Is it sacrilegious to claim that ordinary people can do greater works than Jesus?

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these” (John 14:12). 

When it comes to understanding a passage in the Bible, context is everything. What historical events surround a book’s composition? What larger literary unit is a given passage part of? What central themes explored by the book touch on the verses in question?

Reaching Forever is Philip C. Kolin’s ninth collection of poems, the sixth to focus entirely on spiritual poetry.

While conservative interpreters might believe that prophets were predictors and progressives believe the prophets to be simply social advocates, Walter Brueggemann argues that the prophets were “emancipated imaginers of alternative.” Emancipated from the dominant thinking of their societies, the prophets imagined an alternative reality and invited listeners to join them in their commitment to that new reality.