GREATER WORKS

Gary Wilkerson

“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” (John 14:12).

What does Jesus mean when He says we will do greater works than those He performed? We find a key in the last phrase of this verse: “Because I am going to the Father.” What exactly happened because Jesus ascended to the Father just after His death?

  • The earth literally trembled
  • Graves opened and the dead emerged to life
  • Jesus preached the good news to the dead in Hades

And then Jesus did this for us: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (14:16).

By going to the Father, Jesus would save all who called upon Him. He would provide resurrection life and fill His followers with His very own presence through the Holy Spirit. All He did in the brief time after His death added up to this: He made us one with God. That could only happen “because I am going to the Father.”

This explains the greater works Christ said we would do. In our flesh we tend to think of “greater works” on the same scale as Jesus’ awesome miracles:

  • Feeding vast throngs with a few leftovers
  • Walking on water
  • Performing amazing demonstrations of healing power

But Jesus showed us what that “greater work” is: bringing the light of His gospel—the saving, delivering, life-transforming gospel—to the world.