Session 21: November 12, 2022
Scripture Reading: John 14:1-14
1 “Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. 3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too. 4 And you know the way where I am going.”
5 Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be content.” 9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long and yet you have not known me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs his miraculous deeds. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves. 12 I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Main Themes
Many Dwelling Places in my Father’s House
Addressing the Group—Farewell
The chapter opens with Jesus shifting his attention from Peter individually to all his disciples (evident in the shift to plural pronouns and verbs). He says, “Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me.” This is clearly a farewell speech. Jesus is saying goodbye. Keeping that in mind, we need to pay attention to what Jesus chooses to highlight as his final words.
Indicative Versus Imperative
The sentence translated as “you believe in God; believe also in me” includes two identical uses of the word believe. That verb can be translated as indicative or imperative. Therefore, translators have to pick between the translation above (which uses the indicative first and then the imperative), or a translation that uses both verbs consistently, such as “believe in God, believe also in me.” The same sentence can even be translated as a rhetorical question and its corresponding response: “Do you believe in God? Believe also in me.” There is no major change in the passage’s meaning. The disciples must believe in God and in Jesus. The fact that Jesus makes himself an object of faith is noteworthy. At the very least Jesus is making himself equal with Moses. Recall Exodus 14:31, “When Israel saw the great power that the Lord had exercised over the Egyptians, they feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.” At most, Jesus is making himself equal with the Father himself since God and only God is the ultimate proper recipient of faith.
Homes Now or Homes Tomorrow
What is the Father’s House?
Jesus then tells the disciples where he is going: to “make ready a place for [the disciples]” in the “Father’s house,” which has many “dwelling places.” To understand Jesus’ words, let’s begin by asking, what is the Father’s house? Both in Old Testament and New Testament times, God’s temple was referred to as his house. Consider Haggai 1:2, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Or recall Ecclesiastes 5:1, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.” In the New Testament, Jesus himself uses that language. Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 21:13, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are turning it into a den of robbers!” This language was common in nonbiblical sources as well.
The second question we should ask is, why is it the Lord’s house? Because the Lord’s presence is there. Before there was a temple, there was a tabernacle (a tent). As Exodus 35 tells us, “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Once Israel was established as a nation, God chose the temple as his resting place. “[T]he Lord’s splendor filled God’s temple.” (2 Chronicles 5:14)
Many “Dwelling Places”
Jesus is going to be in the Father’s presence. That much is very clear. The controversy is that the Father’s house has many “dwelling places.” To what do these dwelling places refer? Primarily, the discussion is centered on whether John is speaking of a present and realized eschatology or a future eschatology. To put it more plainly, will the disciples go to these dwelling places now or in the distant future?
Two Interpretations
Most Christians interpret this passage to mean that Jesus goes to prepare a place for believers for a future time when believers go be with the Lord. Jesus can finally make those preparation because of his death. Jesus would die first, reconciling us with God and therefore allowing us to dwell in his presence. This idea of a future home with God was not foreign to Judaism. Different Jewish writings and funerary inscriptions describe the dead as entering a house (e.g., an “eternal house” or receiving a “house” as a reward).
The other view, which although significantly less popular has scholarly support, is that Jesus is speaking of a soon-to-be-present reality: the Holy Spirit indwelling believers. In the Gospel of John, Jesus describes his body as the true temple:
“Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for 46 years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. (John 2:19-21)
The argument goes that Jesus is speaking of bringing the believer into union with himself, which is very much in keeping with verse 3. Each believer becomes a part of (i.e., a dwelling place in) the temple because the Spirit of God is in them as well. The Apostle Paul expresses this idea. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)
Moreover, John does seem to emphasize a present reality instead of a future eschatology. Recall John 5:24, “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.” Jesus speaks in the present tense.
Finally, some argue that this interpretation fits the farewell discourse much better. Jesus is reassuring his disciples. Arguably, saying “I will be right back” (through the Holy Spirit) is better than saying, “in the distant future we will be together again.”
Your interpretation of verse 2 will determine your interpretation of verse 3. If you think that verse 2 is speaking of the soon-to-come Holy Spirit, then Jesus’ coming in verse 3 is referencing Jesus’ return to the disciples immediately after his resurrection. If you think that verse 2 is speaking of a future eschatology, then Jesus’ coming is a reference to his second coming at the end times.
