“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”  John 5:20

  What does the bible mean when it says greater works? Just before the above scripture, Jesus Christ had just found a man at the pool of Bethesda who had an infirmity and had sat there for thirty-eight good years.

 Jesus Christ having pity towards the man didn’t care what the Jews would say for it was the Sabbath, a day considered to be unlawful to work. Jesus Christ went on to heal the man by telling the man to rise up and take his bed and walk.

 After the man who was healed departed, he went and told the Jews that it was Jesus Christ who had made him well and for this reason, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him because He had healed on the Sabbath.  In His defense, Jesus Christ told the Jews that His Father has been working until now, and He Himself also has been working.  On hearing this, the Jews sought to kill Jesus because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus Christ told the Jews that the Son can do nothing of Himself but does what He sees the Father do, for He does exactly what the Father does.

 Christ tried to make them understand that the will of God and the relationship He had with God was of much importance than strictly following the customs and the traditions of men.  Jesus Christ tried to show them that the relationship that He had with the Father was a perfect one and the source of all that He ever did during His earthly ministry. That He didn’t do anything unless directed by His Father.

The above explanation of Jesus Christ shows having a good relationship and communion with God is of more importance than to live a religious life following the laid down customs and traditions of men and women in the form of religion. This is what Jesus Christ comes again to teach when He compares us to the branches in the True Vine.  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

The greatest problem that faced the Pharisees and the Sadducees was spiritual blindness. They were too blind to connect the relationship between the works done by Jesus Christ with the perfect relationship that Jesus Christ had with the Father.  This spiritual blindness denied them the opportunity to have a relationship with God and what they did didn’t reflect the will of God. Jesus Christ then reveals to them the secret that we see in our main verse.  That since Jesus Christ was walking according to the will of the Father and in great love between them, the Father is willing to show Him all the things that He Himself does and He will even show them greater works than these that they may marvel.

In other words, Jesus Christ meant that they should not marvel at only Him healing a man but there are greater things in store that He will perform before their eyes that they will marvel. Things greater than healing. The purpose of all this was to prove to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and all who doubted His ministry that truly He was sent by His Father and indeed He was the Son of God sent from above.  The Pharisees and the Sadducees had to witness many greater miracles like the raising up from the dead of Lazarus and Christ’s triumphant defeat over death when He rose up from the dead after three days. These greater works of Jesus Christ did not limit to Himself only, while speaking to His disciples about His departure in the book of John 14, He reveals to them that He is the way, the truth and the life. That in Him is the source of all that they will ever need both on this earth and the days to come and even after their death. Jesus assures to them that in His Father’s mansion there are many rooms and that He is going to prepare a place for them. Christ also reminds them of the connection of everything He ever did with the perfect relationship He has with His Father. That He was in the Father and the Father in Him and that every word that He has ever spoken was not from His own authority but the authority of His Father who dwells in Him and who does all the work they ever saw Him doing. John 14:10

After this Christ promises them one thing in the following verse, “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 am going to the father.”  John 14:12

The question that we should again ask ourselves is, what did Jesus Christ mean when He said that he who will believe in Him will do greater works than these? Does it mean that that those who would believe in Him would outdo what Jesus Christ did?  I don’t believe so, Jesus Christ in the above scripture wasn’t comparing His work to what those who will believe in will do as no one can outdo what Jesus Christ did or does.  The Bible says that in Christ Jesus all things were created. Colossians 1:16.   Therefore no man has power to create another universe just the same way Jesus Christ did.

What Jesus Christ meant in the above scripture is the spiritual connection that those who would believe in Him would have. That through faith in Christ Jesus one becomes one with the Son and the Father comes and dwells in Him. Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” John 14:23.   This is one of the scriptures that if all believers in Christ Jesus knew about would really turn the world upside down by doing greater works. This means that it is no longer about the effort of a believer but the power that dwells him.

 Paul prays for the church in Ephesus that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.  That their eyes of understanding may be enlightened and that they may know what is the hope of His calling and the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.  The same mighty power that worked in Christ Jesus when God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 1:17-20. What great power is residing in believers?  Therefore, whoever believes in Jesus Christ becomes an instrument in which God dwells therefore just the same way Jesus Christ did greater works, also those who believe will do greater works.  This simply means what a believer in Christ Jesus can do can never be compared to what a non-believers can do.  It takes knowledge and enlightenment of the eyes of believers to realize this truth and walk in it.

The greater works that believers will do doesn’t depend on their personal efforts but on the one who is in them. Therefore, they should always work out their salvation with fear and trembling. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:12-13

This greater works is more of the miraculous power that may be seen in each individual believer who exercises their authority, position and power in Christ Jesus.  The gospel and the church through the mighty power that worked in the Apostles expanded to many nations apart from Jerusalem. This is exactly how Jesus Christ predicted the expansion of the kingdom of God while comparing to the mustard seed.  That the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. Which indeed is the least of all the seeds but when it is grown it is bigger than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and rest in its branches. Mathews 13:32

Right now, most of us are a product of greater works that happened through the hands of the Apostles and the Prophets Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2:20. God has already empowered us to expand His Kingdom further till all the corners of the world have been reached by the gospel.

Please follow and like us: