JOHN 14:12; An Explanation

Some have made claims regarding John 14:12 which should be addressed and I propose to do it in this short article.
John 14:12 says this (I quote the NKJV),

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to My Father"

This Scripture has caused quite a bit of controversy! What did Jesus mean by these words?
Some claim that this Scripture effectively means that we should see outstanding miracles everywhere among today's Christians, including outstanding healing miracles, and if we do not see this, it can only be because we lack faith. But - hang on a moment - did Jesus really mean that?
To be frank, some have used such inspired Scriptures far too carelessly and have then been woefully swift to attack other believers who do not agree with their views!

Now, as a starting point, do we accept that God is in control and is the Lord of all history, or don't we? Look at Isaiah 46:9-10. If we answer in the affirmative (which I hope we all would), our next step should be to look at the evidence. What has happened among Christians since Our Lord uttered those words?

First of all lets look at the work of the apostles;
without a doubt some stunning miracles were evidenced in the ministries of Paul and Peter, and we should expect to see that, but (apart from the fact that several apostles could obviously cover more ground than Jesus Himself), were these miracles always of such a stunning nature as some of those performed by Jesus? We would have to say, probably not.
Do we know of any apostle who turned water into wine? Or who caused a sensational fishing 'catch'? Do we know of any apostle who was able to still a raging storm? Paul obviously did not do so when the storm which he encountered at sea caused him to be involved in a shipwreck!
How about feeding 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fishes? Can we say that the apostles later did that? We don't know, of course, but does it seem likely? We would have to say, No.

Now lets consider the ages of the Church since that time.
Have we seen regular imagination-defying miracles? Do we know , for example, that sick Christians will invariably be healed?
A few charismatic writers have insisted that we should see amazing miracles all around us today. There are two points about that;
1. If such occurrences were that common they would not be 'miracles' would they?
2. If one reads a little about those who have claimed this, it quickly becomes obvious that their own lives have not been filled with miracles!

Several of the 'Church Fathers' of the second to fourth centuries speak of an age of miracles which was then passing. Can we ignore this point? Can we say that they only thought that because they lacked faith? Please let us bear in mind the outstanding bravery of men such as Irenaeus, Polycarp and Justin Martyr when they were called upon to lay down their lives for their beliefs!!

So if we accept that our God is the Lord of history and so when our Lord spoke about those who were to follow doing "greater works" than Jesus did, do we not have to give serious consideration to the argument that Our Lord was simply not talking about miracles nor healings? Or are we going to seriously posit the possibility that He got it wrong?

But if we consider that Jesus was simply talking about the spreading of the Gospel and the influence which this would come to enjoy, we can say that Jesus' prophecy was absolutely and totally fulfilled!! When Jesus uttered those words, there were probably fewer than 15 believers in the Christ in this world and, indeed, even their faith would not be fully established until that momentous Pentecost!
Then on that very Pentecost, 3,000 souls were added to the Church (Acts 2:41). In the fourth century Christianity would become the official religion of the Roman Empire! We now know that millions have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Yes, assuredly, there have always been 'nominal Christians' yet even accounting for this fact there are undoubtedly many millions of the human race of all ages and eras who are members of the eternal Church of God of all time. So whereas at the time that Jesus walked this earth, the Holy Spirit was active only within His life (until that first Pentecost), the Holy Spirit is probably now actively involved within the lives of thousands of Christians on this earth at this very moment!

So we begin to see that Jesus was almost certainly referring to the growth of influence of the Christian Gospel and the affect which this would have. Lets just remind ourselves of the Great Commission which was delivered to the Church;

"...All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Please notice that this authority was given to Jesus. But what would be one of the stunning results of this?)"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am wih you always, even to the end of the age. Amen"
(Matthew 28:18-20)

This is what Luke is talking about in Luke 16:16 when he writes,

"The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it"

So one of the most dramatic results of the power granted to Jesus, was the opening wide of a door for His followers (not Jesus Himself) to take the Gospel to all the world.

The preaching of the Gospel marked a brilliantly exciting new phase in God's plan for His human creation; now - at last - the time had arrived for a message to be preached to ALL mankind, not just to one nation.
This is what Jesus meant regarding His followers accomplishing more than He had!

