Somebody will wave this verse at you like it settles everything: “See, Jesus said the Father is greater than He is, so Jesus is not really God.” Now slow down, child of God, and let us read what the Lord actually said, and when He said it.
“…I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28, KJV)
Here is the key, and I want you to get it: the Father is greater in position, in circumstance, not in nature. Submission in a role does not make you lesser in your being. Watch how Paul explains it:
“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant… he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:6–8, KJV)
Look at that! He was “in the form of God” and “equal with God”, and yet He humbled Himself and took the form of a servant. He did not stop being God; He stooped. His submission did not make Him less divine: it showed you the depth of His love. A servant is not less human than his master; he just stands in a lower place. That is exactly the Lord’s own picture: “The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him” (John 13:16). Greater in rank, not in kind.
This verse corrects two errors at once
And here is the beauty of it: this one verse knocks down two errors. It knocks down the man who says Jesus is not God, because the same Lord demands “that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” (John 5:23), and He shared the Father’s glory before the world was (John 17:5). But it also knocks down the Oneness error, because the Father cannot be greater than Himself! Jesus is not the Father talking through a human body. He is the eternal Son, who took a real human nature, and from that lowly place said, “My Father is greater than I.” One divine Person, fully God and now fully man, and every bit of it for you. Glory to God.
Related Teaching
- Honor the Son as You Honor the Father
- Jesus Is Truly Man and Truly God
- Seeing the Son Reveals the Father
The Gospel, Stated Plainly
Everything I teach on this site rests on one message from Scripture. Read it in God’s own words from 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 1:16, and Ephesians 2:8-9.
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV)
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