08 Jun “Greater Things”

It is truly an eye-popping passage in the Bible:

10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:10-14 (NIV)

Did you catch it?  “…whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these…” What Jesus meant by that has been discussed, debated, and commented on for the last two thousand years. Greater than raising Lazarus from the dead? Greater than the feeding of five thousand and four thousand? Greater than walking on water? No. So, again, what did He mean?

Here are the most common explanations I have seen:

So, what did Jesus mean that His faithful followers would do “greater” works than He? Without a doubt, the works of Jesus’ followers would be greater in extent. Jesus’ earthly ministry had been largely limited to Galilee and Judea; His disciples, however, were going to extend His ministry to the uttermost parts of the earth. (gotquestions.org)

The area where Christians can exceed what Jesus did is not “quality,” but “quantity.” His earthly ministry lasted only about three years—as He says here, He is soon to end this phase of God’s plan. Jesus preached without modern communications, or modern travel technology. In contrast, modern evangelists can spend decades preaching to hundreds of thousands of people. Missionaries can serve the furthest reaches of the globe. As of this writing, this website is accessed by more people every week than lived in Jerusalem during Jesus’ era. In a year, some bible-related websites speak to more people than populated the Roman Empire in the first century. (bibleref.com)

So, the first explanation is that we will achieve greater reach in our work for Jesus than He did Himself. The second is that increased reach means increased volume. Greater means more. I think both are true. I also believe the most important part of the passage is how this will be accomplished:

because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:12-14 (NIV)

We can debate forever exactly what Jesus meant about “greater things.” What we know for sure is that because Jesus went to His Father, we have a direct connection with God the Father ourselves. And anything we ask in Jesus’ name that brings glory to God will produce an answer of yes.

That is a mind-blowing assurance that should empower us to live each day with an inner peace that can only come from the Spirit of God dwelling in us. Don’t miss it!

Pastor Jerry Bader