Living Out the Works of Jesus and Even Greater How believers today participate in Christ’s mission through Spirit-empowered love, witness, and prayer. May 23rd, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

 

Living Out the Works of Jesus and Even Greater

How believers today participate in Christ’s mission through Spirit-empowered love, witness, and prayer.

May 23rd, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

In John 14:12–14, Jesus offers a staggering promise:

"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."

For many believers, this statement is perplexing. Greater works than Jesus? What could that possibly mean? And how does that apply to our ordinary lives today?

The Promise for Every Believer

First, let’s clarify the scope of Jesus’s promise. This isn’t directed only to apostles, pastors, or miracle workers. It’s for “whoever believes in me.” That means every Christian every man, woman, and child who belongs to Christ is included. Jesus is defining normal Christianity, not an elite class of spiritual superstars.

What Jesus promises is twofold:

1. All believers will carry on His works.

2. All believers will do greater works because He goes to the Father.

Carrying on the Works of Jesus

What are these works? If we immediately think of Jesus’s most dramatic miracles walking on water, raising the dead we might feel disqualified. But that’s not the primary focus here. When Jesus speaks of “the works that I do,” He’s pointing to works that testify to who He is and lead others to believe (John 10:25, John 14:11). His miracles weren’t ends in themselves; they were signs pointing to His divine identity.

So when Jesus says His followers will do His works, He means lives marked by love, witness, and truth lives that point others to Him.

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father” (Matthew 5:16).

Every Christian life is meant to bear witness. Whether through acts of mercy, faithful words, or quiet endurance, the Spirit-empowered believer continues the mission of Christ not by spectacle, but by gospel-shaped love.

Doing Greater Works

But what about the second part of Jesus’s promise that believers will do “greater works” than His?

The key lies in the reason Jesus gives: “because I am going to the Father.” That is, because He will be crucified, raised, and exalted and will send the Holy Spirit to His people.

Here’s the remarkable shift: Before the resurrection, salvation was always based on a promise a Messiah who would come. But after the resurrection, believers preach a finished redemption. For the first time in history, the gospel can be declared as completed fact: the cross has happened, the tomb is empty, and Christ now reigns.

In that sense, our works are “greater” not because they are more spectacular, but because they are grounded in the full accomplishment of Christ. We proclaim a finished gospel. We offer forgiveness not as a future hope, but as a present reality.

And that’s precisely what Jesus meant when He told His disciples: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them” (John 20:23). Not that we ourselves forgive sin, but that through Spirit-empowered witness, we proclaim the forgiveness secured by Christ.

Greater Works in Ordinary Lives

This means every believer can live in the power of “greater works.” You don’t need to heal the sick or multiply bread. If you live a life that points to Jesus a life of faithful love, bold witness, and prayerful dependence you’re doing the works He promised.

The indwelling Holy Spirit given because Jesus “went to the Father” makes this possible. The Spirit empowers our prayers, fuels our courage, and transforms our ordinary obedience into powerful testimony.

Prayer That Moves Heaven

That’s why Jesus follows this promise with a stunning assurance:

"Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

This isn’t a blank check. It’s a declaration that everything we need to fulfill Christ’s mission will be provided. To pray “in Jesus’s name” means to pray in alignment with His character, His will, and His glory. When we pray for strength to love, for courage to witness, for hearts to forgive He answers.

And when our prayers are rooted in His mission, they carry Heaven’s weight.

The Invitation Today

So what does all this mean for you?

• It means your daily life can be full of Spirit-powered works that glorify Jesus.

• It means your love, your witness, your quiet acts of mercy are not small.

• It means that in Christ, you are part of a greater work the global proclamation of a risen King.

And it means you can pray, right now, for whatever you need to live that life.

Jesus has gone to the Father. The Spirit has been given. The mission continues through you.

So believe. Love. Witness. And ask boldly.

Because He promised: “I will do it.”

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