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.”
Included in the works that our Lord Jesus did were both gifts of healings and the working of miracles. If you compare the works that our Lord did and the works that the Holy Spirit has done through the church, you will find that there have been no healings greater than that which our Lord performed and neither have there been any greater miracles than that which our Lord performed. There may have been equal, but none greater. The reason for that is because our Lord has taught us that a servant can be like his master but not greater (John 13:16). Nevertheless, in the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus has taught us that under the New Covenant that we would not only do the same works which He did, but that we would also do greater works. So what are the greater works that Jesus is referring to in this passage of scripture? The key to understanding what the greater works are, is in His linking that statement to the words, “because I go to My Father”. In other words these works could not be performed in the earth until Jesus had been raised from the dead and had ascended to the Father.
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
And so we see that although Jesus performed similar miracles to the prophets of the Old Testament and He also performed the new miracle of casting out demons, there are nevertheless two miracles which Jesus could not perform while He was on the earth. The first miracle which we will discuss is the miracle of the new birth. Because Jesus had not yet died for our sins and been raised from the dead, He could not get anyone born-again, for as revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture the requirement that must be met to be born-again is to confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God has raised Him from the dead. No-one could do that while Jesus was on the earth. The miracle of the new birth is far greater than any healing or miracle performed by the Lord Jesus, because the miracle of the new birth is an eternal work. And so we see that getting someone born-again is one of the greater works that our Lord Jesus was referring to.
John 7:37-39 “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. (38) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (39) But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
The second miracle which we will discuss is the miracle of the saints being filled with the Holy Spirit. This is another miracle that our Lord Jesus could not perform while He walked the earth, for as revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture, it was only after our Lord was raised from the dead that Jesus received the promised Holy Spirit from the Father to pour out on His church. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is also an eternal work, for the Holy Spirit remains with us for all eternity, which makes it a greater miracle than those which Jesus could perform while He walked the earth. And so we see that in the church age that we are able to do the greater works that our Lord spoke about, because Jesus has gone to the Father. The church is able to get people born-again and filled with the Holy Spirit. Both of these works fall into the category of the gifts of the Spirit called the working of miracles, for a miracle occurs when one is born-again and a miracle occurs when one is filled with the Holy Spirit.
Michael E.B. Maher
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