Providing Clarity to doing "Greater Works" than Jesus (John 14:12-14)

Our passage says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:12-14). These wonderful verses on prayer are given in the context of the Lord providing comfort and strength to the troubled disciples. The Lord tells them that after He's gone they will do greater works than He did and that He will do anything that they ask in His name. Jesus' promises in this passage should comfort and strengthen the Christ follower as well! Understanding the "greater works" is very helpful to us in bringing clarity to this passage. In the gospel of John, the Lord's works are based on Him being equal with God in His person, equal with God in His works, equal with God in His power and sovereignty, equal with God in His judgment, and equal with God in His honor (John 5:17-23). Can anyone of us make these claims and be in our right mind? Sadly, I spoke to a Christian who believed he could speak to hurricane Irma and make it cease! We saw how that turned out! The Lord sums up His ministry with these words, "I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do" (John 17:4). So if Christ followers are doing the works that Jesus did, as well as even greater works, it would give the impression that we'd be doing miracles and living our lives in total obedience to the Father! As Christ followers we are NOT doing these things! Why not? Obviously, these are not the greater works that Christ spoke of! What, then, are the greater works that Christ followers are to carry out? Let's understand that the greater works are those that point to the awesome power of the gospel to change lives and thereby bring glory to God! In other words, there really is no greater work possible than the conversion of a person's soul! As Jesus uses Christ followers to spread the gospel of His death, burial, resurrection, and imminent return, we are doing the works which He did and even greater works in the sense of reaching more people. Our works as a whole are deemed greater in number and greater in area than what Jesus accomplished in three years and in one small location of the world. Having said these things, let's turn to the discussion of prayer in Jesus' name. According to our passage, prayer in the name of Jesus is the way to doing greater works than He did (John 14:13-14). We'll continue in part two of this teaching. Be encouraged!