My Take-Away: We Return to the Lord’s Presence
Regardless if which view you take, the key point stands: we return to God’s presence. This is nothing short of a grandiose moment in history. This is the final act of the whole story of the Bible. The rescue of humanity is complete. Reconciliation with God is accomplished. Heaven can return. I will quote from Sandra Richter’s The Epic of Eden extensively to show that this is the overarching story of the Bible:
In the initial paradise—Eden—God dwells with man.
We have learned in this chapter that Genesis 1–2 essentially provides a blueprint to God’s original intent for humanity: God’s people dwelling in God’s place with full access to his presence. You will hear this little triplet many times throughout the course of this book. Yahweh planned a perfect world in which the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve would live eternally, stretching their cognitive and creative skills to the uttermost, building their civilization within the protective boundaries of their relationship with him. But treason bred tragedy—a broken covenant, a broken race. The end result was that God’s people were driven from God’s place and forever separated from his presence. The only hope in this wretched state of affairs was God’s redemptive mercy. Indeed, redemptive history starts right here. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 118). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
As man falls, he is separated from God. God’s dwelling place and man’s dwelling place are separated seemingly forever.
When we left Eden, we left a fruit-filled paradise animated by a cosmic river and graced by the Tree of Life. This paradise, which was once the shared dwelling place of God and humanity, is now defended against Adam’s race by means of cherubim. The city of man and the kingdom of God are now separated; Adam and Eve now live in exile from their heavenly father. How will this wretched state of affairs be righted? Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 119). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
As God makes a covenant with Israel on Mount Sinai, God establishes a sort of embassy. God resides with his people in a very limited form.
Here on Mount Sinai, God instructs Moses to build a habitation for the Holy One among his people. “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them” (Ex 25:8). The text tells us that the reason God wants this sanctuary is “so that I might live among them.” Do you hear the echo of Eden here? This will be the first time since the garden that God has dwelt with ʾAdām. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 120). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
The prophets see the end game: God’s dwelling place engulfing the realm of man.
Whereas Ezekiel had lived through the period of the exile in which Jerusalem was captured and the temple razed, in these chapters he is seeing with the eyes of vision the restoration of this beloved temple at the end of all things. In his vision, the temple has subsumed all of Jerusalem; the entire city has become the temple. And the temple is now a perfect square (Ezek 48:35). This becomes very significant when we remember that the only part of Solomon’s temple that was perfectly square was the Holy of Holies. Thus, in Ezekiel’s vision, the Holy of Holies (the place God actually dwelt) has enveloped the city of man. “He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever’” (Ezek 43:7). In sum, Ezekiel’s vision of the “rest of the story” is God and humanity dwelling together within a city that has become a temple. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 126). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
Finally, it happens. Restoration. Praise the Lord.
This brings us at last to Revelation 21–22, the end of the story.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Rev 21:1-5)
What John is describing here is what Christians call “heaven.” But unlike the images common to our imaginations—disembodied spirits, clouds and wings, harps and chubby cherubs—the biblical author is describing heaven as a new earth. The garden has been restored, the primordial deep (“chaos”) has been defeated, and Ezekiel’s city/temple is being lowered from the heavens to serve as the residence of the redeemed. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 127). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
This is the heart of the story. The end is the beginning. The goal is to return to what was lost: God’s presence.
So what is God’s final intent for humanity? As is obvious from tracing the iconography of Eden through redemptive history, God’s original intent is his final intent. Eden was the perfect plan, and God has never had any other. His goal was that the people of God might dwell in the place of God, enjoying the presence of God. This is all our heavenly Father has ever wanted for us. And everything that lies between Eden’s gate and the New Jerusalem, the bulk of our Bibles, is in essence a huge rescue plan. In fact, we could summarize the plot line of the Bible into one cosmic question: “How do we get ʾAdām back into the garden?” In Genesis 3 humanity was driven out; in Revelation 21–22 they are welcomed home. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 129). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
John 14 speaks of the culmination of the Bible story as if it is imminent. Sure, some events still need to play out, but the final move is finally announced. Jesus will die and he will return us to God’s presence. Each and every one of God’s people will dwell with him, in his house, like it was in Eden. As we read the rest of the chapter, we learn that God will send the Holy Spirit to be with each of us. This is a better cohabitation arrangement than even the prophets could have ever hoped for. We are not only with God in a physical sense but in a spiritual one too.
