John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Do you have a problem believing that you will have a greater work than what Jesus did in His earthly ministry? I have seen miracles but I have not performed any miracles. I’ve seen the sick healed, but I haven’t healed anyone. I’ve seen the lost saved, but I have not saved anyone. So what is this greater work?

At the time Jesus said this, He had not yet died on the Cross, been resurrected, or ascended to the Throne of God. We, having been born after all that to declare that it is not a promise of things to come but rather it has already been done. What is greater, to make a promise or to keep a promise? Which is greater, to speak a prophecy or to fulfill a prophecy?

Your witness is the greater work. You have changed and you know who did it for you because you could not do it on your own. A changed life is the greater work. Everyone who knew you when you were lost need to see you now. They need to see you in Christ so that they might know who has the power to change lives.

This one thing you need to remember as you follow Christ, doing it as He did it, following His example.

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.

You can do nothing on your own.

Matthew 8:1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

The three preceding chapters are the Sermon on the Mount. There is so much in those three chapters that it is almost impossible to cover everything in one devotional. Hidden within all those words is one rather important issue that can be easily overlooked given the enormity of that sermon.

He declared who will be saved without telling them how. I do not know if the importance of that was lost on the multitudes that day. Maybe they did get it, because when He came down of the mount they followed him. Then what?

He healed a leper. Knowing something of the attitudes of the day, it is safe to assume this leper was not one who came down off the mount with the multitudes. He had not heard all that had been said of the blessings, the law, attitudes and worship. He just wanted to be healed. This Jesus did because He had compassion and because He could.

There is our lesson for today. When we come down off the mount, do we have compassion and do what we can? The exhilaration of coming down from that lofty place of being in the presence of our Lord can be overwhelming. It can often cause us to forget our calling and the reason we get to ascend that Holy Hill.

Compassion and doing the work of the ministry once we have come back down, is the point of the Sermon on the Mount. What is the point of any sermon by anyone if these two things are left undone? You do realize that following Jesus is more than plodding along behind, right?