In the Ancient Near East, every great ruler operated on the basis of a covenant. It was typical for such a ruler to pass this covenant to his heir, with a period of co-regency for the sake of smooth transition. Often the heir would be sent off on some mission to prove he was fit to take the throne, and on his return would be the vestment ceremony. Once secure in his position, the heir could then modify the covenant under his father’s guidance. This is the context of Jesus’ words here.
The disciples still weren’t quite getting it. They no doubt recognized the scenario, but had been convinced they were involved in a different scenario. Jesus had flatly told them what was going on, but their minds had locked onto the false track and He was relying on the way things worked in the Spirit Realm to help them catch up later.
He had just referred to His miracles as sufficient basis for proceeding forward in faith. If they simply could not quite grasp the order of things involving the Son of God stepping into a spiritual kingdom, at least they could see that His miracles marked Him as a valid representative of the Covenant God, Jehovah. It was important to elevate the awareness of the Covenant in their minds, as it was the basis for everything He said and did. Once He took His place as divine co-regent, the New Covenant would again be the center of every consideration.
On that grounds, He promised that every miracle He had performed under the Old Covenant would be within their authority. And because He was returning from His mission to the vestment ceremony in Heaven, the New Covenant would give them even greater miraculous authority as the key figures in His new divine court. They were to be princes of the realm, serving in their missions scattered across the empire while He remained back at court on the throne. It would be everything the Father had done in the past, plus more new things He would be doing. The Son would use His Presence at the throne to ensure that this authority would be issued.
It sounds like carte blanche in our Western ears today, but that’s not what it meant in the context when Jesus promised to do anything asked in His name. That “in His name” part referred to His established pattern of behavior, His known agenda. If they asked anything consistent with His past actions, He would secure the authority for their request. It was critical that their request was consistent with what He had revealed.
Indeed, He made it a point that everything rested on His teaching. If they were so sure they really were committed to Him and His reign as Messiah, then it should be no problem for them to stay on track. There should be plenty of fire and desire for what Jesus had commanded them.
By demonstrating that commitment, they would give support to Jesus’ plan to send them the Holy Spirit. Instead of one human person — Jesus the man — who couldn’t be more than one place at a time, they would have His divine Presence in their own souls. Thus, He could be everywhere His people went all at once. The implication is that they could carry the living personal presence of their Master with them, and He would keep right on teaching and clarifying things for them, prodding them as needed.
It would mark them as truly different in this world. The rest of humanity would be unable to receive this divine Presence without also embracing Jesus as Lord the same way they had done. Without that, the world was unable to discern the Presence in the first place. Yes, these disciples could sense that Presence because it was just like Jesus being there in the flesh. In due time, the Person would be inside them, in union and communion with their own souls.
