These "Greater Things".

In John 14:12, Jesus says that "Truly, truly, I say to you: the works I do, the one believing in me will likewise do, and greater things than these he will do, becaue I go to the Father."



Does Jesus really mean this? I think he does.



There are 2 key questions that we need to ask:



1. What are the “things/works” Jesus has in mind here?



The Greek word here is ergon, which at its most basic level, simply means effort or activity. This is a word that Jesus used frequently, but he used it in a particular way: In almost every case where Jesus used it, it was accompanied by a reference to the Father. Sometimes it was used to refer to miracles (John 10:25, 15:25, et.al.)

But more often, it was used to refer to a larger concept:
· John 4:34 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
· John 8:39 39 "Abraham is our father," they answered. "If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did." (Here it probably doesn't mean miracles because Abraham is not reported to have done any. Rather, it refers to the totality of Abrahams life of trusting in God, which was credited to him as righteousness
· John 17:4 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.


As Jesus used the word, it seems to refer to the totality of his ministry. This ministry included miracles, but it is clear that the miracles weren’t primarily about showing what Jesus could do but about revealing who Jesus is: the perfect revelation of God; the exact representation of the Father. In other words, the work (ergon) of Jesus was to represent and reveal the Father. Miracles were one means of doing that, but they weren’t the only means. When Jesus talks about his “works”…and the works of his followers, he’s talking primarily about this business of revealing and representing the Father.


2. What does he mean that his followers will do “greater” things/works?
What he is not saying:
(1) He wasn’t speaking only to the apostles. (The promise is to, lit. “the one believing in me”)
(2) He doesn’t mean that any Christian alone, or that all Christians together – will do a greater quantity of miracles. To say this, he probably would have used the Greek word polus. Instead, he used megas which implies something greater in quality rather than in quantity.
(3) He doesn’t mean that Christians will do more dramatic miracles. First, none of Jesus’ followers have done as many miracles as Jesus or miracles that that were as dramatic as Jesus’ miracles. While followers of Jesus have even raised the dead, even these revivifications were not as dramatic as Jesus’ raising of Lazarus. Both Paul and Peter raised people who had only been dead for a short time, not 4 days. Second, remember, the “things” here are not primarily a miracles, but the larger work of revealing and representing the Father. This may include miracles, but it’s not primarily about miracles.


So what is Jesus saying? He’s saying that we will reveal and represent the Father in even greater ways than he has. How can that be? First, remember that the works Jesus is talking about are not our own. Jesus said that his works were actually God the Father working through him (Jn. 14:10) and, in the same way, our works are actually God the Son working through us. In that sense, our works are actually Jesus continuing his own work. With that in mind, we can see that our works – or his works through us - are greater in several senses:


(1) Our works impact a larger geographical area that Jesus’ works. Jesus did not minister outside of Israel, but his followers, both individually and corporately have.
(2) Our works impact a greater number of people than Jesus works. Jesus fed 5,000 but they didn’t all believe. In fact, many abandoned him when they realized he wasn’t going to be the Messiah they were seeking (John 6). But when Peter preached his first sermon, 5,000 believed. (Acts 2)
(3) Because of what Jesus did on the cross, our works now have an eternal impact far greater than Jesus’ earthy works. This needs some explanation. First, Jesus regularly minimized the significance of his physical healings in order to point to the greater significance of a spiritual healing that was coming. For example, see John 5:1-21, noting especially v.20. Second, John 7:37-39 seems to foretell of a ministry of believers by which they would become a spring which “flows out” of them. John identifies this as the coming Holy Spirit in v.39. What Jesus seems to have been saying is that he would not only quench his followers thirst, but make them into quenchers of others’ thirst as the Spirit filled them up and then flowed out of them in ministry to others. Third, John 20:21-23 clearly continues this promise, suggesting that through the Spirit we are to continue the ministry of Jesus: If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." The translation of this passage is a bit tricky and has led to some confusion, but it seems to me to be a statement not that the followers of Jesus would get to determine whose sins are forgiven but would have the incredible privilege of announcing the forgiveness of sins to those who respond in faith to Jesus. It might be rendered: if you should forgive the sins of anyone, it is because their sins have already been forgiven and if you should not forgive the sins of anyone, it is because their sins have already not been forgiven.


So, when Jesus said that we will do greater works than he, he was saying that he was going to the cross to empower us to both continue and amplify his earthly ministry.