John 14:12-17

12 "Truly, truly, 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 go to the Father.

13 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

…

Jesus makes one heck of a promise to us in this statement. He says that we will do greater works than Him! (He’s not talking about the Cross, because He had not been to the Cross yet. He’s talking about the miracles!) This was not just a one-time promise. If you don’t remember the example of the withered fig tree, look at Matthew 21:18-22.

The key to understanding this promise of Jesus is at the end of verse 12. Jesus gives us the REASON that we can do greater works: because He goes to the Father. Where is Jesus Christ right now?

Colossians 3:1

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Hebrews 1:3

3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

He’s seated at the right hand of God the Father. The right hand is the position of honor, power, and authority. Jesus came to earth, and accomplished exactly what God the Father had planned for Him to accomplish: purification of sins.

Imagine this same scenario with an earthly king. He sends someone off to accomplish a mission. The soldier does exactly what the king wanted him to do, and returns. The kings tells him to sit down at his right hand. Now don’t you think that the king would grant a favor to the soldier?

When Jesus sat down, having accomplished all God had for Him to accomplish, what favor did He ask of the Father? He made a prayer request FOR US! Look at the next verses in John 14:

16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

One interesting point – Jesus could have asked for anything, but His request was for something for US! He knew there was no way we could accomplish everything God wanted us to accomplish without help. So Jesus requested another Helper for us – God the Holy Spirit.

So we can perform greater works than Jesus did, because God fulfilled His prayer request, and gave us the Holy Spirit as our helper. The Holy Spirit is a benefit we frequently undervalue and underestimate. We’ll address that issue in more detail.