We have mentioned John 14:12 a few times on this blog. Let's look at it from both the King James Bible and the Amplified Bible:
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. KJV
12 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father. AMP
I have been involved in discussions about just what these "greater works" could be. I'm sure you have probably wondered that at times, too. I have a suggestion, though. First, let's look at a "work" that Jesus did during His ministry on earth. In John 11 we see the account of Lazarus, the friend of Jesus who was sick. From the very start Jesus declared THIS in verse 4:
4 When Jesus received the message, He said, This sickness is not to end in death; but [on the contrary] it is to honor God and to promote His glory, that the Son of God may be glorified through (by) it.
Jesus declared the end from the beginning! He did it again in response to Martha after He had arrived in Bethany. Verse 23:
23 Jesus said to her, Your brother shall rise again.
Martha assumed that Jesus meant later, at the end of the age. That is NOT what Jesus meant! Verses 43-45 tell us what "great work" Jesus did then, after praying to the Father for the benefit of those listening!
43 When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 44 And out walked the man who had been dead, his hands and feet wrapped in burial cloths (linen strips), and with a [burial] napkin bound around his face. Jesus said to them, Free him of the burial wrappings and let him go. 45 Upon seeing what Jesus had done, many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Him. [They trusted in Him and adhered to Him and relied on Him.]
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead! This was indeed a great work! It IS a work that Jesus DID! We are to do the same works that Jesus DID, and GREATER works! What are the "greater works"? I think it would be wise not to even think about that until we are doing the works that Jesus actually did! Of course we KNOW that it is Jesus doing the work through us! Look at Mark 16:20:
20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. KJV
SO, let's get ourselves in position to have HIM confirming the Word that WE speak! THEN we can expect to move on to greater things. AMEN! GO FOR IT!!! Here is Hillsong Chapel with "Lost Are Found":
Shalom in Him!
