John 14:12

July 1, 2020 - Pastor Jacob Kanda

In John 14:12 ESV, Jesus said “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.” The most missed applied word in this verse is the word “WORKS.” The Greek word, érgon, er'-gon; is from a primary (but obsolete) érgō (to work); toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication, an act:—deed, doing, labour, or work. In John 14:12 er’-gon or “works”, generally speak of the works of Jesus, His miracles and mighty deeds. How does one today place himself as one with the same empowerment? Is it when Jesus said “whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do? So this implies to “all saints”? What exactly did Jesus do? Why is it that His actual ministry was always overlooked by people who fixated on His miracles? Was not His miracles to authenticate His message? (My answers to these questions will be bold & underlined throughout this study). We can look to the Gospel scripture to know the events and details of Jesus' life. Jesus was known as a carpenter (Mark 6:3, Matthew 13:54-55) until His Ministry Began. Luke 3:23 says Jesus’ ministry began around 30 years of age. In Matthew 4:17 and Mark 1:14, Jesus’ work was revealed as a preacher. He said “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Saint Matthew in the beginning of verse 17 said “from that time Jesus began to “preach.” Jesus’ ministry was accompanied by various signs and wonders. What was the purpose of His miracles? In John 10:37-38, Jesus was responding to the Jews who wanted to stone Him for blasphemy, and He said, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." Just as in the Old Testament, the purpose of Jesus’ miracles was to confirm God’s hand on His Messenger. When the Pharisees asked Jesus to show them a sign, Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:39-41). Jesus was very clear that the purpose of a sign was so people would acknowledge God’s message and respond accordingly. One thing that is often overlooked in discussions about signs and miracles is the timing and placement of them in the Scriptures. Contrary to popular belief, people in Bible times did not see miracles all the time. In fact, the miracles of the Bible are generally grouped around special events in God’s dealing with mankind. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and entrance into the Promised Land were accompanied by many miracles, but the miracles faded away soon afterward. During the late kingdom years, when God was about to place the people in exile, He allowed some of His prophets to do miracles. When Jesus came to live among us, He did miracles, and in the early ministry of the apostles, they did miracles, but outside of those times, we see very few miracles or signs in the Bible. The vast majority of people who lived in Bible times never saw signs and wonders with their own eyes. They had to live by faith in what God had already revealed to them. In the early church, the signs and wonders were primarily centered on the first presentation of the gospel among various people groups. On the day of Pentecost, we read that there were “Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven” gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 2:5). It was to these Jews, who had been raised in other lands and spoke those foreign languages (v. 6-11), that the sign of tongues was first given. They acknowledged that they were hearing in their native tongues about the wonderful works of God, and Peter told them that the only appropriate response was to repent of their sins (v. 38). In every instance, the sign gifts were a confirmation of God’s message and messenger, in order that people might hear and believe. Once the message was confirmed, the signs faded away. We typically don’t need those signs to be repeated in our lives, but we do need to receive the same gospel message. In Luke’s account in Acts 1:8, Jesus said “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” First off this message was written to Theophilus, The Acts of the Apostles tells the story of how the gospel was spread far beyond the confines of the Jewish community to the whole world. In this story to Theophilus, Luke bared “witness” that Jesus spoke this specific passage to his “apostles” (Acts 1:2). This word “Power” in Greek is (dunamis,doo’-nam-is #1411) is spoken of the prophets and apostles as being empowered by the Spirit. To do what you ask? To bear witness.... Witness, in Greek is (martus, #3144, mar’-toos). This word “witness” is of those who witnessed the Life, death and resurrection of Jesus, who bear witness to the truth as it is in Jesus. This is the first prerequisite of being a True Apostle. This specific type of apostle is not present in the church today. The qualifications of this type of apostle were: (1) to have been a witness of the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1), (2) to have been explicitly chosen by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15), and (3) to have the ability to perform signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12). The responsibility of the twelve apostles, laying the foundation of the church, would also argue for their uniqueness. Two thousand years later, we are not still working on the foundation. Finally let’s end here in Acts 2:1-4 with better clarity and context. The main focus for many today in this passage is verse 4 which says “and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (known languages) as the spirit gave them utterance (Word) not gibberish. This passage describes the fulfillment of Jesus’s promise to send the Holy Spirit, whose coming was to glorify Christ (John 16:14). The Holy Spirit filled every believer on the day of Pentecost, not just a select few (v.4.). One result of this baptism was that these people spoke in languages that they did not previously understand. The Greek word dialekto (1258) refers to known and understood ethnic languages or dialects (vv.6, 😎. The “other tongues” mentioned in verse 4 should not be confused with the unknown tongue spoken by the Corinthians (see 1 Cor. 14:2, 4, 13, 19, 27). The unknown tongue is always referred to as a singular and is accompanied by a singular personal pronoun. The apostle Paul demanded that this unknown tongue always be interpreted (1 Cor. 14:13). The tongues that were spoken in Acts chapter 2, however, needed no interpreter because each person heard the message of the Lord in his own language. When this truth hits the ears of the “evil and adulterous generation” you might hear something along these lines👇🏽👇🏽 Or You’re suppressing the Holy Spirit. These to just name a few of the many statements I’ve received regarding studies like these. But we should all be like the Berean’s who tested everything according to scripture. We are called to eagerly learn from God’s word, and no matter who the teacher is, to investigate new or old teaching in comparison with the Bible. My suggestion is to read your English translation but define it in the original language and see how much that helps. Then use the proper grammatical notations and see where that takes you. Conclusion: God miraculously heals people every day. God still does amazing miracles, signs, and wonders and sometimes performs those miracles through a Christian. However, these things are not necessarily the miraculous gifts of the Spirit. The primary purpose of the miraculous gifts was to prove that the gospel was true and that the apostles were truly God’s messengers. The Bible does not say outright that the miraculous gifts have ceased (God stop working), but it does lay the foundation for why they might no longer occur to the same extent as they did as recorded in the New Testament. God is Sovereign and Just!