"And, greater works than

these sJ;tall ye do!"

... --
Jqhn t4:t2-14
by Wayne
T
hese verses contain some of the. . . Why they go with Him. When
most exciting words in all of . would he return? What __ were they to
Scripture. In them Jesus pro- do? What WiU become of the Kingdom
mises that the works he did his dis . of GOd?
ciples will do, greater works than he did . . . .. It is in this context that Jesus says
will they do, and, lastly, whatever they that it iS BETIER for that he go
pray for in his name he. will do. . This away; 16:7. Jesus says that it is BE-
is an incremble promiSe. Imagine be- : CAUSE he goes to the Father they will
ing able to accomplish greater wOrk that he was doing, 14:12.
than the miracles that JesUs did dUrin& wants to comfort them by letting
his life and minisny. Is this tOO gOOd : diem knQw that one, the work that he
to be true, or what? came to do was not being abandoned;
While the$e verses are exciting, to be-, and two, that now niEY would be con-
believed and practiced, we must be sure. tinlling the work that he had begun.
that we understand what Jesus was in
fact promising. Is Jesus promising that In OthC!:' words this is not announce-
we will be able to raise the dead as he . tnent that you disciples have just won
did, feed 5000 with a few loaves and the jackpot for following me for three
fJShes, and if we pray for a million dol- ;. years or that "You have just .won the
Iars that we should in faith write a Publisher's Clearing .House Sweep-
check on it? This reflects to some de , stakes!" Jesus isn't giving them "three
gree the attitude that many Christians ... ' wishes". or even one wish for that mat-
have had toward this pa5sage. ihat this .ter. Jesus is addressing his Apostles,
is a promise of PERSONAL POWER :- ;. the foundation of the Church here.
FOR FUN AND PROFIT. . . :;:_. This isn't . a gene,ral . promise that you
What was Jesus promising? : We , can. have whatever you want io. satisfy
must not read into the passage our own ' and gratify your greatest desires if you
ideas or meaning. We nwst seek to un- . jUst ask me. Jesus is promis.ing them
derstand what Jesus meant for those that because he goes away the work of
who heard him to understand. We must : establiShing and advancing His king-
ask, when and why did Jesus say this, d()m will be continued by them, and
to whom is it addressed, what is nieant that . whatever resources they need for
by "works" arid "greater works,'' and ::' that. all to do is ask.
does "anything'' mean ANYlliiNG. They are sent into the world,
13:20. lit fact, he tells them that they
I. niE CONTEXT are going to. have Cribulation, 16:33, be
hated, 15:18, and will be put to death,
This statement was made at the time . 16:2. He Will no longer be physically
when Jesus had announced to. his . dis- .. : present with them.- But they are gomg
ciples that he was leaving them.. :ThiS: ., to_ continue the wort that -the Father
was a moment of crisis in their lives ... gave Him, 9:4. And he will supply all
They had come to believe that Jesus that they need in order to do that! That
was the Christ, that he was the one is what is exciting!
who would establish the Kingdom: of .
God. He had not done that yet. How . . II . THE PEOPLE
could he be leaving? They were afraid,' ' ...
perplexed, distraught, asking question To Whom are these words spoken, or
after question. Where . was he going? , to 'Whom is this promise made? Is this
The Counsel ofChalcedol1 Qcto.,.r, 1M9 P"G18
a promise only to those who have a
special gift or degree of faith? Is the
reason that we aren't doing the "greater
works" and having great prayers an-
swered because we don't have enough
faith?
The promise is to those who "believe
in me," that is, those who are Chris-
tians. This is not a promise to those
who have some special faith, some
super faith by which they can work
miracles. John 20:30-31 tells us that
this book was written that we might
believe in Him. 6:29 tells us that the
work of God is that we believe in Him.
Jesus is saying that those who believe
in him, those who have come to be-
lieve that he is the Christ, the Son of
God, those who have become Chris-
tians will do these tfrings.
