If Jesus meant it when He said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,’ and if He was serious when He said, ‘I am with you always, even unto the end of the Age,’ then why would He send us up a blind alley by saying, ‘I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command’ ?I am always on the lookout for anyone and anything
that can open the door to this kind of faith for me.
I believe it's possible.
I keep asking the Lord to lead me out of my unbelief,
no matter what it takes.
This is one of those passages from the Bible that is rarely discussed. One almost feels arrogant or presumputous even to consider the possibility of doing "greater things than these." I think your "faith" aspect is correct: what kind of faith or how much faith is that? "If you love me, you will obey what I command." Is that really humanly possible? To obey Christ to that degree? To love to that extent? Yes, I believe it is possible, too, because all things are possible with God. Christ would not tease us with impossibilities.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if we need to define what those "greater things" are. What is greater than healing, or raising the dead, or turning water into wine? Would it be something like world peace? Or the end of all child molestation? I have the feeling--and I can be totally wrong and I hesitate even to say it for fear of error--that the "greater things," or some of them, might be less dramatic than we imagine. And, as the world seems to distance itself more and more from Christianity, the "greater things" might be comparative: that is, great given the conditions and circumstances of our era.
I wonder, also, if the "greater things," since it is in the plural, has to do with the number of things--although not in terms of quality versus quantity; but in terms of the great commission, in terms of bounty and harvest.
Well, I have just been speculating because your post got my brain working a little. I have no idea if any of my thoughts are going in the right direction.
Dear Melanie, you are exactly right, or at least, your thoughts and mine are running side by side in the same direction.
ReplyDeleteWhat are 'the greater things'?
Yes, though many work 'miracles' in His name and call Him 'Lord, Lord', how many of these have done what He commands? And are His commandments to do such things as 'raise the dead, give sight to the blind, heal the lepers,' etc.?
Well, yes, they are, but actually those commandments are His by fulfillment: they are actually the commandments of God thru the holy prophets of Israel (and of all nations to whom He has spoken).
His commandments boil down to a single one: 'Love one another as I have loved you.' In this commandment all others are both included and fulfilled, when we do them.
Yes, the greater things can look small and insignificant to the worldly mind, but they can be so much as giving a thirsty child a drink of water.
'Come, Israel, let us walk in the Light of Yahweh.'