracles and even move mountains.

Now He said that one who truly believes in Him can perform even greater miracles than He performed.

Yet He added, as if in explanation, that believers can perform these miracles neither independently nor by their own power or authority.

Rather, everything accomplished by them will be done through them by Him, Christ: "Whatever you ask the Father in My name, I will do it."

Prayer by the Jesus Prayer is a divine institution. It was not instituted through the mediation of a prophet, nor through the mediation of an apostle, nor through the mediation of an angel.

It was instituted by the Son of God and God Himself. After the Mystical Supper, among other most exalted and final commandments and testaments, the Lord Jesus Christ instituted prayer in His name.

He gave this manner of prayer as a new and extraordinary gift, a gift of immeasurable worth.

The apostles already knew in part the power of the name of Jesus. By it they healed incurable diseases, brought demons into obedience to themselves, overcame them, bound them, and drove them out.

The condition for performing such works, and all works, is prayer to God in the name of the Lord.

One who prays in the name of the Lord thereby confesses before God his faith in the redemption of mankind by Christ.

Consequently, he confesses faith in the whole divine economy of human salvation.

By the power of this prayer to God in Christ's name, God will give everything to the one who prays, provided, of course, that it accords with His will.

He will give it through Christ, or, what is the same, Christ Himself will give him everything from God (cf. Jn 15:16; Jn 16:23).

The Savior also shows the way in which faith can work miracles after Him. This is prayer in His name.

What does it mean to pray to God the Father in the name of Christ Jesus? It means asking God not in one's own person, and not with hopes placed in oneself, but in the person of Christ Jesus.

It means asking with living faith in the merits and greatness of Christ Jesus, and with living awareness of one's own infirmity.

It means asking as though Christ Jesus Himself, and not we ourselves, were asking on our behalf.

How can a sinful man safely approach Him who is a consuming fire (Isa 59:2)? We have free entrance into God's sanctuary because it has been opened to us by the blood of Christ Jesus (Heb 10:19).

In these words the Lord establishes His covenant with the disciples. Their voice, rising to God, will be heard.

What is required of them is love, which will teach them to fulfill the commandments of the beloved Lord. "If you ask... in My name... I will do it," says the Lord.

A petition addressed to God, worshiped in the Holy Trinity, can be heard only when the one who asks does so for the sake of the Son.

The Son reveals the Godhead. The Son has now taken on human flesh, suffered for man, and suffered with him in his frail flesh.

How could man, though a rational spiritual being, cry out to the inaccessible God, the Creator of the universe, if God had not deigned in His second Hypostasis to reveal the invisible God to man?