In that day you shall ask in my name; and I say not to you, that I will ask the Father for you:

In that day ye shall ask in my name; and I say not to you that I will demand of the Father for you,

'In that day, in my name ye will make request, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father for you,

At that time you will make your requests in my name; and I do not promise to ask the Father on your behalf,

In that day you will make requests in my name: and I do not say that I will make prayer to the Father for you,

In that day you will ask in my name, and I am not saying to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf,

You will ask, at that time, in my name; and I do not say that I will intercede with the Father for you;

In that day you shall ask in my name. He again repeats the reason why the heavenly treasures were then to be so bountifully opened up. It is, because they ask in the name of Christ whatever they need, and God will refuse nothing that shall be asked in the name of his Son. But there appears to be a contradiction in the words; for Christ immediately adds, that it will be unnecessary for him to pray to the Father Now, what purpose does it serve to pray in his name, if he does not undertake the office of Intercessor? In another passage John calls him our Advocate, ( 1 John 2:1.) Paul also testifies that Christ now intercedes for us, (Romans 8:34;) and the same thing is confirmed by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who declares that Christ always liveth to make intercession for us, (Hebrews 7:25.) I reply, Christ does not absolutely say, in this passage, that he will not be Intercessor, but he only means, that the Father will be so favorably disposed towards the disciples, that, without any difficulty, he will give freely whatever they shall ask. "My Father," he says, "will meet you, and, on account of the great love which he bears towards you, will anticipate the Intercessor, who, otherwise, would speak on your behalf." Besides, when Christ is said to intercede with the Father for us, let us not indulge in carnal imaginations about him, as if he were on his knees before the Father, offering humble supplication in our name. But the value of his sacrifice, by which he once pacified God toward us, is always powerful and efficacious; the blood by which he atoned for our sins, the obedience which he rendered, is a continual intercession for us. This is a remarkable passage, by which we are taught that we have the heart of the Heavenly Father, [1] as soon as we have placed before Him the name of his Son.

Footnotes

1 - "Le coeur du Pere celeste."

I say not unto you that I will pray - In John 14:16, Jesus says that he would pray the Father, and that he would send the Comforter. In John 17 he offered a memorable prayer for them. In Hebrews 7:25, it is said that Jesus ever liveth to make intercession for us; and it is constantly represented in the New Testament that it is by his intercession in heaven now that we obtain the blessings of pardon, peace, strength, and salvation. Compare Hebrews 9:24. This declaration of Jesus, then, does not mean that he would not intercede for them, but that there was no need then of his mentioning it to them again. They knew that; and, in addition to that, he told them that God was ready and willing to confer on them all needful blessings.

I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you - I need not tell you that I will continue your intercessor: I have given you already so many proofs of my love that ye cannot possibly doubt this: besides, the Father himself needs no entreaty to do you good, for he loves you, and is graciously disposed to save you to the uttermost, because ye have loved me and believed in me as coming from God, for the salvation of the world.

(8) At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
(8) The sum of the worship of God is the invocation of the Father in the name of the Son the mediator, who is already heard for us, for whom he both abased himself, and is now also glorified.

At that day ye shall ask in my name,.... For when the Spirit was poured upon them, they not only received his extraordinary gifts, and had a larger measure of his grace bestowed upon them; but were also blessed with him, as a spirit of grace and supplication, in a more remarkable manner than ever they had been before: they then better understood the throne of grace, and the advantages of it; had greater enlargements and assistances at it; and were better acquainted with the mediation of Christ, and the necessity of making use of his name, blood, and righteousness, in all their petitions and requests.
And I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you. This Christ had promised before, John 14:16; nor was there any occasion to repeat it now, of which they might be strongly assured: besides, at that day the Spirit would be given to them by virtue of his intercession; so that there would be no need of praying to the Father for them on that account. This is said, not as if the intercession of Christ for his people would then cease; for he is always their advocate with the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for them; though it may not be carried on in the same manner, by prayer, as when he was here on earth, his personal appearance, and the presentation of his blood, sacrifice, and righteousness, being sufficient; but to declare the disposition and readiness of his Father to hear them, and grant unto them whatsoever they should ask of him in his name.

I say not . . . I will pray the Father for you--as if He were not of Himself disposed to aid you: Christ does pray the Father for His people, but not for the purpose of inclining an unwilling ear.

At that day ye shall ask - For true knowledge begets prayer. And I say not that I will pray - This in nowise implies that he will not: it means only, The Father himself now loves you, not only because of my intercession, but also because of the faith and love which he hath wrought in you.