John 14 – Greater Things

We find it difficult to fathom what Jesus promises in John 14:12.  “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.”

What could a human being possibly do that is greater than what Jesus has done?  Was Jesus perhaps referring to missionaries who would bring the Gospel to China, the Amazon, or the Sahara?  Or maybe Jesus was thinking about linguists and local believers who have translated the Bible into thousands of languages.

These examples are valid.  However, Jesus also empowers Christians who are doing many other “Greater Things.”

1. Christians suffering in His name in the prison camps of North Korea and other gulags around the globe.  
2. Former jihadists who now trust in Jesus Christ, peacefully settling in Middle Eastern towns and sharing His Gospel – no matter what the cost.  
3. Orphan children in Mozambique praying for God to heal blindness and other maladies – and He does!  
4. Small groups in the USA, meeting weekly in homes and annually multiplying the number of groups, as believers did in the Book of Acts.  These too are greater things!  
5. Christian couples who tough it out through slack times in their relationship, trusting in God to keep them faithful for their own sake and for their children.
6. A prison inmate, who, though a Lifer, has become free in Christ, and now serves as a life coach to young men entering the Slammer.
7. A believing mechanic whom everyone trusts to do honest work for an honest price, as well as gratis service for folks who can’t afford it.
8. Teenage disciples in public schools who, though not condoning the sketchy lifestyles of their friends, are available to help them when they hit the bottom.  These too are greater things!

Don’t forget to include the ways you desire to serve the Lord.  How about your outreach dreams?  How about the miracles you pray for the Lord to accomplish?  These too are greater things! 

Your mind might be spinning: “This is unbelievable!”  However, to believe is precisely what Jesus Christ is inviting us to do.

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. 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.  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.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:10-14, emphasis added).

Jesus wants us to join Him in doing His greater things, “so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (v. 13).  His repeated “believe”s refer to facts that should be considered basic tenets of the Christian faith.  But do we consciously include them in our beliefs?  Can we dare tell Him, “No, Lord, I don’t believe these promises.  I can’t believe them”? 

Far better to reply, “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.”  To build up our trust, let’s camp on these promises and boldly act upon them.

Lord, teach us to believe Your promise that we can and will do greater things in Your name and to the Father’s glory.  Just as You convinced me that I am forgiven and saved by grace through faith, now convince me that I will bear Your fruit by grace through faith.  And when my acts of greater faith and obedience flourish, I will declare: “It is not I, but Christ Jesus living in me, who does these Greater Things.  To Him be all the glory!  Amen.”