14:8 The Eleven regarded Jesus very highly. Notwithstanding they did not yet realize that He was such an accurate and full revelation of God the Father that to see Jesus was to see the Father. Philip asked for a clear revelation of the Father that would satisfy the Eleven. He apparently wanted Jesus to give them a theophany (Exod. 24:9-10; Isa. 6:1). People throughout history have desired to see God as He really is (cf. Exod. 33:18). Jesus in His incarnation made that revelation of the Father as clearly, fully, and finally as no one else ever had (1:14, 18; 12:45).
14:9 Philip and the other disciples had not yet completely realized who Jesus was. They did not understand what John revealed in the prologue of this Gospel, namely that the Son is the exact representation of the Father (cf. 1:18). Long exposure to Jesus should have produced greater insight in these disciples. Still that insight is only the product of God's gracious enlightenment (cf. Matt. 16:17; 1 Cor. 2:6-16).
"No material image or likeness can adequately depict God. Only a person can give knowledge of him since personality cannot be represented by an impersonal object."462
This was another clear claim to deity.
14:10 Jesus repeated again that He and the Father were one (cf. 5:19; 8:28; 10:30, 38; 12:49). The mutual abiding terminology that Jesus used expressed this unity without destroying the individual identities of the Father and the Son. Jesus did not just represent God to humankind as an ambassador would. He did everything the Father gave Him to do, and He did everything the Father did (5:19). Moreover ambassadors do not refer to those who send them as their father or claim that whoever has seen them has seen the one they represent. They do not affirm mutual indwelling with the one who sent them either.
14:11 Jesus cited another proof of His union with the Father beside His words, namely His works (Gr. erga). Specifically He meant His miracles (cf. 5:36; 10:25, 37-38; 11:47; 12:37; 20:30-31). Jesus' miracles were signs that signified His divine identity (cf. 2:11). What we regard as a miracle was nothing more than a normal work for Jesus.463
14:12 Jesus prefaced another startling and important revelation with His customary phrase that John noted often in his Gospel. He stressed the importance of believing what He revealed about His divine identity by unveiling the consequences of believing that He was the divine Messiah.
The interpretation of the works that those who believe on Jesus would do, which commentators have found difficult, depends on how Jesus described them. He said that the basis for these and greater works would be His going to the Father. After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Father sent the Holy Spirit to indwell every believer (Acts 2:3; cf. Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13). This divine enablement empowered believers to do miracles that only Jesus Himself could do previously. The Book of Acts records the apostles doing many of the same miracles that Jesus had done in the Gospels.
The disciples would do even greater works than Jesus in the sense that their works would have greater effects than His works had. During Jesus' earthly ministry relatively few people believed on Him, but after His ascension many more did. The miracle of regeneration multiplied after Jesus ascended to heaven and the Father sent the Holy Spirit. Three thousand people became believers in Jesus on the day of Pentecost alone (Acts 2:41). The church thoroughly permeated the Roman Empire during the apostolic age whereas Jesus' personal ministry did not extend beyond Palestine. The whole Book of Acts is proof that what Jesus predicted here happened (cf. Acts 1:1-2, 8). The mighty works of conversion are more in view here than a few miracles of healing.
Jesus probably did not mean that His disciples would do more stupendous miracles than He did. Feeding multitudes from a small lunch and raising people from the dead are hard miracles to supersede. We should not assume either that Jesus meant that these miracles would continue throughout church history as they existed in the apostolic era. Church history has shown that they died out almost entirely after the apostolic age, and the New Testament, while it does not specifically predict that, implies that they would (1 Cor. 13:8; Eph. 2:20; Heb. 2:3-4).
14:13-14 Jesus next extended His promise beyond miracles to anything that the disciples might desire. This apparently blank check type promise has a condition that we often overlook. It is "in my name."We overlook this condition because many Christians think it means simply making our request and then adding the phrase "in Jesus' name"at the end.
Praying in Jesus' name means coming to the Father in prayer as Jesus' representative. Jesus introduced the idea of representing Him in verse 12. When we pray in Jesus' name, we claim to be acting for Him. Someone who prays that way will always ask only what is God's will or what is subject to God's will since that is always how Jesus related to His Father. It is impossible to pray in Jesus' name and to ask something contrary to God's will. These two acts are mutually contradictory.
The purpose of our praying must always be God's glory (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31) as it always was and always will be the Son's purpose (5:41; 7:18; 8:50, 54; 12:28). Thus Jesus promised here to grant petitions prayed in His name that the Father might receive glory from the Son.
Jesus repeated this promise probably because it is so great that it is almost unbelievable (cf. 15:16; 16:23-24).464John expounded it in his first epistle where he clarified that "in my name"means "according to His (God's) will"(1 John 5:14-15).
The New Testament teaching on prayer is that believers normally address the Father in prayer in the Son's name with the Spirit's help. However this is not a rigid requirement. In view of the unity of the Godhead we can understand occasional instances of prayers addressed to the Son and to the Spirit in the New Testament (e.g., Acts 7:59). However these prayers are atypical.
