John 14:12-14
Key Verse: 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. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:12-14)
Radio personality Paul Harvey used to have a show called The Rest of the Story. Harvey told stories of little-known or unknown events, and he withheld the name of the person involved until the end of the story as a surprise for his listeners. He then ended with the words, “And now you know the rest of the story.”
Our text does something like that. Jesus says, “They will do even greater things than these.” What does he mean? To get the rest of the story we need to read the Acts of the Apostles (see Acts 1:1). As they sat with Jesus before the crucifixion, who among the disciples, could have guessed what these greater works would be? They needed to hear the rest of the story; rather, they needed to live the rest of the story.
In the days when Jesus was with them, they could not guess at the expansion of the church that was to come. They could not see down through the decades and centuries. They could not envision the heroism of the martyrs or the sacrifice of the missionaries. They could not imagine the church spread across the continents or understand its impact on some societies. All this has been a history of “greater works.”
It may have been difficult at any one point to discern that these works had a greatness about them, but their accumulation has pushed the church out to the world and the gospel to the nations. Of course, not everything the church has done has that greatness about it, but for the most part the result has been good in the salvation of people around the world.
To a large degree, the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise has been the result of what else he said in our text: “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” His promise of answered prayer has been the driving force in the growth of the church through the centuries.
This is what has formed the channel for the power of heaven to flow to the earth. This is what has empowered the martyrs and missionaries. This is what has driven the great ship of the church across the oceans. This is what has provided the strength to cross mountains and deserts. People have prayed, and people have gone to take the gospel to the world.
These really are greater works. Are you praying for these “greater works”? are you enabling the spread of the gospel around the world? Does God hear your voice calling for the prospering of missions and the salvation of the lost?
Prayer: Lord, help me to join in these greater works. May my prayers add to the channel of grace that allows your power to flow from heaven. Lord, make me faithful in prayer.
