Doing Greater Works than Jesus:

Once again, and using oath language, Jesus made this dramatic and radical statement: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall you do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12 KJV emphasis mine).

Theological Problem:

Some think it’s arrogant or even blasphemous to expect or even think today that we can or even should be doing the same or greater works and miracles than Jesus did, even though we do have access to precisely the same power that Jesus used to do all his works.  After all, what could be greater than dying on the cross for our sins?

What Scripture Says:

But Jesus is the one who made this statement—not us, not Paul or Peter, and not some pastor or radical right-winger. What’s more, this statement contains common and ordinary words used frequently in the New Testament and in those times:

  • “Greater” = meizon (midé zone): larger (lit. or fig.), greater, more.
  • “Works” = ergon (from ergo, to work): deed, doing, labor, work.

Elaborations:

Sources:

  1. A Once-Mighty Faith (future book – est. 2014-15) by John Noe
  2. Dominion by C. Peter Wagner
  3. He Shall Have Dominion by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
  4. An Eschatology of Victory by J. Marcellus Kik
  5. Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope by Keith A. Mathison
  6. Abandonment Theology / America A Call to Greatness by John Chalfant
  7. The Transformation of American Religion by Alan Wolfe
  8. When Nations Die by Jim Nelson Black
  9. The Myth of a Christian Nation by Gregory A. Boyd
  10. To Change the World by James Davison Hunter