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1. It is no easy matter to comprehend what is meant by, or in what
sense we are to receive, these words of the Lord, "He that
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also:" and then,
to this great difficulty in the way of our understanding, He has added
another still more difficult, "And greater things than these shall he
do." What are we to make of it? We have not found one who did such
works as Christ did; and are we likely to find one who will do even
greater? But we remarked in our last discourse, that it was a greater
deed to heal the sick by the passing of their shadow, as was done by
the disciples, than as the Lord Himself did by the touch of the hem
of His garment; and that more believed on the apostles than on the
Lord Himself, when preaching with His own lips; so that we might
suppose works like these to be understood as greater: not that the
disciple was to be greater than his Master, or the servant than his
Lord, or the adopted son than the Only-begotten, or man than God,
but that by them He Himself would condescend to do these greater
works, while telling them in another passage, "Without me ye can do
nothing." While He Himself, on the other hand, to say nothing of
His other works, which are numberless, made them without any aid from
themselves, and without them made this world; and because He Himself
thought meet to become man, without them He made also Himself. But
what have they [made or done] without Him, save sin? And last of
all, He straightway also withdrew from the subject all that could
cause us agitation; for after saying, "He that believeth on me, the
works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall
he do;" He immediately went on to add, "Because I go unto the
Father; and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do."
He who had said, "He will do," afterwards said, "I will do;"
as if He had said, Let not this appear to you impossible; for he
that believeth on me can never become greater than I am, but it is I
who shall then be doing greater things than now; greater things by him
that believeth on me, than by myself apart from him; yet it is I
myself apart from him, and I myself by him [that will do the
works]: and as it is apart from him, it is not he that will do them;
and as, on the other hand, it is by him, although not by his own
self, it is he also that will do them. And besides, to do greater
things by one than apart from one, is not a sign of deficiency, but of
condescension. For what can servants render unto the Lord for all
His benefits towards them? And sometimes He hath condescended to
number this also amongst His other benefits towards them, namely, to
do greater works by them than apart from them Did not that rich man go
away sad from His presence, when seeking counsel about eternal life?
He heard, and cast it away: and yet in after days the counsel that
fell on his ears was followed, not by one, but by many, when the good
Master was speaking by the disciples; He was an object of contempt to
the rich man, when warned by Himself directly, and of love to those
whom by means of poor men He transformed from rich into poor. Here,
then, you see, He did greater works when preached by believers, than
when speaking Himself to hearers.
2. But there is still something to excite thought in His doing such
greater works by the apostles; for He said not, as if merely with
reference to them, The works that I do shall ye do also; and greater
works than these shall ye do: but wishing to be understood as speaking
of all that belonged to His family, said, "He that believeth on
me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than
these shall he do." If, then, he that believeth shall do such
works, he that shall do them not is certainly no believer: just as
"He that loveth me, keepeth my commandments," implies, of course,
that he who keepeth them not, loveth not. In another place, also,
He says, "He that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I
will liken him unto a wise man, who buildeth his house ripen a rock;"
and he, therefore, who is unlike this wise man, without doubt either
heareth these sayings and doeth them not, or faileth even to hear
them. "He that believeth in me," He says, "though he die, yet
shall he live;" and he, therefore, that shall not live, is
certainly no believer now. In a similar way, also, it is said here,
"He that believeth in me shall do [such works]:" he is,
therefore, no believer who shall not do so. What have we here,
then, brethren? Is it that one is not to be reckoned among believers
in Christ, who shall not do greater works than Christ? It were
hard, unreasonable, intolerable, to suppose so; that is, unless it
be rightly understood. Let us listen, then, to the apostle, when he
says, "To him that believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." This is the work in which we
may be doing the works of Christ, for even our very believing in
Christ is the work of Christ. It is this He worketh in us, not
certainly without us. Hear now, then, and understand, "He that
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also:" I do them
first, and he shall do them afterwards; for I do such works that he
may do them also. And what are the works, but the making of a
righteous man out of an ungodly one?
3. "And greater works than these shall he do." Than what, pray?
Shall we say that one is doing greater works than all that Christ did
who is working out his own salvation with fear and trembling? A work
which Christ is certainly working in him, but not without him; and
one which I might, without hesitation, call greater than the heavens
and the earth, and all in both within the compass of our vision. For
both heaven and earth shall pass away, but the salvation and
justification of those predestinated thereto, that is, of those whom
He foreknoweth, shall continue forever. In the former there is only
the working of God, but in the latter there is also His image. But
there are also in the heavens, thrones, governments, principalities,
powers, archangels, and angels, which are all of them the work of
Christ; and is it, then, greater works also than these that he
doeth, who, with Christ working in him, is a co-worker in his own
eternal salvation and justification? I dare not call for any hurried
decision on such a point: let him who can, understand, and let him
who can, judge whether it is a greater work to create righteous beings
than to make righteous the ungodly. For at least, if there is equal
power employed in both, there is greater mercy in the latter, For
"this is the great mystery of godliness which was manifested in the
flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." But
when He said, "Greater works than these shall he do," there is no
necessity requiring us to suppose that all of Christ's works are to be
understood. For He spoke, perhaps, only of these He was now
doing; and the work He was doing at that time was uttering the words
of faith, and of such works specially had He spoken just before when
He said, "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of
myself: but the Father, that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works."
His words, accordingly, were His works. And it is assuredly
something less to preach the words of righteousness, which He did
apart from us, than to justify the ungodly, which He does in such a
way in us that we also are doing it ourselves. It remains for us to
inquire how the words are to be understood, "Whatsoever ye shall ask
in my name, I will do it." Because of the many things His
believing ones ask, and receive not, there is no small question
claiming our attention; but as this discourse must now be concluded,
we must allow at least a little delay for its consideration and
discussion.
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