This certainly has a primary reference
to the Apostles, but includes all be-
&vers. They will do the work that
Jesus did. Therefore, we cannot inter-
pret this as though this is a promise to
those who have some special faith . or
iniraculous faith. This is a ;promise to
all believers. It's getting more
citing, isn't it?!
ill. THEWORKS
What is meant by "the works that I
do shall you do also"? 14:12. That
sounds exciting doesn't it! "Do. you
mean that we're going to get to do
some miracles!" That is the immediate
assumption of most people. When
they think of the things that Jesus did
they immediately think of the miracles.
But Jesus doesn't say "miracles",
says "works". He's talking about work,
not excitement and thrills. It was really
exciting being a disciple in the early
church wasn't it, going hungry, being
beaten, living under a death sentence,
being tlm>wn in jail, even being put to
death. Yeah, that's real excitement!
The ''works" refers to the whole life
and mission of Jesus, 17:4. The word
"works" is often ttanslated and refers to
miracles, however, that is only one
aspect of the word The miracles were
just one aspect of his work, dembn-
strating that he was the son of God,
20:30-31. . Jesus came to do the work
that l:lis Father gave him to do, he
came to glorify the Father, to do the
will of the Father, 17:4, 4: 34; 5:17,
30, 6:38. 8: 28-29 ..
We, too, must do the work of God,
that is serve God, glorify God, do the
will of God. 3:21, 6:28, 29, 8:39,
9:3f., Mat. 5: 16. Not only in the mir-
acles, but in all of Jesus' life he wa,s
showing forth God's glory. The work
that we must do is to glorify God, to
serve God, to do his will. We are to
glorify God, 15:7-8. We do that by
bearing fruit In John 4:34-38 he tells
us that we are going to do the "work"
of harvesting or reaping. He has ap-
pointed us to go and to bear fruit,
15:16, 27. His disciples must live and
die for him, 12:23-26. They must be
servants, 13:16, 34-35. They must do
his will, 14:21.
The work of Jesus Christ was a life
spent in doing the will of God and in
accomplishing his purposes. Jesus
glorified God, 17:4; we must gloify
God, 5:23. It is as though Jesus is say-
ing that up to this point I have been do-
ing all the work, and you have been
tagging along, being witnesses to all
that I have done. Now, before long, you
will be doing the work that I did! Jesus
is
1
the disciples that God's work,
work, indeed was not fin-
ished, but that it would continue
through them. Now, in a real sense,
they become the spearhead of the King-
dom of God. Jesus is letting them
know even though he is departing
the work 'is not being abandoned. As a
matter of' fact, BECAUSE he is going
away they will do GREA1ER works
than he ever did during his life on earth.
IV. THE GREA1ER WORKS
To what do the "greater works" refer?
How could we do works greater than
turning water to wine, feeding 5000,
healing the blind and lame, raising the
dead? Many say that surely the greater
works must include or refer to per-
forming miracles.
AS a matter of fact, the miracles are
LESSER works. He's talking about
something far greater than miracles.
Jesus perfonned miracles as signs that
be was the Son of God, 20:30-31. But
they did not convince the unbelieving
that he was the Christ, 12:37, 5:46-47
(Luke 16:31). In 14:11 Jesus said to
believe in Him because of his word, but
if not AT LEAST believe because of
the miracles. That is a lower, a Jesser
basis of faith. In 20:29 Jesus says
"Blessed are those who have not seen that if he is lifted up he will draw all
and yet believe." And John concludes men to himself. This is the work that
that these things HAVE BEEN WRIT- . he will accomplish through us by the
TEN that you may BELIEVE, 20:30- presence and power of the Holy Spirit
31. The miracles confirmed that Jesus : . who will convict the world, 16:5-15.
was the Christ and that the Apostles In 12:23-26 Jesus said that through his
were his authoritative spokesmen, n death he would bear much fruit This is
Cor. 12: 12, He b. 2:1-4. But ultimate- the greater work - the conversion of the
ly, men must believe the Word of God 1000's that began in Acts, the building
on faith and not sight Indeed, many of the church, the extension of the rule
only followed Jesus because of the and reign of Jesus Christ in the hearts
loaves and fishes, the miracles, 6:26. and lives of men around the world.