The Way, the Truth, and the Life
If there is a single verse that I think about all the time, it is this one: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” I think the entire Bible can be understood as explaining this singular sentence.
Jesus Is the Way
Jesus is the way. He is going to the Father’s presence by virtue of his identity and character. Jesus alone is entitled to this. Jesus is the Word, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.” (John 1:1) But Jesus shares himself with whoever will accept him. “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person may eat from it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever.” (John 6:48-51a)
It is through Christ that we have access to God. Jesus is the High Priest who can enter the Holy of Holies to see God. But unlike the old High Priest, Jesus tears the curtain of the Holy of Holies and shares God’s direct presence with everyone.
And it is only through Christ that we have access. He is “the” way, not “a” way (and, yes, the Greek uses the definite article). Recall John 10:9, “I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture.” Anyone who jumps the hedge to get into the sheepfold, anyone who enters in any other way but through the door is nothing more than a “thief.”
It is only in “Jesus name” that we can confidently walk into the kingdom. Indeed, “in Jesus name” we can ask for anything as if we were kings ourselves.
Jesus is the Truth
Throughout our study of this gospel, I have often mentioned that John draws from the personification of wisdom to explain who Jesus is. As we discussed in session 2, the closest connection to the personified logos is the personified sofia. In short, Jesus is “the wisdom.” As in the case of the way, Jesus is not “a” wisdom but “the” wisdom. Forgive my grammatical unorthodoxy, but I am trying to make clear that Jesus is the truth and all truth. The existence of “the truth” has many implications. There is a right and a wrong. There is a knowledge of what is true and there is deception. There is an understanding that leads to life and a path that leads to destruction.
In Christ there is no deception or error. In Christ no knowledge is lacking. In Christ, truth meets purpose and beauty.
Remember as well that unlike the Greeks, when Jews spoke of truth or wisdom they emphasized moral knowledge. Jesus audience would have heard, “Do you want to know how to live well before God, I am that knowledge.”
Jesus is the Life
Recall the covenant that God made with Israel on Mount Sinai. God ends the covenant with the following exhortation:
“Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to possess. However, if you turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, I declare to you this very day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. Today I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live! I also call on you to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20, emphasis added)
Choose life! That phrase is perpetually in my mind. Jesus offers life and life abundant. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus offers the kind of life full of joy and peace and purpose for which we were created. He offers life in which we give love eternally and receive love eternally. And he is that life. We can access it only through him and by remaining in him.
Believe in the Father, Believe in Me, Believe the Miracles, Do Even Greater Miracles
The Union of The Father and Son
Beginning in verse 8, Jesus emphasizes his unity with the Father in the strongest terms possible. This is not a new idea in John’s Gospel. This is a recurring theme that has appeared all throughout. That is why Philip’s questions is nearly offensive. “Show us the Father,” Philip requests. Jesus responds, “Have I been with you for so long and yet you have not known me, Philip?” Somehow Philip has missed the point for years on end. Recall how the book begins (John 1:18), “No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.”
Jesus sets the record straight one more time, “The person who has seen me has seen the Father!” Jesus and the Father are perfectly united. To see one is to see the other. Too hard to believe? “Believe the miracles,” says Jesus. This is, I think, an unexpected claim given the modern understanding of faith. Jesus is not asking Philip for blind faith. Jesus is making an evidentiary argument. Not only those opposed to Christianity but many Christians as well disregard all evidence and ask people simply to believe. I do not think that is the approach Jesus is taking here.
A Strange Excursus into Reformed Epistemology
Given my comment on evidence above, what if we haven’t seen a miracle. Is it irrational for us to have faith? I certainly do not think so. I think this is a good opportunity to introduce a concept called “reformed epistemology.” This is a relatively obscure idea outside the circles of philosophy of religion, but it has made a huge impact in my life and I think it is worth sharing. As much as I try to stick to the text, please allow me this one rabbit chase.
