Friday, October 18, 2013

October 18: Even greater works



I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.  (John 14:12-14 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Jesus' life and work were miraculous from beginning to end. Healing the sick, driving out demons, calming the storm, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, walking on the water — these were the everyday experiences of the Lord the Jesus. And yet, whatever He did, He taught His disciples to do also. He gave them the power and authority to do exactly what He did. There were several times that they didn’t rise to the challenge — they baulked at feeding the 5000, the nine could not cast out the demon of epilepsy from a boy, Peter was walking on the water until he sank — but each and every time it was their own lack of faith, not God unwillingness to use them.

After Jesus left this world the disciples rose to the challenge in an amazing way and virtually turned the world upside down with their message and miracles. They raised the dead, healed the sick, cast out demons, had prison doors open for them, and preached a message that saved souls and changed lives. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit changed them from confused, sometimes fearful men, into bold and determined world-changers.

Today’s passage says that we can do the same works that Jesus did, and even greater works, if we believe in Him. What does that mean? How could we do greater things than Jesus? We are not greater than God. 

We can understand this is several ways. There are more of us today; there could potentially be thousands of people filled with the same Spirit as Jesus performing His works, not only in Israel, but around the world. Today we have radio, TV, the internet, air travel, printed Bibles, and literature that are able to reach the masses in a way that Jesus never could, and so in these ways we can do more than he did — but we have to remember that it is His power at work in us, so it is really Jesus doing it.

But we can and should take this passage literally, in the sense that Jesus wants us to do the same miracles, and even greater ones by allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us. We never heard of Jesus’ shadow healing the sick as he walked by, and yet in the book of Acts it says that Peter’s shadow did. Jesus never preached to Caesar, and yet Paul did. In the same way, we need to have the audacity and boldness to see incredibly great things through our faith, all in the name of saving souls and bringing glory to the Father.

If we are truly humble, we will accept Jesus’ words, say “Yes Sir!”, and decide to do even greater things than our Lord Jesus did.

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