The miracles in the physical realm
were subservient to miracles in the
spiritual realm. In 5:20-21, 24 Jesus
said that the greater work is the raising
of people spiritually from the dead. In
healing the blind man, Jesus shows that
He is the one who is the revealer of
God, and the one who opens men's eyes
to see God, John 9. In feeding the hun-
gry, Jesus shows that he is the bread of
life, John 6. In raising the dead, Jesus
shows that he is the one who gives
eternal life, John 11. They show that
he is the Savior and giver of life.
We are going to do greater works
than the performing of miracles. What
are the greater works? In one sense, we
can never do anything greater in IM-
PORTANCE than the work Jesus did
when he died for us. He cried on the
cross, "It is finished!" meaning that he
had completed THE WORK that the
Father had given him. We can never do
anything greater than that.
The greater works that we will do are
those works that are greater in EX-
TENT AND EFFECT. They are more
in number and far more widespread. In
John 4:34-38 Jesus said that we would
reap the harvest More people were con-
verted in one day at Pentecost than were
ever converted during the whole life and
ministry of Jesus. In 12:32 Jesus said
Some people think that nothing
could be more important than raising
someone from the dead. Spiritual or
eternal life is far greater, 5:20-21, 24. I
don't know about you but I don't want
somebody trying to raise me from the
dead when I die. And I don't think you
do either. When I die I want to go to
heaven, and I don't want some mis-
guided kook trying to bring me back to
life. Jesus says to work for the food,
the fruit, that doesn't perish, but that is
eternal, 5:27.
The greater work is the work of bear-
ing witness to Jesus resulting in the sal-
vation of men and women, the building
of the church, the extension of the King-
dom of God. The greater works are the
powerful witness that we give through
the Spirit to Jesus, 15:24-27, 16:5-11,
17:23.
Jesus is talking about the greater
works in extent and effect through the
witness to the Gospel through which
the Holy Spirit brings about regenera-
tion 31\d renewal, extending the King-
dom of God into all the world. It is the
promise of bearing more fruit than
Jesus did during His own earthly minis-
try, 15:4-5, 7-8. That is what Chris-
tians rejoice in, 15:11, 16:24, Luke
10:20.
(Continued on next page)
The Counsel of Chalcedon October, 1989 page 19
V. T.fffi PROMISE
It is in this context that Jesus proniis-
es to answer prayer, to give us whatever
we ask. 14:13-14, 15:7-8; 16:24.
When Jesus utters this promise he's not
granting you and me all the wishes in
the world that we wanl This isn't a
promise to answer prayer so that the
disciples can: travel around as "Evan ..
gelists" in gold-plated chariots.
A. IN MY NAME - does not mean
that if we just tack on Jesus name at
the end of a prayer that we will get it,
like signing a check. "In my name" is
Jesus own qualification, or better yet,
direction. What should I pray for when
I pray? Should l throw .in all my
sonal and selfish wants and _desires? Is
that what Jesus is saying? No, of
course not. Jesus is saying that when
you pray you are to ask for the things
that he would ask for. If you are asking
the Father "in my name" it must be as
though I were asking. Whatever you
ask consistent with my name, niy pur-
pose, mission, spirit, 1 will do. It is
prayer that bears in mind all that Jesus
has done for us, prayer that pleads his
saving work. prayer tbat is exercised in
order to set forward the work that Jesus
came to do. --.
"In Jesus name" is not something
that we should just tack on to the end
of our prayers. Actually, we should BE-
GIN our prayers in Jesus name. Then
we would be conscious of the fact that
we should pray for those things consis-
tent with His will, purpose, aoo glory.
