Today’s Gospel Text: Truly,
truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you
in my name. 24 Hitherto you have asked
nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 25 "I
have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer
speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. 26 In that day you will ask
in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father himself
loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the
Father. 28 I came from the Father and
have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the
Father." John
16: 23b -28
Reflection: The
name of Jesus is special and unique! It is a all powerful, mighty and glorious name!
We
have the freedom and also the power to ask in his name.
This
name means empowerment to all who are willing to be empowered in his name: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he
gave power to become children of God.” John 1:12
There
are two reasons why we would use an influential name;
- Either because we have an explicit permission to do
- or because we want to misuse the knowledge we have of a powerful and influential name, which can get work done.
Many
of us could be doing the later with the name of Jesus and hence the Lord had to warn
those who would abuse his name:
"Not
everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but
he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matt 7:21
The permission to use the name of Jesus in order to receive from the
Father was given to his chosen and dedicated disciples and not to anyone else.
They were allowed to use the name of Jesus because they knew Christ and more so were known by Christ and
he it is that gives them the authority to use his name.
Christ Jesus gives them the permission on the basis of his
knowledge of them and only in the light of which he also gives them the approval to
use his name.
We, as so called disciples, can’t freely use his name to
receive from the Father unless and until we know Christ just as the dedicated
disciples did, and more so are known by Christ and have his permission to do
so.
Just being a mere Christian by name is not enough. What is required is to be a
dedicated disciple walking in the power of Christ and the gospel otherwise it
could mean the abuse of the name of Jesus.
Prayer: I
will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever. Ps 45:17
DD = Dedicated
Discipleship: Come grow
in the Lord with us
