How can we do "greater things" than Jesus did? (John 14:12)
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 he will do, because I go to My Father. (NKJV) Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (NIV)
John 14:1 - 14
ESV - 1 Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
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Asked June 27 2021
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Jack Gutknecht
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Jack Gutknecht
John 14:12 “greater things” (NIV) were things that “depended on Jesus going to the Father, because they are works done in the strength of the Holy Spirit, Whom Jesus would send from the Father (Jn 14:16-17; 15:26). Colossians 1:6 says, “Which is [the gospel is] come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth.” NIVSB “Jesus was simply saying that His many disciples would do things greater in extent (all over the world) as Tim said, and greater in effect (multitudes being touched by the power of God). Jesus never traveled, except in his infancy, more than 200 miles from the place where he was born. [One Solitary Life] In other words, during His short life on earth, Jesus was confined in His influence to a comparatively small region of Palestine. After He left the earth, His disciples could work in widely scattered places and influence much bigger numbers of people.” So, we’re talking quantitatively, here, not qualitatively. RR
Tim Maas
I would say that Jesus was not necessarily referring to the specific types of works or miraculous actions that He performed during His earthly ministry, but to the scope or range of those actions. After His ascension, His followers (starting at Pentecost) brought all nations with which they came into contact to saving faith in Christ through their missionary outreach, as well as their writing of the gospels and epistles for the benefit of generations yet unborn (John 14:25-26). This was made possible through the work and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who (as Jesus told the apostles in John 16:7-16) would not be sent to them until after His ascension.
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