This would probably .shorten our prayer
list pretty dramatically. -
B. IF YOU ABIDE IN ME AND
MY WORD ABIDES IN YOU, 15:7 is
the atmosphere of prayer. Why is Jesus
telling them to pray? - So that they can
have all the things they have - ever
wanted? Or is he telling thein tbat He
will provide all that they need tO endure
and to succeed in the Great Commis-
sion? Isn't he saying this so that just
as they had depended upon Jesus to
handle everything during the period of
his life, that now they can aild must
continue to depend upon him for all
things. Jesus is essentially telling
them what he sai(i in Mat. 6:23. seek
ye frrst the Kingdom of and -all
things will be to you."
C . . tHE GLORY OF GOD, 14:13,
is the goal of prayer. - Jesus' goal, as
well ours, is the glory of God, not
our own personal comfort and happi-
ness. We often get our hopes up when
we read of the great miracles that Jesus
performed. Maybe God will perform a
miracle fot me if I just have enough
faith. Those miracles had a specific and
limited purpose to identify Jesus as the
Messiah, the Apostles as his representa
tives, and to communicate his will to
the church. You should and may pray
that if it will glorify God to heal you
from your diseases that' he would do so.
Notice that in 9:3 and 11:4 that the
miracles that Jesus performed were for
the glory of Go not personal cotitfort
and pleasure. And if it is for his glory'
God will heal you. But God also getS
glory through the suffering of his
saints, the sanctification of his saints.
And Jesus prayed that we might be with
him, 17:24. So the next tiine some-
body wants to pray for the dead to be
raised. remember rhat Jesus prayed for
that they might be with him!
The goal of Jesus life was the glory
of' God. And this is to be the goal of
his disciple's lives as well, 5:23, 7:18,
8:50, 54, 12:23-26, 15:8, 17:4. Jesus
has not promised us PERSONAL POW-
ER FOR FUN.AND PROFIT.
It is my pwpose to encourage the
saints to take advantage of the promise
of Christ, to ask God for great things
and GREATER TRINGS -THAT mE
F' ATHER MAY BE GLORIFIED IN
THE SON. It is my ptupose to turn: us
from selfish and Self -centered prafing,
to great and confident praying in the
rtame of Christ for those things that
will glorify the Father and advance his
kingdom. This is a tremendous pro-
mise. We are cbndnuing the work of
Christ It is greater in extent and effect
than- the work that he did while on
earth, and whatever we need to con-
tiitue, advance, and accomplish that
work. he has promised to give us.
There ate really only three
ties in prayer: ONE, we do not have
because we do not ask, James 4:2.
TWO, we ask arid do not receive be-
cauSe, nOt being olnniscient or peifeetly
knowing the mind of the Father as
Ctirist did, 5:20, what we have asked
for is not for the glory of God. Arid
THREE, we ask amiss that we may con
The Counsel of Chalcedon October, 198$1 page 20
sume it upm our lusts, 4:3, that is, for
selfish reasons .
'Let us turn from a8idng great things
fot. OurSelves, in "our own nanie", to
asking great things iN tHE NAME OF
_CHRIST! And let us not hesitate to
ask for GREATER things than e-Vert
Jesus perfomied in his own Make
a list of some great things that you
believe wOuld advance the Kingdom and
Glory of Christ
Ptaythat people will be saved.
Pray thatabortion will be stopped.
.
Pray that oUr nation will acknow
ledge the Lordship of.Jesus Christ lind
that He alone can save and help us.
Pray that people will become
epistoniologically selfconsciolis, ie.,
come to realize that all of life is re-
ligious, and that they will tum away
from their idols to serve ChrisL
Pray that you md your family- will
be protected from sickness and disease
that you may use your health and
strength to more energetically serve
him.
Pray that God will heal you of your
sicknesses and diseases.
Pray that God will prosper your work
and labrirs so that you will have more
to give to the poor and to finance the
Proclamation of the Gospel and extend
the kirigcbni.
Pray for yaur children and their e<luca-
tion, that from them God will -raise us a
new generation that knows Him fat bet.!_
ter than we did
'.Pray for a great Christian university
where our children can be further
equipped in their callingS to serve
Christ with a Christian world and life
- View.
Pray for your church that it will be a
pillar of the truth and gOdliness.
You make your own list. Now pray!
. Q