12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. 15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
In verse 12 Jesus makes one of His most remarkable promises to His disciples. Unfortunately, it is also one of His most misunderstood promises. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” That last phrase, “because I am going to the Father,” helps us to understand just what Jesus meant, and we’ll come back to this point in a moment. We need to begin though, by seeing what He did not mean in verse 12.
Just what kind of works will we do that are greater than the works Jesus performed? Is it even possible for us to do greater things than He? The short answer, of course, is absolutely not, but there is a lot more to this statement of Jesus than first meets the eye.
The first point to consider is what kind of works did He mean, by asking if Jesus was referring specifically to His miracles. He often spoke of His signs and miracles as “works.” Just one example is John 5:36. “The testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.”
There are some who believe that the works Jesus said the disciples would do after His resurrection are miracles. As we read the book of Acts, it is true that the apostles did perform miracles in the early days of the Christian Church, but there is a problem with such a simplistic view. If, in John 14:12, Jesus was referring to His miracles, then this promise did not come true. Yes, the disciples were given supernatural power to perform miracles, but they were not greater than the miracles of Jesus. The book of Acts records no miracles performed by the apostles that were greater than Jesus’ greatest miracles.
We also need to bear in mind that contrary to what heretics like Bill Johnson of Bethel Church would have us believe, Christians do not perform miracles today. God does on occasion answer our prayers in miraculous ways. Nothing is impossible for Him, and we have all heard of or even personally witnessed unmistakable supernatural signs, but that power comes from God - not from us. When we pray for healing, sometimes God, in His sovereignty will answer those prayers, but we do not have the power to perform healing miracles.
It was the first generation of the apostles only who were given the power to do such things as Hebrews 2:4 says. “God bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.”
Some argue against this by saying that we are able to perform miracles if we believe enough. After all, Jesus Himself said in Matthew 17:20, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Here is another verse of Scripture which is often misunderstood and twisted to get Jesus to say what He did not say.
His whole point is not that we need to work on our faith in order for us to have the power to perform miracles. Rather, Jesus is saying that we just don’t have the faith to begin with. His statement in Matthew 17:20 is not prescriptive. It is descriptive. In other words, He is not telling us what will happen if we build up our faith and believe more fervently. He is simply telling us how it is.
The reason we do not have the power to move mountains, walk on water and raise the dead is that our faith is simply not strong enough, nor can it be.
So the logical conclusion is that in John 14:12, the works Jesus was speaking about were not His miracles, or signs and wonders as John usually refers to them.
What then, are the works that believers will do in His name?
We find part of the answer in Luke 10, where Jesus sent 72 of His followers out in pairs to preach the Gospel, while at the same time they were given the power to perform miracles. They returned full of excitement as we read in verse 17: “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!’” Look at Jesus’ response to them though: “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:19-20)
What this means is that the works of Jesus that are greater than His miracles are the works that lead to the salvation of the lost, the proclamation of the Gospel. This is the focus of the apostles’ ministry in the book of Acts. While Acts certainly does record many physical miracles performed by the apostles, the emphasis of the apostolic ministry is the preaching of the Gospel and the conversion of many people to faith in Christ.
John MacArthur wrote, “Jesus did not mean greater works in power, but in extent. They would become witnesses to all the world through the power of the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit and would bring many to salvation because of the Comforter dwelling in them. The focus is on spiritual rather than physical miracles.”
The work of the Gospel, then, is the work Jesus was speaking about in John 14:12. History shows us that Jesus has kept His promise, and He continues to do so today. During His three years of public ministry, Jesus gathered a relatively small group of believers. 1 Corinthians 15:6 tells us that the risen Christ appeared to about 500 believers, while in Acts 1, when Matthias was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot, only 120 were there to witness such a momentous occasion. The point is that in the very early days of the Christian Church, just after the ascension of Jesus, the number of His followers was very small, but what happened when the promised Holy Spirit came at Pentecost? Peter preached a powerful sermon, after which “those who received his word were baptised, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41)
In the very next chapter, Peter and John healed a lame man at the temple which created quite a stir, so Peter used the opportunity again to preach the Gospel to the crowd. Acts 4:1-4 tells us what happened. “As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.”
