Yes, Jesus said that after His return to heaven and after sending them the Holy Spirit to dwell within them, rather than just with them, He would do for them whatever they asked of Him. How does making an assertion about future conditions prove those conditions are presently the case, as well? That conclusion is a non sequitur.
You mentioned Christ’s return to heaven and the indwelling Holy Spirit. John 14:12 does concern the future works believers would perform after Christ returned to the Father, and those works would be accomplished through the Holy Ghost:
“He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12).
However, that does not change the grammatical subject of verses 13–14. Verse 12 says what the believer will do, but verses 13–14 expressly state what Jesus Himself will do:
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do” (John 14:13).
“If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14).
The distinction is plain:
(1). “He that believeth on me … shall he do” (John 14:12).
(2). “That will I do” (John 14:13).
(3). “I will do it” (John 14:14).
The word “And” connects these statements, but it does not erase their different grammatical subjects. Believers would perform the visible works through the Holy Ghost, while Jesus would act in response to what they asked in His name.
Furthermore, your future-conditions argument assumes that Jesus would only become capable of doing this after His resurrection or ascension. Jesus never states that limitation. He does not say, “Only after I ascend will I become able to do this.”
In fact, the same Gospel explicitly shows Jesus exercising this divine authority before the cross and claiming the work as His own.
Jesus healed the impotent man at Bethesda by commanding:
“Rise, take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:8).
The result was immediate:
“And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked” (John 5:9).
When the Jews persecuted Jesus over this miracle, Jesus personally claimed the work:
“My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17).
He did not say merely that the Holy Ghost had performed the miracle independently of Him. He said, “I work.”
Jesus then declared:
“For what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19).
He continued:
“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will” (John 5:21).
The words “whom he will” are important. Jesus claimed both the authority and will to give life. He did not present Himself as a passive instrument waiting for someone else to decide what would happen.
The Jews understood the divine significance of His words:
“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).
John 5 therefore answers your future-conditions objection. Before the cross, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus had already performed the miracle and said:
“I work.”
“These also doeth the Son likewise.”
“The Son quickeneth whom he will.”
There are also at least three clear examples in which people earnestly asked Jesus to help someone who was physically elsewhere, and Jesus granted the request.
(1). Jesus granted the centurion’s request and healed his servant from a distance.
“And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him” (Matthew 8:5).
The Greek reads:
προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ ἑκατόνταρχος παρακαλῶν αὐτόν
“A centurion came to Him, beseeching Him.”
The word παρακαλῶν comes from παρακαλέω (
parakaleō), which can mean to call upon, ask, beg, plead, beseech, entreat, or implore.
The centurion said:
“Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented” (Matthew 8:6).
The servant was “at home.” Jesus was not physically present with him. Nevertheless, the centurion believed that Jesus could personally heal him merely by speaking:
“Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed” (Matthew 8:8).
The centurion compared Christ’s authority to his own ability to issue commands:
“For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth” (Matthew 8:9).
His point was that just as his commands were carried out because of his authority, Jesus possessed authority to command the sickness itself.
Jesus did not correct his understanding. He praised it:
“I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Matthew 8:10).
Jesus then granted his request:
“Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour” (Matthew 8:13).
The passage directly connects the healing with Christ’s authoritative word. The centurion believed Jesus could command the healing from a distance, Jesus praised that belief as “great faith,” and the servant was healed “in the selfsame hour.”
(2). Jesus granted the nobleman’s request and healed his son from a distance.
The nobleman “besought him that he would come down, and heal his son” (John 4:47).
The Greek reads:
ἠρώτα αὐτὸν ἵνα καταβῇ καὶ ἰάσηται αὐτοῦ τὸν υἱόν
“He was asking Him that He would come down and heal his son.”
The word ἠρώτα comes from
ἐρωτάω (erōtaō), meaning to ask, request, entreat, beg, or beseech. The imperfect form presents the nobleman as asking or entreating Jesus.
Jesus answered:
“Go thy way; thy son liveth” (John 4:50).
The nobleman later discovered that the healing occurred at the exact time Jesus spoke:
“So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth” (John 4:53).
Jesus heard the request, pronounced the result, and the distant healing occurred “at the same hour.”
[ Continued in my next post ]
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