Have you ever wondered how Jesus lived a sinless life, proclaimed the gospel, and performed so many miracles? He said in John 14:12 that we would do His works and even greater works, but history has yielded little or no examples of the fulfillment of this scripture. Was there something special about Jesus or some power He drew upon that we don’t have access to?
Rom. 1:4 says Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by the Holy Spirit. That word “declared” is a surveying term such as a surveyor stretching a line on a property to define or “declare” its boundaries. What Rom. 1:4 is saying then is that everything Jesus did in His earth walk was through the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit He has given to us. Why then, aren’t we doing the greater works?
In John 5:19, we get an idea as to the secret of Jesus’ power. We know that His power didn’t flow through His sinlessness, neither through His inherent authority as God’s only begotten. He said He could have called ten thousand angels (Matt. 26:53), but He didn’t because He limited Himself to only moving in the graces and abilities by the Holy Spirit that He would give to the believer after His resurrection. What was His secret then? John 5:19 provides us with a clue:
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Do you see what this verse says? Only do what you see the Father do. That is the key to understanding the miracles of Jesus. In John 5, Jesus went to the pool of Bethesda and out of 100s only healed one person – and went on His way. If He were acting according to a principle of the highest good for the greatest number of people, this act would have been a travesty. By that standard, He should have healed all the impotent folk – but He healed only one because He only did what He saw the Father do.
Do you know what God is telling you to do? In John 10:27, Jesus said His sheep hear His voice. If you don’t hear God’s voice, you are not His sheep – you need to get born again! But His sheep hear His voice. He sees to it that His voice reaches you. I remember going to the bed of a dying man, and I hadn’t heard God tell me to pray for His healing. I told the man to get his affairs in order; he was going to die. Then on second thought, I told him about Hezekiah, who the prophet told him he would die. Hezekiah cried out to God at that moment, and God gave him 15 more years. Right in his hospital bed, that dying man turned his face to the wall and cried out to God, and instead of dying that day, he walked out of the hospital completely healed. What is the lesson? Do what you see the Father do. Doing what you see the Father do is the key to the greater works ministry.