But it wasn’t only about the numbers, as significant as that was. Jesus’ earthly ministry was confined to a very small part of the Middle East, while the Gospel spread far and wide across the ancient world through the apostles, reaching even as far away as Rome, which was a huge distance when we consider how primitive transportation was in those days. People very rarely travelled more than a day’s walk outside of their hometown back then, but empowered and equipped by the Holy Spirit, that first generation of Christians really did start taking the Gospel to all nations, as Jesus commissioned them at the end of Matthew’s Gospel.
So the works Jesus spoke about in John 14:12 are spiritual works, the work of regeneration that takes place when the Gospel is proclaimed through the power of the Holy Spirit. Also, Jesus said that these works will be achieved by every Christian. “Whoever believes in me will also do the works I do.” This does not mean that every Christian is equipped or called to be a great evangelist. The New Testament makes it clear that we are all gifted differently, but we are all called to be witnesses and ambassadors for the Gospel collectively. We all have a role to play. This is what makes it possible for the Church to do “greater” things than Jesus, simply by each of us playing our part in the life of the Church as we use our God-given gifts for His glory.
Getting back to an earlier point, it is important to look at the whole of verse 12, rather than focus on the greater works Jesus speaks about, because it is here where we learn how all of this is even possible. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” We are able to accomplish greater works precisely because Jesus is going to the Father.
MacArthur again writes, “The only way Jesus’ disciples would be able to be used to do those greater works was through the power of the Holy Spirit and He could not be sent as the Comforter until Jesus returned to the Father.”
It is because of His mediation for us with God the Father in heaven - it is because of Christ’s intercessory prayers and the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent that we are able to do these greater things. Vernon McGee wrote in his commentary, “How are these greater works done? ‘Because I am going to the Father.’ You see, it is Christ who is still working, but today He is working through human instrumentality. He works through frail human clay, human flesh. I am amazed that I can give a Bible message over the radio and there are people who turn to Christ. That is greater. If Jesus Christ were here speaking to people, it would be a great work. When Jesus Christ takes you and me and works through us to reach people, that is greater.”
At the end of the day, it isn’t really Christians who are doing these things. It is actually Jesus who is continuing the works He began here through His Church. John Calvin explained it this way: “The reason why the disciples will do greater things than Christ is that when He has entered into possession of His kingdom, He will demonstrate His power more fully from heaven.”
As we’ve seen, the book of Acts goes into great detail in describing how the Gospel message spread so far and wide in those early days. In most older translations the book is titled “The Acts of the Apostles.” In the opening verses of Acts, Luke writes, “all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up.” Jesus began the work of spreading the Gospel, and in reality, it is He who through the Holy Spirit, continues to do so. So maybe a more accurate name for the book of Acts would be “The Acts of the ascended Christ through His apostles.”
And that same work continues today through the Church. We are called and empowered to do what Jesus did and more because Jesus continues His redemptive work in and through us by the Spirit He has sent.
This is why we should respond to the call to share the Gospel with confidence. It’s not about us, our eloquence and our talents. It is all about how God has gifted us in order to share the great hope that reconciliation for rebellious sinners to a Holy God is possible.
Jesus Himself promised us that we would do His works, and with greater impact than He did while on earth, but the works that we do remain His, not ours. His promise is simply, yet profoundly, “whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
The big question is of course, how will we do these great works for Him, or to put it more accurately, how will He do these things through us?
There are a number of things for us to consider here.
Firstly, we must have faith in Jesus. He said in verse 12, “Whoever believes in me.” The promise is irrelevant until we have believed in Jesus and trusted Him as Lord and Saviour. Until such time as we have come to Him in faith for our own salvation, we will be completely ineffective in leading anyone else to faith. It’s simple logic really. How can we lead others to believe in something that we don’t believe ourselves? Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”
Secondly, the works we are called to do on behalf of Jesus must be undergirded by prayer. He said in verse 13, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do.” So it is through Jesus’ answers to our prayers that we will do His work and achieve great things for Him. Yet again we come to a verse in the Bible which has been badly mangled. When Jesus says, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do,” He is not promising that He will give us whatever we want. Asking for something “in Jesus’ name” is not a magic formula. Can you image what spoiled brats we would be if we had whatever we wanted?
