“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. Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” - John 14:12-13
These words of Jesus speak directly to our lives as His followers. Although originally spoken more than 2,000 years ago to His twelve disciples, they were meant for all who would place their faith in Christ until His return. What they say is both amazing and exciting. He said that all of us who believe in Jesus would carry on His work. In order to accomplish this, verse 13 continues, we will have unlimited access to Him in prayer so that we may gain everything we need to accomplish His will.
“Whoever,” Jesus said. Not just pastors, or apostles, or missionaries, or elders or evangelists. There are no exclusions. The passage simply says, “Whoever believes in Me.” The promise is that all believers will do His work. I don’t know about you, but I immediately think of all the wonders Jesus had done up to this point in His ministry. He had turned water into wine, healed a man who was crippled, fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, walked on water, healed a man who was born blind, not to mention raised Lazarus from the dead after four days in the grave! Did Jesus mean that we, too, would do all these things?
To answer this question it helps to understand the context of these verses. Jesus had been explaining how His works function to lead people to faith in Him. When we believe in Him, He works in us (see John 15:1-7) so that our works, like His, will lead people to faith. So while Jesus never says specifically what works He had in mind, what we do know is that they will point to Jesus and help people to believe in Him. They are a witness, along with the Gospel, that lead people to Jesus.
This is what Jesus’ works did. They validated what He said. And if you are a believer in Jesus Christ that is what your life is…a display of the trustworthiness of Jesus. We are the aroma of Christ. We are the light of the world. We were dead and now we are alive, created for good works that Jesus planned in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
Father,
It is humbling and exciting to know that Jesus is continuing His work through my life as I believe in Him. Thank You for saving me, and for planning wonderful works for my life to display Your glory. Please draw people to Jesus through my words and my works.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Topics: Salvation
