Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
We must ask in order to receive, seek in order to find, and knock so that the door may be opened to us. God does much in his providential care for us even when we do not ask. He does not ignore us or wait until we come to him to love us. He loved us before we had our first thought of him and indeed before we were capable of any thought at all. We were known and loved before we were formed in the womb (see Jeremiah 1:5). And yet God reserves many of his gifts to those who ask. This is meant to make us realize that their reception by us is no accident which in turn trains us both to open ourselves in receptivity and to respond with thanksgiving.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
When we ask the Father in the name of the Son we are in effect trying to conform to the image of the Son, molding ourselves in his likeness. We go to the Father not through our own merit nor chiefly for our own desires. Rather, we go to the Father through the merit of the Son, trying to ask as the Son would ask. We should try to use this credit we have from the Son with the Father as the Son himself would spend it. How chaotic and unreconcilable it would be if everyone prayed to the Father in his own name for the desires of his flesh. By contrast, how great a symphony is the unity of prayer among believers united in the Son. It is prayer of this sort that keeps the world turning and keeps history on course to its ultimate goal of consummation in God himself. One consequence of being a part of this process for we who participate is joy. It is a joy that transcends circumstances and reassures us, in spite of appearances to the contrary, that God is in control and that we ourselves are safely on the path.
The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures
but I will tell you clearly about the Father.
It is the resurrection of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit into our hearts that allow us to hear and understand clearly about the Father. The Spirit of love fills our hearts more and more, making us love Jesus, and as a consequence, making us like him. We come to embody our identity more and more as sons and daughters united in the Son. Therefore the Father himself recognizes us and hears in our prayers the very desires of his only begotten Son himself. The same love with which the Father loves the Son is what moves him to answer us when we pray. Is it any wonder that an overflow of joy into our hearts is a consequence of this?
Jesus sometimes has to revert to figures instead of plain speech for those who us who are reluctant to embrace the paschal mystery. It is only in the transformation made possible by the cross that we become able to open ourselves to the love dynamics of the Triune God. It is from that cross that Jesus poured out living water on the world. In doing so he refashioned human nature twisted and closed in on itself by sin and made it able to love as he himself loves. And it is this cruciform love that Jesus himself imparts to us by the Holy Spirit that his Father recognizes and to which he responds in us.
I came from the Father and have come into the world.
Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.
Jesus returned to the Father but his power is still present in the world. The power of his death and resurrection is still transforming weak and sinful creatures, making them joyful, and giving them power to advance the Kingdom in our midst.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;
but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
they took him aside
and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.
We see in Apollos an example of someone moving through the stages of transformation, becoming increasingly conformed to the image of Jesus. The first level for him was the ability to speak and teach accurately about Jesus. But these were, more or less, figures of speech. The next level was the sacramental baptism of the Church which united him with Jesus and brought the Trinity to dwell in his heart. This was when he began to learn "clearly" about the Father, not through words as much as through experience. And it is clear that this increased depth of relationship gave him increased power to act in the name of Jesus.
After his arrival he gave great assistance
to those who had come to believe through grace.
He vigorously refuted the Jews in public,
establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.
Those of us who have been baptized often neglect to avail ourselves of the fullness of the gift we have received. We are reluctant to ask for much, telling ourselves that if something is God's will he will do it regardless. Yet this is clearly at odds with revelation. Joy and the fullness of life are meant to be things which we don't receive accidentally, but which we are given from his abundance as a response to prayer. Yet it isn't all about us. Nor is it primarily for our sakes that we must ask. Our prayers are meant to make present Jesus and his mission and Kingdom in the world. We neglect them only at great peril. Let us learn more accurately the Way of God so that we may ask the Father in the name of the Son. Then we will finally begin to taste this joy we say we want. Thus far we have not pursued it with much tenacity. May that change beginning here and now.
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