Let’s begin by asking a question: are we warranted in believing a proposition only if we have inferred it from evidence-backed propositions? Your initial reaction may be, “yes!” But hold on a minute. Consider the concept of a “properly basic belief.”
The idea basically is that there are beliefs that we hold which I think we are rational in holding, and indeed which we know to be true and which are warranted for us which are not grounded in inference from other beliefs, from arguments and evidence. Examples of such properly basic beliefs, as they are called, would be belief in the reality of the past, belief in the external world around us, memory beliefs, beliefs that spring from testimony of others to us. These are not inferences that we make; these are properly basic beliefs that are grounded in certain experiences. Alvin Plantinga has argued that belief in God is similarly a properly basic belief, which he would say is grounded in certain experiences of the world like feelings that I am a sinner before God, or all of this was designed by God, or in the case of Christian beliefs, that when we read in Scripture that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, the Holy Spirit produces in us a conviction of the truth of that scriptural proposition. So these beliefs are warranted for us, not by way of inference or argument, but in a properly basic way. Reasonable Faith website.
Before you accuse me of throwing the baby out with the bathwater and disregarding or even opposing evidentiary arguments, notice that a properly basic belief may be incorrect. It may be “defeated.”
You mustn’t equate being properly basic with being indefeasible. Memory beliefs (e.g., “I left the car keys in the dresser”) and perceptual beliefs (e.g., “I see a cat in the backyard”) are, like beliefs grounded in testimony, properly basic but are defeasible, that is to say, they can be mistaken. The fact that my properly basic beliefs may sometimes be false does nothing to remove their proper basicality (that is, I am rational and exhibit no cognitive defect in holding such experientially grounded beliefs non-inferentially). If I become aware of some defeater of one of my properly basic beliefs, then I must give it up (or find a defeater of the defeater). Reasonable Faith website.
Surely at this point you are thinking: “why in the world are we digressing into this obscure concept?!” Because, like in the case of Jesus and Philip, I think that evidence is a way in which people can come to faith in God. However, I also think that reformed epistemology holds a modest but brilliant insight. If Christianity is true, so is the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is a real person who can really witness to us in a way we can perceive, however that perception works, then we can be warranted in holding our faith without evidence. Why? Because if Christianity is true, it is experiential. We can experience our faith.
Again, notice how modest this assertion is. It begins with the assumption that Christianity is true. This is not a argument for Christianity. It is only an argument that works if Christianity is true. If we can experience God, that can be sufficient warrant to believe in him absent any deafeaters.
Allow me to give an example to close this section. Imagine I am accused of shooting the deputy. I know I did not do it (I only shot the sheriff but I did not shoot the deputy). However, at trial the prosecutors offer incredible evidence of my guilt. A receipt shows I ate at the same restaurant and at the same time as the deputy; the bullet that killed the deputy matches the caliber used by the gun I was carrying; a witness says they saw me pull the trigger. All evidence points in a certain direction. In fact, the jury would be warranted in finding me guilty. However, if I know I did not do it because I experienced not doing it, I am warranted in my belief as well. Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps I did it and forgot. Perhaps my memory failed me because of a mental condition. Perhaps I was under the influence of drugs. My experience is not infallible, but my belief of my own innocence is in fact warranted until one those defeaters is proved.
The point I am trying to make is this: evidence is very important, but so is proper epistemology. You can believe in God because you have experienced God.
Back to the Text: Miraculous Deeds
In verse 12, as a follow up to asking Philip to believe the “miraculous deeds,” Jesus adds, “[the person who believes] will perform greater deed than these.” As if that were not scandalous enough, Jesus adds, “I will do whatever you ask in my name.” What?!
Honestly, I find these verses difficult to interpret, and it is not for a lack of trying. Let’s begin with the idea of miraculous deeds.
Maybe the best way to go about understanding these verses is to consider what different people think. The well-known pastor John Piper gives what I think is the majority view among protestants. (As I have pointed out in the past, I do not have some study that shows what is the majority or minority view. I am relying on my own experience. I could be wrong.)
Verse 12a: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Now we create problems for ourselves immediately by thinking of Jesus’ most amazing miracles. At this point in the Gospel of John
Jesus has turned water into wine (John 2:1–11).
