John 14:12_Believers will do even greater works than Jesus?

Hi everyone, in today's post I am providing you with some research that I have done on the controversial passage of John 14:12-14. Here are the verses:

John 14:12-14 (ESV)
¹² "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

 

Context 1) In John 14:6 Jesus reveals to the disciples that He is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one can come to God the Father except through Jesus. After Jesus tells the disciples that He is the "way" to the Father, Phillip asks to see the Father (14:8). Jesus suggests to Phillip that whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father (14:9). Jesus then tells Phillip that he should believe on at least the basis of the miracles (NIV, other translations uses "work") he has done (14:11).

Which brings us to the amazing promise of verse 12, which is that whoever believes in Jesus will also do the same works and even greater than what Jesus has done.

Some Commentators limit this promise of greater works of the Apostles, which does not give due credit to Jesus' phrasing ("whoever believes"…) Another attempt to limit this promise is to point out that the geographical scope of the works done is now much greater. But again this has the problem of looking at the promise as if it was made to a group of believers, rather than the individual nature of the promise (whoever believes…) A better look at this verse is given by John Calvin:

John Calvin's analysis: It perplexes many that He said that the apostles would do greater works than He had done. I pass by the other and usual answers and will be content with just one thing. First, we have to understand what Christ means. The power by which He proves Himself the Son of God is so far from being bound to His bodily presence that it must shine forth in more and greater examples when He is absent. Now Christ's ascension was soon followed by the wonderful conversion of the world (Greek omitted), in which His divinity was displayed more powerfully than when He lived among men. Thus we see that the proof of His divinity was not confined to the person of Christ but was diffused through the whole body of the Church. Again, this doing of which He spoke was not peculiar to the apostles alone, nor to a few of the godly, but related to the whole body of the Church.

    Tom's Summary – Jesus' power was not bound to His body itself. Instead, when He is seated in heaven, His power, glory and divinity will shine more clearly than when He walked on Earth. And this doing of greater works is not limited to the apostles, but is given to the whole body of the Church.

I like the way another commentator has put it, focusing on the relationship that is available to us: As the Father abides in (Gk. menō, v. 10) Jesus so too the Spirit abides in (menō, v. 17) the believer. Thus the confidence of Christ can be ours: as the Father was committed to his Son, so Jesus through his Spirit will stand with us in every need (vv. 13–14). The point in these verses is not that every prayerful request will be granted, but that the character of Christ's relationship with God at this level may be ours. But here we must recall Jesus' consistent subordination to his Father's will (5:19, 30; 6:38; 7:16f.; 8:28f.) and his desire simply to glorify (12:28; 17:4) and please God (8:29).

The provision of Jesus that will bring about this relationship is declared to be the indwelling Spirit (vv. 15–17), who now bears two new names: the Paraclete (niv Counselor, v. 16) and the Spirit of truth. Elwell, W. A. (1995). Vol. 3: Evangelical Commentary on the Bible. Baker reference library (Jn 14:4).

 

Context 2) What is the "work" that Jesus is promising that believer's will be doing greater than even Jesus himself when He returns to heaven? It could be bringing others to a saving faith, such as what took place on Pentecost when 5,000 believers were saved in one day (Acts2). But remember that Jesus told Phillip to believe based if on nothing else on the work that Jesus has done (14:11). The NIV actually translates this as "miracles" and I think it has the right idea here. These works of Jesus included feeding thousands with nothing more than a few loaves of bread and fish, healing the sick, casting out demons, and His teaching. Again, John Calvin is helpful here:

John Calvin's analysis:
Because I go to the Father. The reason why the disciples will do greater things than Christ is that when He has entered into possession of His kingdom, He will demonstrate His power more fully from heaven. It is therefore clear that His glory is no way diminished; for after His departure the apostles, His mere instruments, did more excellent works. Moreover, from this it was plain that He sits at the right hand of the Father, that every knee may bow before Him. And a little later He Himself plainly declares that He will be the author of everything that will be done by the hands of the apostles.

    Tom's Summary – The apostles did greater things than Jesus because He was in heaven. And this does not diminish Jesus' glory in any way. His apostles were mere instruments. Mere instruments do nothing on their own. Instead, it all points to the holder of the instruments, Jesus Christ who is the author of all that the apostles did.

Finally, do not miss the reason for the greater works – that the Father may be glorified in the Son (v. 13). Calvin again provides excellent analysis: This passage agrees with what Paul says: "That every tongue should confess that Jesus is Christ, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:11). The aim of everything is the sanctifying of God's name. But here is declared the true way to sanctify it – in the Son and by the Son. For although the majesty of the Father is in itself hidden from us, it shines in Christ; although His hand is concealed, we have it visible in Christ. Accordingly, in the benefits which the Father bestows upon us, we have no right to separate the Son from Him, as it is said, "He that honors not the Son, honors not the Father". Vernon McGee makes a great point here, Have you noticed how often Jesus speaks of His Father? The Father is mentioned twenty times in this passage, and it is always the Lord Jesus who mentions Him.