Why Did Jesus Say,The Father Is Greater Than I?

[Music] muslims often point to john 14 28 as a proof that jesus denied that he's god according to john 14 28 the lord jesus christ said that the father is greater than i on the basis of this passage muslims assume that jesus cannot be coequal to the father in essence if the father is greater than he however the problem with that objection is that it ignores the fact that the term greater not just in greek but even in english can have one of two possible meanings first it can mean someone who is better in essence

as well as in position and rank for example i'm greater than my dog not just in position and rank but also in essence or the term greater can simply refer to someone who holds a higher office or status for example my boss is greater than me the president is greater than the vice president however both my boss and myself as well as the president and the vice president are fully human we're fully human and we have the same human dignity and value in the eyes of god so clearly greater in those examples cannot mean someone

who's superior better than someone in essence in nature now when jesus says the father is greater than i did he mean that the father is better than him in essence not just superior to him in rank or did he mean that the father is greater than him by virtue of his status in heaven because when christ uttered these words he was on earth and had assumed the status the position of a servant how do we know the answer well the way that you find what jesus meant is by looking at the context of the verse

itself and by context i mean either the chapter itself the chapters before or the book as a whole after all john 14 comes 14 chapters later john has a lot to say about jesus christ in the 13 preceding chapters but for the sake of time i'm going to focus and limit my discussion to the immediate context of john 14 as well as look at a passage from john 17 5. let's see what jesus said earlier in john 14 in order to demonstrate whether greater than means that the father superior in essence or greater in rank

by virtue of the father remaining in heavenly glory and christ on earth in the form of a slave let's go to john 14 verses 12 to 14 as the lord enables me to exegete these passages clearly john 14 12-14 our lord says to the disciples the following truly truly i say to you whoever believes in me will also do the works that i do now notice christ is saying whoever believes in him will do the same miracles the same kind of works that jesus has been doing while he was on earth and greater works than

these he will do because i'm going to the father notice that christ also says not only will they be doing the works i've been doing but they'll actually end up doing greater works than these same greek word is used in john 14 12 that later on jesus uses in john 14 28 here greater cannot mean greater in terms of quality that the disciples will be doing better works than the lord jesus greater can only mean in terms of quantity they'll be doing more miracles than jesus did but they'll be performing the same kind of miracles

that jesus did while he was on earth now how do we know that well because of the line before that the preceding sentence whoever believes in me will also do the works that i do so notice it's the same works that jesus has been doing but a greater number of them and that makes sense after all the disciples spread throughout the entire earth reached more people preached the gospel to more nations and did more miracles than jesus did when he was on earth so here greater can only mean in terms of number quantity not quality

but then christ gives the reason why they'll be able to do greater miracles than him because i'm going to the father now what's the connection what's the connection with the disciples doing greater number of works and jesus going to the father well you don't need to guess continue reading in 13 and 14 and jesus gives you the answer whatever you ask in my name this i will do notice what the lord did not say he didn't say here if you ask in my name the father will do it no i will do it myself i

will personally do the things you ask let's continue reading the rest of the passage that the father may be glorified in the son if you ask me anything in my name i will do it you see what jesus said here if you ask me in other words pray to me directly i will do it personally now here christ is not only making himself an object of prayer which would be blasphemy if he was a creature after all the bible and the crown agree that all petitions all invocations must be directed to god alone because god

alone can answer all prayers duas invocations etc but christ says you can pray directly to me and i will do it and saying that he is able to hear all prayers directed to him and in answering those prayers jesus is presupposing the omni attributes of god what do i mean by that in order for christ to know who's praying to him where they're praying to him when they're praying to him and what they're praying for he must be omniscient he must know who's praying when where and what and it doesn't matter how many are praying

to him christ is saying if all of you ask me i'll answer all of you so that requires omniscience it also requires omnipresence and omnipotence now why do i say that in order for christ to personally guarantee that he will answer all the prayers offered to him he must have the ability to fulfill all requests however only god is omniscient only god is omnipresent only god is omnipotent yet jesus statements here in john 14 presuppose that he believed he was all of these things i.e omniscient omnipotent omnipresent he goes on to reiterate that he has

these essential divine attributes that belong to god alone in john 14 23. what does he say there notice john 14 23 jesus answered him if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we father and i will come to him and make our home with him did you see what jesus just claimed here christ says not only will the father spiritually dwell and have fellowship with anyone who truly loves christ christ says that he too will spiritually dwell with anyone and everyone who truly loves him in other words

christ is not only claiming to be omnipresent he's claiming to be present with every believer in the same sense and to the same degree that the father is and in saying that christ shows that he believed he was co-equal with the father in essence and nature that he was just as present with every believer as the father is therefore he's just as omnipresent as the father is something that no mere creature could utter now in light of these statements in john 14 in light of these explicit statements to deity christ claiming to possess the very

omni attributes that belong to god alone clearly in john 14 28 jesus could not be saying that the father is greater than him in essence again if christ is claiming to be omniscient omnipotent omnipresent and only god is omniscient omnipotent omnipresent then christ is clearly claiming to be god well if he's clearly god then he's equal to the father in essence the nature so then in what sense is the father greater than the son well you don't need to guess christ gives us an idea in john 17 verse 5. let's turn to john 17 5

and see what jesus has to say there now father glorify me in your presence with the glory that i had notice used to have with you before the world existed here christ claims that he shared the very divine glory that the father has and he shared this with the father even before the world began and yet while on earth he had set aside this glory now this passage passage helps us to better understand what jesus meant in john 14 28 that the father is greater than i let's look at that passage once again in light

of all the passages that we just read which helps us to further and better understand jesus's point in context here goes john 14 28 one more time you heard me say to you i'm going away and will come to you if you love me now notice this if you love me you would have rejoiced because i'm going to the father for the great of the father excuse me is greater than i don't notice what jesus is telling disciples you shouldn't be sad at the fact that i'm leaving you if you really love me you would

be happy because i'm going to the father for the father's greater than i now what's the connection there what's the connection with the disciples rejoicing that christ will return to the father and that the father is greater than he well the line of john 17 5 it's obvious why jesus said what he said the point to the disciples is this if i remain on earth the father will be greater than me in terms of glory and status why because jesus already told us in john 17 5 that he set aside the very divine glory that

he possessed with the father before the world was in order to come to the earth and redeem his people from their sins however once he returns to the father he will once again receive that glory which was his which he voluntarily set aside so basically what jesus is telling the disciples is this if you love me then you would desire for me to return to glory and cease to be on earth because while i'm on earth i will continue in the state of humiliation but if i return to the father not only will the father

no longer be greater than i i'll be basking in the very divine glory that the father possesses which belongs to me and the glory i had with him before the world was that's what jesus means when he says the father is greater than i not in terms of essence or nature but in terms of status and glory finally it is ironic that muslims would point to john 14 28 to try to disprove the deity of christ when this passage actually proves that islam cannot be a revelation from the true god why do i say that

notice jesus says he will return to the father however according to the quran allah is a father to no one and he's definitely not the father of jesus christ just look at the at the following passages in the quran chapter 5 verse 18 of the quran chapter 9 verse 30 of the quran chapter 6 verse 101 and chapter 19 verses 88 to 93 all of which say jews and christians are not the sons of god that jesus is not the son of god and that god has no sons and that the highest relationship a person

can have with allah the god of muhammad is a slave to master relationship yet here the god that jesus proclaimed the god that jesus is returning to is his blessed father jesus is returning to god the father something muhammad denied therefore muhammad cannot be a true prophet so it's ironic that the very passage that they're trying to use to disprove christianity actually ends up proving islam is false thank you for your patient listening [Music]