He has read the mind of the woman of Samaria (John 4:18).
He has healed the official’s son (John 4:46–54).
He had healed the man crippled for 38 years (John 5:1–9).
He had fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish (John 6:1–14).
He had walked on water (John 6:19).
He had healed a man born blind (John 9:1–7).
And he had raised Lazarus from the dead after four days in the grave (John 11:43–44). What did Jesus mean when he said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Did Jesus mean that every Christian would do all these? Or that every Christian would do one or two of these? And if you don’t, you don’t believe?
That’s not likely in view of the fact that in the New Testament letters where miracles are mentioned they are a gift that some Christians have and not others. For example, in 1 Corinthians 12 . . . .
Well, if Jesus doesn’t mean that all believers will do miracles like his, what does he mean . . . ? Let’s look closely at the connections here and then at a more distant parallel.
First, the connection between verse 11 and 12. Verse 11: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” So the word “believe” and “works” occur together in verse 11 just like they come together in verse 12. Jesus’ works are designed to help people believe.
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Then verse 12 follows: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Now put verse 11 and 12 together and let the function of the works be the same in both verses. Verse 11: my works function to lead people to faith in me. Verse 12: when you believe in me, I will work in you (like a vine works in a branch, John 15:1–7), and your works, like mine, will lead people to faith.
So the connection between verses 11 and 12 goes like this: believe in me on account of my works — let my works lead you to faith (verse 11), because whoever believes in me (verse 12a), will also do works that lead people to believe in me.
So whatever the specific works are that Jesus has in mind, what defines them here is that they are pointers to Jesus which help people believe in him. [emphasis added]
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So I conclude that, however many Christians God may give gifts of miracles and healing, all of them (and that is what the text is about, “whoever believes in me”) — all of them will do the works of Jesus in the sense that all his works of every kind testified to his truth and deity. And every Christian does these works — that is, lives this life. We are the aroma of Christ. We are the light of the world. [emphasis added]
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The second part of this text (John 14:12b) is that, in some wonderful way, we will all do something greater than the works of Jesus. “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.”
Again it is every believer, not just the apostles, not just pastors or elders or charismatics or evangelists. “Whoever believes in me . . . greater works than these will he do.” This is the mark of being a Christian, not being an apostle.
If you think “greater works” means “more miraculous” you will be hard put to exceed walking on water, feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish, and raising the dead. I don’t know of any Christian who has ever lived — inside or outside the New Testament — who has ever done all three of those miracles, let alone something more miraculous. Let alone every Christian having done these miracles or something more miraculous. [emphasis added]
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So in John 14:12 Jesus is saying that his disciples will not only continue his works, but will do greater ones because he goes to the Father. And on the way to the Father, he goes to the cross and lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:15; 1:29), rises from the dead and ascends to God, from where he sends the Holy Spirit so the disciples can do the works they are called to do.
And in John 20:21–23 he is saying that his disciples are to continue his work by receiving the Holy Spirit and, in that power, imparting the forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus — on the basis of Jesus death and resurrection.
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What are the “greater works” that you will do — all of you? You will receive the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ. Before the resurrection of Jesus, nobody in the history of the world had ever done that, not even Jesus. And in the power of that absolutely new experience — the indwelling of the crucified and risen Christ — your works of love and your message of life in union with Christ, will point people to the glory of the risen Son of God, and you will be the instrument of their forgiveness on the basis of the finished work of Christ (John 20:23). [emphasis added] This will be new. This will be greater than Jesus’s earthly miracles because this is what he came to accomplish by his death and resurrection. Desiring God website.
You can read Piper’s whole article by following the link above.