We need to look at the context. Jesus’ promise in verse 13 is directly connected to His promise that as the Church, we will do greater things than He in that through the proclamation of the Gospel, we will help bring the lost to salvation.
We see the importance of prayer to evangelism throughout the New Testament, and our greatest example is Jesus Himself. He emphasised the importance of prayer specifically when it came to sharing the Gospel message. He said to the disciples in Matthew 8:37-38, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.”
The apostle Paul understood the importance of prayer. Immediately after his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to a disciple named Ananias, who was told, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying.” (Acts 9:11)
Paul wrote approximately one third of the New Testament, and his letters to the Churches and individual believers are full of his prayers for the Churches, for people, and for the success of the proclamation of the Gospel.
In the first half of Ephesians 1, Paul powerfully presents the Gospel. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:3-14)
This was the message that Paul urged the Ephesian Church to boldly proclaim, and he follows it up immediately with a prayer for God’s blessing on them as they shared the Gospel. “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:15-21)
This is just one example where Paul makes a strong connection between faithful Gospel preaching and prayer.
Jeremiah Burroughs was a Puritan preacher who lived in the 17th century. He wrote, “We read that Moses was upon the mountain forty days with God, and when he came down his face so shone that the people were not able to bear it. Converse much with God, be often with God, bear near to Him and that will make you shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.”
Thirdly, we will be empowered to do great things for the Kingdom of God through obedience to Jesus’ commands. He said in verse 15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” As we obey Christ out of love for Him, He will accomplish great works for the salvation of many through us. One of the best ways of remaining obedient to Him is to refuse to be conformed to the pattern of this sinful world, as Paul urges us in Romans 12. Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” Because of Christ, and because of what He has done for us, we are different, but when Christians are disobedient to the commands of Jesus, we will not be as effective in sharing the hope of the Gospel as we should be.
1 Peter 2:9 in the KJV says, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” So the next time a non-Christian criticises you for being a bit odd or a bit peculiar, take it as a compliment.
We don’t belong to this world any longer. This is not our home. We are foreigners in a foreign land. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:4, “We have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”
This also means that we should never tone down the exclusivity of the Gospel for fear of offending people. As we’ve seen in recent weeks, the Gospel, by its very definition is offensive, because when clearly and Biblically presented, it exposes the true state of the human heart, and our need to be reconciled to God.
The lost will never accept the good news without first understanding there is bad news. They simply have to understand the total depravity of the human heart, and the wrath of God which will be poured out on them if they do not repent and turn to Christ for grace and mercy. When that message is toned down, people are led into a false sense of security, believing that they are in no danger of eternal separation from God. Telling people, “No, no, God is not angry with you. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” is not presenting the Gospel. Rather tell them nothing than tell them that.
We can only do the works of Jesus when we share the true Gospel as the Bible presents it, not the watered down version which doesn’t upset people, because there is no power in the watered down version. Paul said it best in Romans 1:16. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”
Before He went to the cross, Jesus promised His disciples, and by extension, each of us that we will do even greater works for salvation than He did, as we learn to trust Him and His Word, to pray boldly and to show our love for Him by obeying His commands.
He would not have made such a remarkable promise if He was not able to keep such a promise, and so He has given us His Holy Spirit, which is what we will be looking at next time.
Homegroup Study Notes
Read John 14:12-15
What did Jesus not mean in these verses, and why do you think His words here have been so badly misunderstood and twisted?
It is clear that the works Jesus was speaking about were not physical miracles, because even though the apostles were given supernatural powers to perform miracles in the early years of the Church, they were not greater than the miracles of Jesus.
How then, do we understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 17:20?
How does Luke 10:17-20 help us to understand the real meaning of what Jesus taught in John 14:12-15?
Jesus makes it clear that at least three things are necessary for the Church to be effective in proclaiming the Gospel: Faith, prayer and obedience to His commands.
Discuss each of these in your group.
What do you believe we need in order to be more faithful witnesses of the Gospel?