It has come to my attention that one of the most popular arguments against the doctrine of the trinity is that since Jesus said in John 14:28 that his Father was greater than him, Jesus could not himself be God. The argument seems to go something like this:
- If Jesus is God, God could not be greater than him.
- Jesus said that God was greater than him.
- Therefore, Jesus is not God.
This argument may seem sound on the surface, but further examination reveals that this is not the case.
The major problem with this argument is that the idea of ‘greater’ invoked in this argument is not the idea of ‘greater’ that Jesus used in John’s gospel. This statement by Jesus is made during the upper room discourse when Jesus is comforting the disciples by promising that he will send the Holy Spirit after he has resurrected. Jesus tells his disciples that they should be glad that he is going back to his Father because his Father is greater than him.
You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
—John 14:28 ESV
Jesus is not saying that God the Father is greater in essence than him—which is the idea used in the argument above; rather, Jesus is saying that God the Father is greater in divine glory—that which Jesus surrendered during the incarnation. The incarnation of the Son is best expressed in Philippians 2:5-11.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
—Philippians 2:5-11 ESV
The Son “emptied himself” (v7) and took on “the form of a servant” (v7) when he entered our universe. He let go of his divine prerogatives in order to be “made lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:9) in status, not essence, while still maintaining his divinity (v6). The “going to the Father” (John 14:28) occured when he was once again restored to the glory he shared with God the Father (John 17:5) in his ascension back to the throne (v9-11).
For about 30 years, God the Father was greater than God the Son, not in essence, but in status and glory. Praise be to God that now that our LORD has been restored to his glory and sits upon the throne once again.
