When Your World Explodes – August 5 Readings: John 14:8-14 – Greater Works than Jesus?

John 14-16: When Your World Explodes

Jesus knew, the night before his death, that the disciples' world was about to be blown to pieces. He would be arrested, tried, and crucified. They'd committed themselves to Jesus and he would be gone. In this powerful message, Jesus prepared the disciples to live in peace and spiritual power when the world around them was falling apart.

We will take the next three weeks delving into this passage.

Today's Reading:  John 14:8-15      

⁸ “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.

¹² “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commands.

Through the Bible Readings: Job 21-22, Acts 27:1–12, Psalm 90:1–9, Proverbs19:17–19

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional:     

"I'm only human." 

Sometimes, we speak the truth in such a way that it becomes a lie. Yes, I am human and can never become divine. I will not be sinless or perfect as long as I draw breath here on earth. I will fail and sin and be less than I should be. But we often use this kind of petty truth as an excuse not to become what God has called us to be, what he has promised us we can become. 

Jesus said some shocking things and verse 12 here is among the most electrified of those shocks. Jesus went through the world doing things that amazed people. He walked on water and calmed the storm. He made the blind see, the deaf hear. He raised the dead. Jesus busted up every funeral he ever attended, and even one graveside visit when he went to see Lazarus days after his death. There's no way that I could ever do the kind of things that he did, right? I'm not perfect, right? I'm only human, after all. 

And yet, verse 12 says two things. First, it says that those who believe in him will "do the works that I do." The miraculous, world-changing ministry of Jesus Christ would not end when he left this world. By the power of the Holy Spirit who would empower believers, we would carry on the work of Jesus. He did not stop there. He said that we, the ones who came after him, would do "even greater works than these." We would do greater works than Jesus Christ!

Anyone else struggling a bit with this. I've seen some dramatic answers to prayer in my life, but I've only walked on water in the dead of winter and I've preached a lot of funerals but never raised any of the honorees. What does this mean? 

I would make a couple of observations, caveats if you will. First of all, Jesus addressed this to all of us, not to each of us. The disciples performed some amazing miracles and God has worked through his church in the last 2000 years. He did not say, "each and every one of you will do" but "all of you together will do" the works that I did. The Body of Christ carries on the work of Christ. Second, when he says greater we tend to think "more spectacular" when Jesus likely meant "with a greater impact on the kingdom." Jesus was the Savior of all of us, but in his life, he actually reached very few people. Most of the people who came to him rejected him and by the time he died, his following was pretty small. The disciples, and the church thereafter, carried the gospel to the four corners of the earth. 

But there is one lesson for each and every one of us. Your life was meant for kingdom greatness. Oh, you may never achieve worldly greatness, fame, name-recognition, wealth. That doesn't matter. But you were redeemed to make a difference in this world. Jesus didn't die on the cross so you could doggy-paddle your way through life until you go to heaven. He meant for you to do great things in serving him! What are those? Only he knows. Maybe they will be done in obscurity. Who knows? But your life was meant for significance, for spiritually great things. 

Don't settle for less!

Father, help me to live for the kingdom, to serve others in Christ's name. May I never be satisfied with anything less than being great in the kingdom of heaven!

Think and Pray:

Is your life serving the interests of the kingdom of God? 

Are you wasting your life on the things of this world?