Checking the whole context of John 14 only confirms what we are beginning to see. The chapter powerfully 'majors' on the divine Trinity. Much is said about the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the chapter. Jesus continually stresses that He only speaks His Father's words, and then stresses the need for the Holy Spirit to empower believers. But what about the 'works' which Jesus refers to in verse 12 which His followers could expect to be very successful in accomplishing? Do we ever get a clue as to precisely which 'works' are meant? Yes, we do!! Verse 10 ties up these 'works' with Jesus' words and deeds;

"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works"

The overall sense here is that it is Jesus' revelation of who He was, as revealed in the words which He spoke, which are the particular 'works' which are being discussed. There is not a hint anywhere here that Jesus was discussing either healings from various sicknesses, or miracles in general! WE CANNOT IGNORE THIS!
If the reader should disagree we would respectfully challenge the reader to go right through this chapter and check the entire context, this being one of the cardinal rules of good scriptural exegesis.

So we can indeed see that the revelation of exactly WHO Jesus was and what He accomplished as evidenced in His life and words was indeed successfully carried forward by the Church down through the ages!

It is no longer fashionable to write of the effect which the Christian Gospel has had down through the ages, but writers of an earlier and less secular age often wrote of the beneficial affects of the presence of the Christian Gospel in many areas of life. For example, the drive to stamp out slavery always had Christians at the helm, then there was the drive to build hospitals in all lands and to rid the world of killer diseases. These were mostly Christian-motivated drives. We also often hear about the 'Protestant work ethic' which was at the heart of the western nations drive for prosperity and plenty.
Writers regularly used to remark on the fact that but for the presence of the Christian Gospel in the world, we might have all descended into a new Dark Ages. In short, evil often appeared to be restricted and pushed onto the 'back foot'. This is very interesting since those of us who accept 'realised millenialism' (the millenium is the age of the Church and during this age nothing will prevent the Church from getting the Gospel to all nations) expect to see some restriction of Satan's domain during this period. Jesus' casting out of demons during His ministry is surely indicative of this. (The reader may also wish to take the trouble to check out Luke 10:17-20). This should not be misunderstood; Satan still has power just as a dog on a leash can be more dangerous, even within a more limited domain.

So we see that if can rely on the words of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, there is no doubt that the 'greater works' which He expected His followers to do concerned the revelation of who He was and the words which He spoke; in other words, the preaching and proclaiming of the Gospel. The Church has indeed carried this message from the tiny group which heard it when our Lord walked the earth, to countless millions in our day! The worldwide broadcasting of the Gospel is the 'greater work' which Jesus Himself could not accomplish, but His Church would!

But we can't leave John 14 just yet while there are two or three other difficult verses so close by which have also caused confusion. Jesus went on to say,

"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it"
(Verses 13-14)

These verses have also caused controversy, but now that we have carefully checked the context in this area of Scripture, they suddenly don't seem so difficult. Almost certainly, Jesus had not yet changed His subject and was still talking about the spreading of the Gospel in the ages to come. He would honour those prayers which were concerned with the furtherance of His Good News! We have often heard of missionaries praying for doors to open in the most unlikely of places and, in time, those doors have opened. How many years did Christians pray for the message of Jesus to go into China and Albania? In God's own time, those prayers were answered. It is quite obvious that Jesus could not have been saying, 'You can have whatever you want at any time, if you just mention My name!' But sadly some rather naively think that He did mean that and if He did not answer, we must have a faith problem.
But it is obvious from numerous other verses that God is not just going to hand over whatever we want as long as we "just mention Jesus sent you" !!
Further to this, the meaning is that if we are genuinely in Christ, our prayers are going to be answered. But does that mean a 'Yes' every single time? Of course not, just as it was not even for people like the apostle Paul!
The very next verse too mentions something which should be a factor when one asks for something;

"If you love Me, keep My commandments"
(Verse 15)

It is a mistake, of course, to see this as a reference purely to the code of the Ten Commandments; Jesus is talking specifically about His teaching which can be summed up in the 'Law of Christ'. It is the great spiritual law which stands behind the Ten Commandments yet now supercedes it. Ultimately, it is love to God and love to neighbour. The people who really walk with Jesus Christ, do not need to 'keep' any code of law since it is now indelibly written on their hearts; these are those whose prayers are going to be regularly answered, when prayers are sent in His name! But the immediate context might suggest that Jesus is more specifically talking about those prayers which concern the spreading of the Gospel.
Museltof

Robin A. Brace http://www.ukapologetics.net