John 14:12-13 “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” Today's episode examines this verse and why we feel it is not a true statement in today's world. I talk about why it is true and how we can do signs and wonders just like Jesus did. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Be Bold & Do the Works Jesus Did!
John 14:12-13 “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”
This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. it is one that I read, and when I heard it, I immediately believed it. Some verses are like this in the Bible. When you read the Bible, some things are easy to take in, and others are difficult. These easy and difficult things are different for everyone. We all have different experiences when we read the Bible because we have all had different experiences throughout our lives. There is a quote by Steven R. Covey that I really like. Steven R. Covey said, “We see the world, not as it is, but as we are.” This is true for the Bible as well. We look at and interpret the things we read in the Bible with our own unique lens. For instance, if we had people letting us down our whole lives, we may read the parts of the Bible that talk about trust and struggle to believe we can trust God because we haven’t been able to trust anyone on earth. If we have grown up in a very unloving environment, we may struggle with the parts of the Bible that talk about unconditional love. Other things may come easier to us.
For me, I instantly loved this verse. I know the Bible is God’s Word and that God chose His words very carefully. Sometimes, when we are reading the Bible, there may be a question in our minds about why they used this word vs. that word. One thing I have learned from doing Bible studies is that there is always a reason why certain words were chosen. Also, if you have done Bible studies, you have had the benefit of hearing all about the original Greek or Hebrew words that were used in the original translation and what those words meant. Sometimes, when translated, we don’t have an exact word to mean what they were saying. I find Bible studies fascinating because you gain so much more insight into what the verses are really saying. Anyway, back to the verse. I heard this verse or read this verse, and I believed Jesus’ word to us. I have never really been one to struggle with trust. I grew up in a loving family; I had great friends growing up, I am blessed to be able to say I was not let down by those I know and cared about often growing up. Therefore, I trust them pretty easily.
But what if you don’t trust easily? What if you look at that verse and say there is no way we could perform the works Jesus did? Jesus was God; of course, He performed miracles. Also, the apostles were right there with Him for 3 years during His ministry. Of course, they could do miracles too. We can all usually agree that Jesus did miracles when He walked the earth, and we can also usually agree that the apostles were sent out, and they performed miracles, too. We run into trouble by trying to believe we can do signs and wonders in today's world. Who are we? We are not holy enough; we are not worthy of that power and authority. I agree with both of those statements and yet Jesus still says we will do the works that He did and even greater works than He did. How is this possible?
It is possible through the Holy Spirit. Did you ever realize or notice that no single miracle was recorded in the Gospels before Jesus was baptized? Jesus was fully human and fully God the entire time He walked the earth. There was nothing stopping Jesus from performing miracles during the first 30 years of His life. However, He chose to wait until after He was baptized and received the Holy Spirit to start performing miracles. This is something I recently found out and found fascinating. It was unsurprising to me that Jesus did miracles in the Bible; he is God, after all. I didn’t know that Jesus didn’t use his divinity to perform miracles. He used the Holy Spirit, working through Him to perform the miracles. He chose to put his divinity aside and act from his human nature, with the help of the Holy Spirit, because it would be greater glory for God.
St. Lawrence of Brindisi explains it like this:
"Christ came into the world to do battle against Satan, to do away with idolatry, and to turn the world to faith and piety and the worship of the true God. He could have accomplished this by using the weapons of his might and coming as he will come to judge, in glory and majesty… But in order that his victory might be the more glorious, he willed to fight Satan in our weak flesh. It is as if an unarmed man, right-hand bound, were to fight with his left hand alone against a powerful enemy; if he emerged victorious, his victory would be regarded as all the more glorious. So Christ conquered Satan with the right hand of his divinity bound, and used against him only the left hand of his weak humanity.”
Is this new to you, too? Did you know that God performed these miracles and defeated satan without using his divinity? He relied on the power of the Holy Spirit working through Him. Do you know why this changes everything? It changes everything because Jesus also gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. If you are baptized, then you will have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. If you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, then you have the power to defeat Satan and to perform works as Jesus did. Another one of my favorite verses is Romans 8:11: “ The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you…” I wish we all knew how much power we actually have inside our frail human bodies.
This verse can be scary to many people. Wait, if I can perform works like Jesus did, does that mean I have to travel worldwide and be a missionary like the disciples were? No, you don’t have to travel anywhere if you don’t feel called to do that. They talked about ministering to your sphere of influence in my class. You can start small. Be an example to your family, your friends, and your co-workers. Let’s read the verse again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”
If you could believe and adopt this verse as your own personal truth, how much greater would your life be? How great would it be to do works like Jesus did? How great would it be to be able to heal a loved one? Did you know there are people doing this every day? Did you know there are lots of people who have read this verse, decided to believe it, and are now living out a supernatural lifestyle with the power of the Holy Spirit? The last line of the verse says, “If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” How awesome of a promise is that? God has so much more for us, and we aren’t asking for it. We aren’t going to God to ask Him what He has for us. Why are we choosing to live a normal life when God is offering us a supernatural one of signs and wonders?
You might be thinking, that is great for you, Catherine. I am glad you believe this verse, and you want that life, but I am happy with mine as is. If this is what you are thinking, I challenge you over this next week or so to bring this to prayer. I challenge you to be brave enough to talk to God about it. Tell Him how you feel about this verse and ask Him if He has anything to say to you about it. When we do signs and wonders, we build up people’s faith. Don’t you think this world needs some faith-building right now? Look at the day of Pentecost; 3,000 were baptized on that day. I know this verse can be scary. I know the thought of us healing or performing miracles is strange to most of us. I know it is way outside of our comfort zone. I also know God is calling us all to it. I also know that this world needs people willing to step outside their comfort zone. God needs people who will step out in faith, knowing they have the Holy Spirit inside them and that He will guide them.
If this verse is something that you struggle with, write it down and look at it often over the next month. Bring it to God and ask Him to show you how this applies to your life. Ask God what He wants you to do with this verse. Be brave and bold. If you ask the Holy Spirit for help, He will help you. Just start small. Step out in faith and ask a loved one if they want you to pray for them. If you spend time with God, He will guide you on this journey. He will lead you to where you need to go. We must be brave enough to say three small words, “Use me, Lord.” Can you be brave enough to say those words? Can we be Christ’s hands and feet here on earth? Remember, we have a good, good Father. He is going to ease you into this lifestyle. He will meet you where you are and build your faith along the way. Trust Him and give Him permission to work in your life; give Him permission to use you, and He will.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask you to send your angels to prepare the way for everyone listening to hear this message today. We pray you give us the courage to believe this verse and to step out in faith, knowing you have given us the power of the Holy Spirit to help us do your work here on earth. Lord, the world needs you more than ever, and if we can bring you to others, please show us how. Show us what you want each of us to do. Reveal to us what this verse means for each of us in our lives. We love you, Lord; you are incredible. We are so grateful you gave us the Holy Spirit. Lord, you are the almighty one, the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. You are the light of the world. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I. Have a blessed weekend!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in September 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “When I told you to walk the extra mile with the soldiers, their sacred duty was to only have a person walk a mile. If you walk another mile, they don't know what to do. It throws them off their game. Respond in love, and they will not know what to do, except understand where my word is coming and the special gifts that I have given to you.”