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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
- 1 Cor 15:24–28Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
- 1 Cor 11:3But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
- Ps 47:5–7God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
- John 20:17Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
- John 13:16Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
- Phil 2:6–11Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
- Heb 1:2–3Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
- Heb 2:9–15But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
- John 14:18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
- Heb 3:1–4Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
- John 20:21Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
- 1 Pet 1:8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
- John 14:2–4In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
- John 16:7Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
- John 5:18Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
- John 10:38But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
- Isa 53:11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
- John 14:12Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
- Isa 49:5–7And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
- Rev 1:17–18And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
- Matt 12:18Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
- John 16:16–22A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
- Ps 68:9Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.
- Isa 42:1Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
- Rev 1:11Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
- Ps 68:18Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.
- Luke 24:51–53And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and 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.