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.”

One of the challenges of the Upper Room teaching is determining how much is aimed specifically at the apostles and how much is for all Christians. Certainly the promise of perfect recall (John 14:26) was intended for the eleven (and also the twelfth when added later in Acts 1) to aid them in their propagating the message of Christ. After all, it was “the apostles’ teaching” to which the early church was continually committed (Acts 2:42). The only way we would know what Jesus taught was through the apostles’ teaching.

But Christians for years have found great comfort and help in the Upper Room teaching. Concerning the “greater works” promised, certainly there are situations where miracles occurred in the New Testament at the hands of non-apostles. For example, the first non-apostle miracle in Acts is at the hands of Stephen, who “full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8). He was one of the seven selected to oversee the serving of food to the widows of the early church. Another of the seven, Philip performed “signs and great miracles” (Acts 8:13). Even though Paul had similar signs (“extraordinary miracles” Acts 19:11, see also 2 Cor 12:12), he was not one of those in the Upper Room, or numbered among the twelve.

We see the gift of “miracles” was given with no restriction to just the apostles (1 Cor 12:10, 12:28). But then, Paul teaches that not all are workers of miracles (1 Cor 12:29), so the promise in the Upper Room was clearly not inclusive of all believers. Yet many today feel that the miraculous sign gifts continue into the present based on Peter’s Pentecostal sermon quotation of Joel in Acts 2:17-21. We would point out that not all of Joel’s prophecy has been fulfilled, for example the sun has not turned dark or the moon into blood. Israel’s rejection of Christ, even though the message continued on in the apostles, put Joel’s prophecy on hold.

Yet, the truly miraculous does not seem to be occurring today as it did in the days of Jesus and the apostles, despite claims to the contrary. But that is only when we focus on the outwardly miraculous. But the true miracle of changed lives through the testimony of believers through the ages, has resulted in the miracle of new birth that far exceeds the number of followers Jesus had during His earthly ministry. And that is the “greater works” that we believers do collectively.

Lord, I want to experience Your promise in doing the work of sharing the message of Christ with a lost and broken world in need of redemption.