You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
Parallel translations
- WEB You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I.
- KJV Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
- NKJV You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.
- NASB You heard that I said to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
- NLT Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus says that if the disciples loved Him they would rejoice that He is going to the Father, for the Father is greater than He. His departure means glory and the sending of the Spirit.
Overview
Jesus' going to the Father would bring His exaltation and the gift of the Spirit, so love would respond with joy rather than only sorrow. 'The Father is greater than I' has been understood by the historic church as referring to the Son's voluntary humiliation and submission in His incarnate mission, not to any inequality of divine nature, since elsewhere Jesus claims full equality with the Father. The orthodox confession holds the Son to be of one essence with the Father.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- John 10:29–30My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
- 1 Cor 15:24–28Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power.
- 1 Cor 11:3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
- Ps 47:5–7God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD with the sound of the horn.
- John 20:17“Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”
- John 13:16Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
- Phil 2:6–11Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
- Heb 1:2–3But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
- Heb 2:9–15But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
- John 14:18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
- Heb 3:1–4Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.
- John 20:21Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.”
- 1 Pet 1:8Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
- John 14:2–4In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
- John 16:7But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
- John 5:18Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
- John 10:38But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”
- Isa 53:11After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.
- John 14:12Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
- Isa 49:5–7And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength—
- Rev 1:17–18When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
- Matt 12:18“Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
- John 16:16–22In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.”
- Ps 68:9You sent abundant rain, O God; You refreshed Your weary inheritance.
- Isa 42:1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
- Rev 1:11saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
- Ps 68:18You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.
- Luke 24:51–53While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 14:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.
How traditions read this
Three readings of the Son's words about the Father.
The Father is "greater" as the eternal source (monarchia) from whom the Son is begotten — a greatness of origin, not of essence or honour. The Son is fully equal in deity, yet from the Father.
Key points · Greater as unbegotten source; equal in essence; the Father the fount of deity.
the Cappadocian Fathers; Hilary of Poitiers
Took the verse to mean the Son is genuinely lesser in being than the Father — a subordination of nature. The church rejected this at Nicaea as a denial of the Son''s full deity; included here as the reading the orthodox answers turned back.
Key points · "Greater" read as inequality of nature; the Son subordinate in being; rejected by the historic church.
Arius (condemned)
The Son speaks as the incarnate one: in his assumed humanity he is "lower," but in his deity he is equal to the Father. "Greater" concerns the Son''s state in the flesh, not any lesser divine nature.
Key points · Greater as to Christ''s humanity; equal as to deity; the two natures distinguished.
Augustine; Athanasius
Each view is stated as that tradition would put it, with representative sources. Limitless Word presents them side by side and endorses none — see the methodology.