The Question
How can Jesus be God when He said the Father is greater than I? This is a common objection raised by skeptics who claim that Jesus’ own words contradict His deity.
The Verse in Question
John 14:28 states:
“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.”
Often when a skeptic quotes this verse, he likely reads only the last part: “The Father is greater than I.” If we isolate sentences in the Bible, then we can really get it to say anything. But I would call this a very blatant form of eisegesis.
The Answer is Found in Context
The answer for this objection is found in the very same verse. Let us read it in full:
“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.”
Notice the phrases “I am going away” and “I am going to the Father”.
As we can observe, the context is in regard to the position of the Son, not of His nature. This would be clear if the one making the argument had taken some time to read the chapter, which is about Christ leaving His current position on earth and sending the Holy Spirit, the “helper” (John 14:16-17).
Understanding the Greek Word: Meizōn
Let us also examine what the Son meant by “greater than I.” The word used is μείζων (meizōn), which is the comparative of “greater than” in size, rank, and position. When skeptics use this verse in argumentation against Christ’s divinity, they often think that “greater than” would mean that the Father is superior to Christ. However, there is a specific word for that, which is “Kreittōn”, the word He did not use. Kreittōn leans toward quality, worth, nature, and “better in kind”, a superior sort of thing.
So as we can see from the context, the Father is greater in position than Christ, not greater in nature, which wouldn’t make the Father a greater being than the Son.
The Example of Matthew 11:11
For example, in Matthew 11:11, Jesus uses the same word, meizōn:
“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
We see that Jesus was not saying that everyone born of woman is a lesser being than John. He was actually implying that John had a greater position than those who came before him. Then He proceeds to show that “Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he,” because anyone who is part of God’s kingdom is already in a higher state of position, and not of nature.
The Analogy of Ambassadors
As Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5:20:
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
As Christians, we are called ambassadors for Christ. An ambassador is one who represents the government. He himself is in a higher position in comparison to a citizen, but yet not greater in his nature. This is the importance of context when trying to define words in any written document.
Understanding the Word Kreittōn
Also, if we look at the word kreittōn, in Hebrews 12:24, it states:
“and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
The word means “stronger, more excellent,” i.e., “better,” i.e., “nobler.” This shows us that the voice of Jesus’ blood is of much greater value than Abel’s in comparison with Genesis 4:10:
“And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.'”
Conclusion
Jesus, as the incarnate Word of God, is subordinate in role to the authority of the Father. Making the Father greater than the Son in his position of authority. This perfectly fits with Trinitarian theology. For the argument against the deity of our Lord to work, one would have to demonstrate how the word meizōn means anything in the lines of substance and not position.