12 "“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. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."
John 14:12-17
In the last Note but one, we spoke of the unfolding of the possibility of a life delivered from unrest and anxiety in a three-fold emphasis - the presence and work of the Spirit, the reality of fellowship with the Father and the Son, and the life of prayer. We begin to see this unfolding in these verses. Two introductory points must be noted. The first is that Jesus gently and purposively leads the disciples in their bewilderment into a discussion in which He speaks of them as sharing in His work (12). This, in fact, is the beginning of their commission and it is enormously encouraging. Philip in his confusion, Thomas in his doubting, Peter in his denial - this is what they were like, yet He summoned them to faith giving them the assurance that they would do greater works than He - the thought is perhaps more of spiritual works than miracles, for although the disciples after Pentecost did perform miracles, it is even truer to say there were far greater in gatherings of disciples into the kingdom then than in the days of Jesus. Jesus recognized in Luke 12:50 that there were things He could not do in the world until the baptism of His passion was fulfilled, and this is implied in the statement before us in 12. The basis on which they were to be able to do these greater works was His going to the Father. This refers not merely to His return to the Father, but to His being elevated to an official position of power, at the Father's right hand. It is on the basis of His exaltation to the position of supreme authority that the disciples can do 'greater things'. The second point to note is that, while in the first 12 verses of the chapter the almost exclusive emphasis is on believing in Jesus, from 13 onwards believing merges into loving - and the test and content of both believing and loving is, as we see in 16, obeying. To know Him is to love Him, and to love Him is to obey His commandments. If we remembered this, we would be delivered from a great deal of confusion in spiritual life.