“Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these” John 14:12.

Jesus is speaking with his closest Disciples at the Last Supper in this Chapter. He tells them that he is leaving them, but that they should not “let their hearts be troubled. You have faith in God, have faith also in me.” Jesus knows that his faithful few were people of great faith, and yet throughout this dialogue he is calling them to “believe.”

Jesus teaches the Disciples--and us-- that if we call on the name of Jesus, he will be with us. “If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14). This is a powerful promise! There is tremendous power in the “name” of Jesus. Why? According to Webster’s dictionary, the word “Name” is “a word or symbol used in logic to designate an entity.” The name stands for the “Being” or “reality” of the thing. Therefore, calling on the name Yēshūa or literally, “Yahweh saves” brings that reality into form. 

Fr. Richard Rohr explains in the Universal Christ (2019, p. 27): “The leap of faith that orthodox Christians made from the earliest period was the belief that this eternal Christ presence was speaking through the person of Jesus. Divinity and humanity must somehow be able to speak as one, for if the union of God and humankind is “true” in Jesus, there is hope that it might be true in all of us too.” 

“I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:10).

Throughout this chapter, Jesus is explaining his own union with the Father. “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:10). Jesus explains that we are also in the Father. “The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name--he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26). We are connected to the divinity of the God of the Universe through the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. 

Jesus fully explains this divine union to his disciples--who we are as well. “Amen, Amen, I say to you whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:12-13). Jesus is giving us universal power and divine blessing so that the goodness, the beauty, the love that God is can be glorified. We only need to believe.

Unfortunately, our lack of belief keeps us from joining in with this divine union of Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus warns that “the rulers of the world is coming” (John 14:30), who is Satan. He is the great wielder of fear, which is a terrible power that knocks people out of faith in God. Fear blocks us from accessing our own divinity, which we find in faith in Jesus. The choice is ours. We can choose to focus our minds on faith in Jesus. We can choose to call on the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to fill us with faith, and answer our prayers. Or, we can choose to do nothing. By not actively cultivating our faith, we leave the door open to fear in our minds. 

The early 20th Century Philosopher James Allen summed up this choice in his famous book, As a Man Thinketh, chapter four, Thought and Purpose.

“He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. His every thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are bravely met and wisely overcome. His purposes are seasonably planted, and they bloom and bring forth fruit...Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger.”