John 14:7-15 The Father is revealed in the Son

John 14:7-15 Jesus now tries to clarify one aspect of the nature of the Trinity. While many aspects of the Trinity remain a mystery to us, Jesus presents the important parts. Jesus tells the disciples that those who know Him also know His Father. And the most stunning revelation is that from now on, they have seen the Father.  Philip is incredulous. "Show us the Father." Jesus gently explains to him that they have seen Him and that He is the explicit representative of the Father, fully embodying His nature and character. And beyond having these qualities that are identical to those of the Father, the presence of the Father abides in Jesus, so that Jesus' words and works are really the Father's.

          And then Jesus goes on to reveal what is harder for us to grasp, that the Father is in Him in all that He says and does, but now He is going to the Father. This is the way He was talking about moments earlier. But it is a way to somewhere else. The important things is not where that  somewhere else is, it is the nature of the  Father who is there, and what Jesus will do when He gets there. The ministry of doing the Father's works on earth is now being passed on to the disciples. Jesus has done many things because He saw the Father doing them, such as healing the blind, lame, and deaf, and raising the dead, feeding the hungry, and preaching the good news of the immanence of the kingdom of God. From now on, His disciples would do these things. The key to doing these works is that the Father abides in Him, and He would now abide with and in them, through the Holy Spirit. They would learn to recognize the Father's voice.

          And then we have the promise that if they ask anything in His name, He will do it, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. This is not a blank check to get anything we want by praying in Jesus' name. It is rather an exposition on the key to effective prayer. When we pray for things that will bring glory to God the Father through the name of Jesus, He will answer these requests. He repeats the condition of it being in His name. And then Jesus adds what seems like a footnote or a condition. Or maybe it is a transition to the next thought. If they (and we) love Him, they (and we) will keep His commandments.

          This seems like an impossible condition. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Jesus gives a large number of commands, many of which are impossible. At least, they are impossible for us, unless we are like Jesus. So it seems that Jesus is adding an additional condition to the prerequisites for effective prayer. In addition to praying for something that will bring glory to the Father through Jesus' name, we - the ones who pray - must also be in a lifestyle of keeping Jesus' commandments. An impossible condition. And so this is really a transition to the next section, in which Jesus will explain the role of the Holy Spirit in all this. Because it really is a condition of effective ministry, but it is only possible if we have the flow of the Holy Spirit through our life.