What does it mean "that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13)?

The Father Glorified in the Son.

We have meditated upon the Father's glory in relation to the Son on earth, in heaven, and in the coming day; in John 14:13 we hear the Lord speak of the Father being glorified in the Son through His disciples. The promise given by the Lord, just before leaving His own is as good for us today as it was for the disciples in that day; "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Although His own course down here was drawing to its close, the Lord knew that His heavenly life would still be here in His disciples, and that the Father's glory would be secured in those that the Father had given Him out of the world. What a precious privilege to be among those in whom the Father is glorified! But how is the Father to be glorified in His children? By their being here for the pleasure of the Son, seeking only that which will bring honour to His Name. If we are conscious that we are left here in the interests of the Son of God, and seek only to please Him, then we shall indeed ask in His Name. To ask in His Name is to ask in His interests, and all the divine authority and resources that are vested in the Son, glorified in heaven, are made available to meet the requests that are made. No doubt the apostles were here in a special way to carry on the work of God, and that they were enabled by the grace of Christ to do His will according to the divine mission with which they were entrusted; but the promise still stands for the disciples of Christ, even in these last days of weakness and ruin. Here is something that will not break down, "If ye shall ask anything in my Name, I will do it." This depends on the blessed Son of God; and no matter how weak we are, we can still seek, in some little way, to be concerned with His interests in the world. If the enemy thought that he had triumphed when the Son of God left this world and returned to the Father, his mistake would soon be evident when, through the presence of the Holy Spirit in the disciples, the life of Christ, and the work of God, were continued in Christ's own. How the Father has been glorified in all that has been accomplished in His children through Christ's grace, since the Son was here. What a wonderful triumph for the Father to continue in men the heavenly life of His own dear Son, and to carry out the counsels of His grace through the ministry of Jesus at His right hand in heaven towards the disciples on earth.

In John 14:13, the Lord again speaks of prayer to His disciples, saying, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." In Matthew 18, the Father would answer prayer for the honour of the Son, here the Son will answer their prayers so that the Father might be glorified. In His every activity on earth the Son had sought the Father's glory; in His exalted place in heaven the glory of the Father would still be before the Son. And how wonderful it is that the Father has inseparably bound together His own glory and the blessing of those that He has given to the Son: such is the Father's grace!

He will do it for that end. The glory of the Father is bound up in the response by the Son to the poor feeble cry of His people. It is enhanced (wondrous to say) by the gracious way in which our “whatsoever” is acknowledged by the Son. What immense encouragement for prayer. “I will do it,” He says, not for any object inferior to the glory of the Father. What a motive. Can we not urge such a plea in seeking from the Lord the doing of whatsoever we ask? No plea could be more effective. It means not the glory or relief of the suppliant, nor even the glory of the Lord Himself, but that of the Father.

248 - 13. What He would still do, for the Father's glory, towards the Church. The world would not see Him, but they would see the left witness of the Spirit in them asserted to His risen glory out of it. But the Son would still be in Person working towards them, the continuance of His acting in witness towards them. Verse 13 rests it on "My name, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Verse 14, the extent of His power, "If … anything … I will do." This is the general great truth.

Then as to prayer we read: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it" (13, 14). With what power would they be endowed! What favours would be bestowed on them! What watchful interest would the Lord manifest! If they asked in His name, He would do it; so they would assuredly know whither He had gone, as answers came to their prayers. In His name is the condition; and asking, as they would be permitted, the Lord Himself would answer. "In My name." Let us mark this. Three times does the Lord annex this, then a new, condition (John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:24-26). It is a real thing to use the name of Christ in prayer. In that case the petition ascends to the Father in connection with all that the Son is to Him; and the answer to such prayers the Lord has promised, that the Father should be glorified in the Son. But what a wholesome check could that prove on rash and inconsiderate requests! How many a prayer would never have been uttered, if the petitioner had but stopped to ask himself: Can I present this in that name? What says the reader to this?

"And whatsoever ye shall ask (or beg, αἰτ.) in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it" (verses 13, 14). The disciples were thus to count on power that could not fail, if sought in His name; for Jesus was no mere man, whose departure must terminate what He used to do when present. Absent He would prove Himself Divine, and none the less interested in their petitions because He was risen from the dead. Whatever they might ask He would do, that the Father might be glorified in the Son. And not content with a broad assurance in verse 13, no matter what the difficulty, He repeats it in verse 14 as to any particular petition on their part with a yet more emphatic pledge of His personal action. [Edd. here adds με ("Me") after ℵB, etc., 33, etc. Blass omits the whole verse, as Syrcu sin, Nonnus, and Chrysostom.]

Our Lord has also laid down an indispensable condition of prayer — a condition which, when fulfilled, always ensures the answer to our cries. He says, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." (John 14:13-14.) It becomes therefore a matter of the utmost importance to ascertain the meaning of the words "in my name." It could not mean the utterance simply of the words, or closing our petitions with, "through our Lord Jesus Christ." That would attach the answer of prayer to a mere formula. This is impossible, and we shall see that much more is involved. Even in human transactions the name of another cannot be used without his consent and authority. If we ask anything of a third person in another's name, in the name of one that would give us influence in our request, it can only be with his express permission, and a permission which must be proved if the demand is made. In like manner we cannot use the name of Christ in our prayers without His warrant — a warrant that must be found in His own Word. When we have this, and we have it for every petition which is evoked from us by the Holy Ghost, for every prayer which is the expression of His own mind, we appear before God with all the authority of Christ Himself, in all His value and preciousness to God, and hence the prayers so offered ascend with the same power as if presented by Himself This is seen from the promise He annexes to the condition, "I will do it." And He will do it, moreover, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. How blessed then when we thus pray! And what an encouragement thus to pray! And what a foundation, we may also add, for faith to build its hopes and expectations upon!

The Father is also glorified in the Son through His own in this day; and with this in view we are to ask in His Name (John 14:13). As we draw upon the divine resources that the Father has for us we shall be able to come out in the features of Christ, and carry out His will in service for Him. This is also indicated in John 15:8. "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." Fruit is the mature expression of the life of Jesus, the precious traits that, in their fulness and perfection in the Son, brought constant delight and glory to the Father. That same life is ours, and as we abide in the Son, and He abides in us, we shall be here for the Father's glory, giving Him pleasure, and bringing joy to our own hearts.

This is the one true condition of heart for prevailing prayer. It is when Christ and His glory controls us that we shall pray in His Name and “whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” It was charged against some, “Ye have not because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (Jas. 4:2-3). We shall not be guilty of such folly as that, if the glory of the Lord fills our souls; for no man could seek His glory and the gratification of his own lusts at the same time. If we are near to Him we shall know the wealth of His giving and we shall ask . We shall be guided in our asking by our knowledge of Him, and we shall not ask amiss . We shall desire only that He may be magnified and we shall not desire to consume what we expect from Him upon our lusts .

Thus, while responsibility is maintained intact, grace is shown to be the fountain of all that is looked for and made good; and, further, the connection of both with dependence on the Father, Who alone brings to a successful issue whatever they should have asked in the name of Jesus. The deeper and higher the blessing, the more need of prayer; but then the character and confidence of prayer should rise with the sense of grace in Christ, and the Father's unwavering purpose to put honour on His name in which they draw near with their petitions. His name by faith in it can make the weakest strong, and the Father is thus glorified in the Son Who glorifies Him. Distrust or negligence is equally precluded.