The Holy Spirit came
People under the old covenant knew nothing of speaking with tongues, casting out demons, and healing by the laying on of hands (Mark 16:17–18). These signs were reserved for the age of the Spirit. A new kingdom, a new covenant, new features, and a new gospel for spirit and body describe the Christian age.
Jesus used a new word for the Holy Spirit, parakletos, used five times in John’s Gospel. It is translated “Comforter” (KJV) and “Helper.” It belongs to the Greek word parakaleo, which means to call for somebody, to enlist their sympathy.
Think about the promise of “another Helper.” To understand, we need only emphasise the word another. Jesus had been the parakletos to His disciples and had said to them, “I will not leave you orphans” (John 14:18). Jesus regularly used only one word for God—Father. For those who are in Christ Jesus, that one word also describes their relationship to almighty God.
Think about the promise of “another Helper.” To understand, we need only emphasise the word another. Jesus had been the parakletos to His disciples and had said to them, “I will not leave you orphans” (John 14:18). Jesus regularly used only one word for God—Father. For those who are in Christ Jesus, that one word also describes their relationship to almighty God.
So when Jesus gave His last assurances to His disciples, He told them to “wait for the Promise of the Father.…‘you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 1:4–5). Also, He related the gift of the Spirit to the Father in Luke 11:13: “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” If we were orphans, we would not receive the Spirit. Those who are “led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).
A quite breathtaking view of the kingdom is shown us in John 14:12: “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 My Father.” (The word for “greater,” meizon, does not specify what order of greatness, whether in number, quality, or magnitude.) This has been a problem to many Bible students. Surely nothing could outclass the miracles of Jesus in intrinsic omnipotence, such as the raising of Lazarus?
There are two senses in which someone can do “greater” things than Christ. Obviously, there are some works of His that we could never do, since He is the Son of God. He is the Redeemer. Only He could die for the sins of the whole world. The works to which He referred were works of mercy, deliverance, healing, and aid. First, there could be more numerous instances, and second, these could be spread over a wider area. Both took place, as the disciples moved out in missionary travel.
For centuries, since the invention of printing and now modern technology, far more vast operations can bring results that were impossible for Jesus when He was localised in this or that village or town.
A quite breathtaking view of the kingdom is shown us in John 14:12: “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 My Father.” (The word for “greater,” meizon, does not specify what order of greatness, whether in number, quality, or magnitude.) This has been a problem to many Bible students. Surely nothing could outclass the miracles of Jesus in intrinsic omnipotence, such as the raising of Lazarus?
There are two senses in which someone can do “greater” things than Christ. Obviously, there are some works of His that we could never do, since He is the Son of God. He is the Redeemer. Only He could die for the sins of the whole world. The works to which He referred were works of mercy, deliverance, healing, and aid. First, there could be more numerous instances, and second, these could be spread over a wider area. Both took place, as the disciples moved out in missionary travel.
For centuries, since the invention of printing and now modern technology, far more vast operations can bring results that were impossible for Jesus when He was localised in this or that village or town.
He was physically limited, but He was not limited in power. He needed more hands, more voices, as extensions to Himself, and so “we are members of His body” (Eph. 5:30). The hymnwriter expresses it this way: “The arms of love that compass me / Would all the world embrace.” 1 They are our arms, but they are also His.
This could only be through the power of the Spirit. Jesus emphatically repeated this:
Most assuredly, 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 My Father.… It is to your advantage [Greek: sumphero, “be expedient, be advantageous”] that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.
—JOHN 14:12; 16:7
This could only be through the power of the Spirit. Jesus emphatically repeated this:
Most assuredly, 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 My Father.… It is to your advantage [Greek: sumphero, “be expedient, be advantageous”] that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.
—JOHN 14:12; 16:7
