“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”
– John 14:12
Which of His works was our Lord speaking about? To be sure, this was not a reference to raising the dead as He did for Lazarus. Nor was He speaking about His miracles like walking on water or feeding the 5,000. We know this from history and the fact that His statement was very broad. He was clearly speaking to every Christian when He said, “…he one who believes in Me…” This was not addressed to a handful of spiritual giants like Peter, James, and John. It was a general statement to all of us as believers. We are the – one being described in this timeless context.
The Lord went on to say, “and he [the believer] will do greater works then these because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12b) Greater can only mean the quantity of our work in this case. Because of the Lord’s deity, it cannot refer to – quality! It was only because of the brevity of His life and His short three-and-a-half-year ministry that our works could ever be greater – meaning more numerous than His!
You will never hear or preach a sermon greater than the Sermon on the Mount, or speak more authoritative or powerful words than His “peace be still.” When He spoke, the stormy Galilean waters were suddenly calm. The greater work is definitely not – like any of the many examples of His deity! Miracles in nature meant nothing to Him because He could produce them any time He pleased. He healed every disease and mental condition He ever encountered, so these were not the greater work which He said we would accomplish. Everything was possible to Him – except controlling man’s choices because He chose not to control them. To put this in perspective – all that truly matters to Him about mankind is how we choose to exercise the gift of our – freewill!
At the very end of His earthly ministry He said, “…you will be My witnesses…to the ends of the earth” and He commissioned us to “…go and make disciples of all nations.” (Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19a) Christians are to take His message to the entire world. Our mission is to multiply! In Luke 8:8, He illustrated this for us by saying,
“still other seed fell on good soil, and when it sprang up, it produced a crop a hundred times what was sown…”
Through spiritual multiplication, which takes place naturally as the result of any Christian’s daily witness and disciple-making, every believer can participate in the – greater work! This is what the Lord promised, and we can all experience it together.