What about a more Catholic perspective? Consider the following excerpt from a Catholic blog:
In other words, the greater works that the apostles will perform are the sacraments. [emphasis added] Because although for most of us, we are more amazed by the visible, material miracles that Jesus performed in his lifetime, Jesus is more correct to say that the Sacraments are actually greater miracles. Because what Jesus does during his public ministry visibly through his visible miracles, is going to point forward to what God will do in the apostles through the Holy Spirit invisibly in the mysteries of the Sacraments. And you might think, “that is kind of strong Dr. Pitre, how could you say that?” Well let me just give you an example here. St. Thomas Aquinas, when he was writing a commentary on this particular passage, this Gospel today from the Gospel of John, St. Thomas Aquinas says that:
“What is remarkable is that he adds, “and greater works than these will he do” (John14:12)… Christ is speaking of this result or work when he says that believers “will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do” (John 14:12), for the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and earth. [emphasis added] For the justification of the wicked, considered in itself, continues forever… But the heavens and the earth will pass away…”
That is St. Thomas Aquinas’ commentary, and he is actually quoting St. Augustine's commentary on the Gospel of John as well, which is also quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1994. So this is kind of a standard stream of tradition in the Catholic Church, that John 14 is Jesus promising the disciples not only that he would be the road to salvation, but that that road is going to take the particular shape of the Sacraments of the Church. Catholic Productions website.
Of course, I could also offer a charismatic perspective that will take the promise to do miraculous deeds very much literally. I have not been able to find a good summary of that view, otherwise I would post it.
My personal input can best be presented as a series of questions. Have Christians not fed the masses? Have they not built hospitals and healed the sick? Have they not built schools and universities and educated countless people? Did they not put an end to slavery? Did they not fight for the rights of the downtrodden? Did they not share the good news with the world? It seems to me that Jesus fed the 5,000; we have fed millions. Jesus healed a blind man; we heal blind men daily. Sure, we don’t often do it miraculously, but for me that’s a distinction without a difference.
In Jesus’ Name
Now let’s address the idea of asking “in Jesus’ name.” This is a powerful phrase that means to ask in the authority of. Think of the clichés “stop in the name of the King” or “stop in the name of the law.” They invoke and apply the authority of another person or entity. With that in mind, consider the unimaginable delegation of authority that Jesus is making in John 14:13 and 14.
Several questions immediately come to mind. The first is obviously about limitations: is this a blanket power given to Christians? I don’t think so. The closest scriptural reference I can provide to substantiate my answer is Acts 19:11-17:
God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, so that when even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body were brought to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. But some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warn you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” (Now seven sons of a man named Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.) But the evil spirit replied to them, “I know about Jesus and I am acquainted with Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who was possessed by the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them all into submission. He prevailed against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded. This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; fear came over them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised.
I know that a possible response is that the “Jewish exorcists” were not followers of Jesus. That’s why their use of Jesus’ name did not work. That is certainly possible. But notice also that specifically Paul was doing all the miracles. It was not every Christian doing so. So not even in New Testament times did Christians behave like they could request anything in the name of Jesus (like a healing or wealth) and immediately obtain it.
If there are limits, then why even pray in Jesus’ name? I think that there is an interaction between the believer and Jesus. The believer must ask to receive. Jesus will grant if the request is in accordance with his will and character. To quote James 4:2-3, “You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.”
Much more importantly, we need to notice the radical change that Jesus is making. We do not notice this because we are not first century Jews. They certainly would have been scandalized by Jesus’ words, but for different reasons than us. Consider the following Old Testament passage (2 Chronicles 6:24-35) with emphasis added by me:
24 “If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help before you in this temple, 25 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.
26 “The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them, 27 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.
28 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 29 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their intense pain and spread out their hands toward this temple, 30 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives. (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) 31 Then they will honor you by obeying you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.
32 “Foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will come from a distant land because of your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 33 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.
34 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, 35 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them.
God listened to prayers given at or at least directed to the temple. But who is or is in (depending on how you interpret the beginning of this chapter) the temple now? Who will be dwelling in the many dwelling places in the Father’s house? Believers! Believers no longer need to pray in or towards the temple. They are always there. This is a radical change. Now we can go directly to God through Jesus. This is the main point. Not what things Jesus will grant and which ones he won’t. Recall Jesus’ words to the woman at the well:
But a time is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
Moreover, In Mark 11, Jesus gives a similar “guarantee” that whatever we ask he will grant. In Mark 11, the speech is given within the context of Jesus predicting the destruction of the Temple. Of crucial importance was to explain how the people of God could remain connected to God after the temple’s destruction. Still don’t believe me? After the destruction of the first temple, some rabbis taught that God would no longer hear Israel’s prayer. It’s in the Talmud!
All I can say is, the time is here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.