In the Name of Jesus, the Answer is Yes :: John 16:23-33
Grace to you and peace ...
[Jesus said,] In that day, you will not ask anything of me. Amen, amen, I say to you whatever you might ask the Father, he will give to you in my name. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive that your joy may be full (vv 23-24).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, a minute or so ago, we all confessed that I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
What does this mean? I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened with his gifts, sanctified and kept in the one True Faith. This is the truth. And together, we confess this truth. We are able to do this because God has given you faith, and has poured out his Holy Spirit upon you in baptism. In your baptism, your pastor spoke your name, poured water upon you, and said, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
And now you have the name of Jesus. This means that God has given you his identity. He ... who chose you before the foundation of the world to be holy and righteous in his sight ... he has achieved his purpose for you ... enabling you to believe you’re redeemed in the name of Jesus. In baptism, you died and were buried with Christ in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, you too might walk in the newness of the name of Jesus (Rm 6:3-4). It is now no longer you who lives, but Christ who lives in you (Gal 2:20). All because you have the name of Jesus.
Now hear this important word of your Lord Jesus again for this Sixth Sunday of Easter: Amen, amen, I say to you whatever you might ask the Father, he will give to you in my name (v 23). In the name of Jesus, his answer is yes.
4.
This promise of our Lord comes to us at the end of his discourse in the upper room on the night he was betrayed ... the night he gave himself to us in the Lord’s supper. Gathered in the name and the remembrance of Jesus, we therefore thank the Father for the sake of his name ... that he has given us pardon and peace in his word and sacraments.
According to Saint John, Jesus is about to turn toward his Father in what we call the high priestly prayer. In his name, he will pray: First, for himself; Then, for his disciples; and Finally, for you ... that is, all of you who believe ... or I should say, have faith in the name of Jesus. Here, in this magnificent prayer of our Lord, Jesus prays that we all might become one in his name, just as he and the Father are one. We see that the answer to this prayer is absolutely yes ... in his means of grace, his Word and sacraments, all of which proclaim his name.
The author and creator of life is but mere hours away from putting the finishing touches on his work that glorifies his name (Jn 17:3). He is about to lead his disciples out to the Garden called Gethsemane for one last prayer before handing himself over to be arrested, slandered, mocked, beaten, judged to be innocent, flogged, and crucified ... for you. In his name, he will pray for us from the cross to receive the forgiveness of sins because he knows we cannot by our own reason or strength believe in him otherwise (v 31). As Jesus says, behold the hour comes and has come, when you each will be scattered, each into his own, and you will leave me alone ... These things I have said to you in order that you may have peace (v 32).
And so it is ... In Jesus’ name ... your sins are forgiven, now and forever. God loved the world in this way: He sent Jesus to die for you, lifting all the weight of your sin upon himself on the cross. Now we who have the name of Jesus, who proclaim his name in truth and spirit (Jn 4:24) as often as we eat this bread and drink his cup ... truly have peace ... the forgiveness of sins.
3.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, prayer in the name of Jesus is one of the greatest privileges we have as Christians. Our confessions even say it could be numbered among the sacraments, if we actually numbered them, which we don’t, “for it has the command of God, and it has many promises” (AC XIII 16), not the least of which is heard in our Gospel reading, where again Jesus said, Amen, Amen, I say to you ... the Father ... will give to you in my name (v 23).
The father doesn't give to us because we speak the name of Jesus. He gives to us because he sees the name of Jesus in us, written on the heart he renews within us. This is why his Word and sacraments are so important to us. Faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word. It is nurtured through preaching and baptism and the Lord’s supper. Together, they unite us. Together, they make us one. They keep and sustain the Holy Christian Church on earth. They elicit faith in our hearts. They are the Gospel.
In the name of Jesus, he then receives and hears the word he gave us ... not on account of what we are saying or doing ... but precisely because of what Jesus has said and done and continues to say and do. Jesus is our mediator in this regard. He has stood in our place. He who knew no sin, who was born in the flesh without sin and who lived his life without sin, he died for our sin. He carried our sin ... your sin and mine ... to the cross. There, he ensured that all of God’s wrath would be poured upon our sin, to pay the ultimate price ... that is complete separation from God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, you know what that sin is. Or at least you should. You know how you have failed to live the life God is calling you to live. You know how you have relied on yourself first, instead of fearing, loving, and trusting God above all things. You know how you curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie or deceive in his name ... failing to call upon him in every trouble ... failing to pray, praise, or give thanks. ... You know how you even despise preaching and God’s word, spurning the name of Jesus. And today, after being reminded of the people of Israel in the wilderness, you should even recognize how we sometimes become impatient and speak against God and against Moses, grumbling and complaining about what we too often think is worthless food (Num 21:4-9).
So in the name and remembrance of Jesus, repent every one of you.
Lift up your eyes, mourn your sin, and see your savior.
As psalmists remind us, God doesn’t listen to the prayer of sinners ... that is, those who don’t have the name of Jesus, those who don’t have faith in him. But he does listen to those who abide in his name (Jn 15:7). And that means you ... each one of you. God will hear your prayer on account of Jesus, and give to you in the name of Jesus.
2.
What God’s word teaches us about prayer is clear and comforting, but prayer is often misunderstood. Some people seem to think that we become Christians by praying a prayer, and concluding with the words “in the name of Jesus.” Instead, God gives to you, specifically because of Jesus. He has incorporated you in his name through the faith that apprehends this.
To use the language of Paul’s letters to the Ephesians, Galatians, and Colossians, on account of your baptism, the sacrament in which God placed his name upon you, Jesus now lives in you and you in him. God doesn’t see the filthy rags of your sin. Instead, he sees in you the name of Jesus ... that is, the righteousness of Christ, who has lived for you, died for you, risen from the grave ahead of you. And more than that, he has united you with Jesus in baptism into his death and resurrection. God now clothes you in the righteous robes of Jesus that come with his name (Is 61:10, Zec 3:4, Rv 19:8).
To pray in Jesus’ name does not require the verbalization of his name. After all, Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father,” and the Lord’s Prayer never mentions Jesus’ name. Praying in Jesus’ name is not simply a matter of saying the word “Jesus” or the word “Christ.” The power of Jesus’ name is not a magical formula. He doesn’t hear us for our many words, or even just one little word. The power of Jesus’ name is in recognizing what he did from the time he came forth from the Father into the world and the time when he left the world to go to the Father (v 28). It is a matter of recognizing that God’s will will be done.
1.
Faith receives this truth of the spirit, and faith expresses itself in prayer in the name and remembrance of Jesus.
We therefore call upon the One True God because we see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God (1 Jn 3:3). We can therefore with confidence draw near to the throne of grace and receive mercy and grace in his name (Heb 4:16). We hallow his name when we bless it by keeping his word and sacraments, teaching these to our children (Ps 103:1). We see his kingdom coming when we believe his holy word and lead godly lives according to it, as Saint James tells us, becoming doers of the word, and not hearers only (Jas 1:22, 25). We recognize his Will being done when he strengthens and keeps us firm in his name until we die. We see him always giving us what we need for today, knowing it will nurture not only our body but our soul. We recognize how he has forgiven us in Christ and therefore why we need to forgive each other (Eph 4:32).
So what are you waiting for? ... Ask, and you will receive that your joy may be full (v 24). God does guard and keep us, and he does deliver us from evil.