Jesus was in the upper room with His disciples celebrating Passover—having what we call the last supper with them. He told them that He was going away (Jn. 13:33). That statement prompted the disciples to ask Jesus a series of questions. In John 13:36, Peter asked, Where are you going? In John 14:5, Thomas asked Him, If we don’t know where you’re going, how can we know the way? Philip asked another question, or, actually made a request of Jesus—Lord, shew us the Father, and it will satisfy us (Jn. 14:8).
In response to Philip, Jesus stated that whoever had seen Him had seen the Father. Jesus went on to say that the Father spoke and worked through Him (v.10). He did not claim to do the things He did on His own—the Father worked through Him. Then He made the astounding statement that what He did, those who believe in Him shall do—and even greater things!
Seldom is John 14:12 ever addressed in most Christian circles. When it is, the tack taken to explain the meaning of the verse concerns the scale of our institutional ministries such as schools, hospitals, evangelistic, and mission endeavors. It is difficult to get around the fact that Jesus said he that believeth on me will do the things He did—even greater things. In His statement, Jesus focused on individuals, not on institutions.
Interestingly, Jesus followed His astounding statement of John 14:12 with teachings about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in believers’ lives. The key to us doing what Jesus did is our relationship to the Spirit, to Jesus, and to the Father. In our own power, we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5).
One of the most revealing passages about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus (and in ours) is in Matthew 12:28. Jesus had been accused by the Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub (Mt. 12:24). Jesus said that He cast out demons by the Spirit of God. This passage is extremely revealing about how Jesus lived His life and performed His ministry.
Jesus lived His life out of His humanity and not out of His divinity. Paul emphasized this to the Philippians when he wrote in 2:7 that Jesus made himself nothing (lit. kenosis-to lay aside rank and privilege). Jesus, while fully human and fully divine, laid aside His rank and privilege to live His life as we do in order to provide a model for us. He lived His life in a way to show us how life was meant to be lived and how it could be lived.
The way Jesus lived—empowered by the Spirit and indwelt by the Father—is the way God wants all of us to live. Following His statement in John 14:12 that what He did we are to do and even greater things, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come to live within us (Jn. 14:16-17), that He would come to us (Jn. 14:18), that the Father and He would make their abode within us (Jn. 14:23). God—Father, Son, and Spirit—has come to live in us and to work His work through us! The ministry is His, not ours. He simply wants to work through us as He worked through Jesus. He really is wanting our availability and not our ability.
What Jesus did, we are to do. The fact is—most of the time we don’t! Why? Is it because the things Jesus did are no longer possible? Is the power that flowed through Jesus no longer available? Or, is the explanation related more to our own lives?
The key to Jesus’ miracles was not His own power, but rather the Father working through Him. The Spirit’s power was the source of His power. The Spirit is the source of our power too. Without the Spirit’s empowerment, we can do nothing.
If we had the same kind of relationship that Jesus had with the Father, we would have the same degree of power that He had. The Spirit would be able to work through our lives just as He did through the life of Jesus. The very words of Jesus bring our lives into question. We grieve and quench the Spirit in our lives and His work through our lives is limited. We limit God by our disbelief and by our disobedience. What could we do if we were as pure and true as Jesus in our relationship to the Father? Think of the liberty, power and joy we would have in our lives!
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