John 14:12. “Truly, truly, 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 the Father.”

This promise from Jesus is already challenging enough to believe without the emphatic way he introduced it: “Truly, truly.” In biblical speech, these words mean, “Pay close attention—what I’m about to say is absolutely certain.” Jesus wanted His followers to be convinced, without doubt, that his works could be continued and even expanded through them.

This article will first explore how God’s spirit and Word empowered Jesus to fulfill his ministry and then consider how those same provisions empower us today.

Jesus’ Ministry Empowered by the Spirit and the Word

At the beginning of his ministry in Nazareth, Jesus read aloud from Isaiah, a prophecy that revealed his mission:

Luke 4:18-19. The Spirit of the Lord [Yahweh] is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

The Gospels confirm that Jesus fulfilled everything Isaiah foretold. Yahweh’s spirit rested upon him, empowering every miracle, teaching, and act of compassion. Peter later summarized it this way:

Acts 10:38. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the holy spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus made it clear that what he did was God’s will and God’s work, not his own. As Peter declared on Pentecost:

Acts 2:22. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs which God performed through Him…

Jesus—The Man Anointed by God

Understanding that Jesus is a man and not a godman is imperative if we are to believe that we can do the works that he did. The phrase “Son of man” emphasizes humanity, mortality, and connection to mankind. In the Hebrew, the term comes from “ben-adam” meaning literally “son of Adam”.

The title “Son of Man” appears about 80 times in the four Gospels almost exclusively Jesus referring to himself highlighting his humanity. A few of many verses that declare he is a man are:

Acts 2:22. “Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God…”

1 Timothy 2:5. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

Romans 5:15. “…much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.”

It is essential to affirm Jesus’ humanity if we are to believe his words in John 14:12. Who among us could imagine doing what God Himself does? But we can believe that, with God’s help, we can do what the man Jesus did.

Anointed with the Spirit

Each Gospel records that at his baptism the holy spirit descended upon Jesus (Matt. 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–23; John 1:29–34). God wanted it to be unmistakable that Jesus was a man empowered by the spirit to carry out his mission. Scripture highlights this repeatedly:

Luke 4:1. Full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led by the Spirit…

Luke 4:14. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit….”

Luke 5:17. …the power of the Lord [Yahweh] was present for Him [Jesus] to perform healing.

The spirit God gave Jesus enabled him to perform miracles, wonders, and signs. And in the same way, God has given us His Spirit so that He may work through us to accomplish His purposes.

Empowered by the Word

Jesus not only relied on the spirit, he also believed the Scriptures that spoke about him. At the start of his ministry, he read Isaiah 61:

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD [Yahweh] is upon Me, because the LORD [Yahweh] has anointed Me [Jesus] to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.…”

Jesus believed these words applied to him and that God would empower him to fulfill them. He lived by the conviction that God’s Word about him was true.

Isaiah 42:1–7 likewise spoke of his calling:

“Behold, My [Yahweh’s] Servant [Jesus], whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations…to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.”

Jesus recognized these Scriptures as his commission, trusted them completely, and lived them out.

Our Calling

In the same way, we are called to take hold of the words of Jesus in John 14:12:

“The works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”

We too have God’s spirit, and we too have His Word. As Jesus trusted God to work through him, we can believe that God will work through us.

The works that the man Jesus did, we can do also—because like him, we have been given the spirit and the Word to empower us. The greater works refer to the scope of the impact the church has today reaching out to the world since with Jesus his ministry was primarily confined to Israel.