Is Jesus actually lower than the Father? On this What within the Phrase? episode, Kirk E. Miller is joined by theologian Michael Horton to deal with John 14:28, the place Jesus says, “The Father is bigger than I.”
Does this verse undermine perception in Jesus’s divinity and equality with the Father? What did Jesus imply in context—and what have Christians traditionally believed about this passage?
Collectively, Kirk and Mike discover a number of historic interpretations, together with Arianism, everlasting technology, the state of Christ’s humiliation, everlasting practical subordination, and extra. They conclude with sensible insights for educating and making use of this deeply theological textual content.
Observe the present on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and extra.
Particular affords
A Free Guide Only for You
Logos has given away over 5 million free books, empowering Christians globally to check deeply. Get a shiny, new free ebook each month!
Unique Lexham Press Robust Texts Bundle
Have extra questions concerning the Bible? Get the 10-volume Lexham Press Robust Texts Bundle designed solely for followers of What within the Phrase?
The Way forward for Bible Examine is Right here
Unlock in-depth examine of God’s Phrase, plus unique reductions, free books, and extra beginning as little as $9.99/month—solely with the brand new Logos.
Join with us
Prepared to extend biblical literacy? Like and share. To go the additional mile, depart us a assessment in your most well-liked platform.
Subscribe to get future episodes. (Bonus: We’ll ship you a reduction to make use of in your first buy.)
Thanks for subscribing to Phrase by Phrase!
Use code WORDBYWORD to avoid wasting 10% in your first order.
WORDBYWORD
Copy code
Episode visitor: Michael Horton
Michael S. Horton (PhD, Wycliffe Corridor, Oxford and Coventry College) is the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, founder and editor-in-chief of Sola Media, and host on White Horse Inn, a weekly roundtable podcast on theology and tradition.
Dr. Horton has written over thirty books, together with award-winning titles akin to Justification (2 vols.), The Christian Religion, and Christless Christianity. His most up-to-date ebook is Shaman and Sage: The Roots of “Non secular however Not Non secular” in Antiquity, the primary of three volumes in his mental historical past of “religious however not non secular” as a phenomenon in Western tradition.
Episode synopsis
The disputed phrase: “The Father is bigger than I”
This episode addresses a deeply theological and regularly debated assertion made by Jesus in John 14:28: “The Father is bigger than I.” How ought to Christians interpret Jesus’ swords throughout the broader framework of Scripture and Trinitarian theology, avoiding widespread misunderstandings perpetuated by heresies each historic and fashionable?
Setting the context: John’s higher room discourse
Earlier than deciphering John 14:28, Mike emphasizes the significance of situating it inside its narrative context—specifically, Jesus’s higher room discourse present in John 14–16. This passage is a component of a bigger sermon Jesus provides to his disciples earlier than his crucifixion and resurrection.
Jesus repeatedly proclaims his departure and guarantees the approaching of the Holy Spirit. The disciples are confused and discouraged by his phrases, anticipating a triumphant earthly kingdom fairly than a crucified Messiah. Jesus reassures them, explaining that his departure is critical for the Spirit to come back and for his or her ongoing mission to start.
Heretical & non-Christian interpretations
This assertion—“The Father is bigger than I”—has typically been used to argue that Jesus is by some means lesser than God, or not God in any respect. Mike identifies two main teams that misread this verse:
- Arians (traditionally and in fashionable kinds akin to Jehovah’s Witnesses), who argue that Jesus is a created being and never absolutely divine.
- Subordinationists, who declare a hierarchical relationship wherein the Father is eternally superior to the Son and Spirit in rank and authority.
Moreover, this verse is regularly cited in interfaith apologetics by Muslims and different non-Trinitarian monotheists to problem the Christian doctrine of the deity of Christ.
The orthodox interpretation: incarnation, humiliation, mission
Mike then presents what he and the broader Christian custom affirm because the orthodox interpretation. In response to the church fathers on the Council of Nicaea and subsequent Christian thinkers, Jesus’s assertion ought to be understood in mild of his incarnation and mission—not his everlasting divine nature.
On this view, the “larger than” assertion refers to:
- Jesus’s incarnation because the obedient Son, residing beneath the regulation (Gal 4:4).
- His state of humiliation, having “made himself nothing” and taking up human kind (Phil 2).
- His financial mission, the Son being despatched by the Father, fulfilling his redemptive function.
This interpretation affirms that, whereas the Son is the same as the Father in essence (ontologically), he voluntarily assumes a subordinate position in his earthly mission and is inferior to the Father with respect to his humanity. Because the Athanasian Creed states,
It’s essential to eternal salvation that he additionally consider rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the appropriate religion is that we consider and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man. God of the substance of the Father, begotten earlier than the worlds; and man of substance of His mom, born on this planet. Excellent God and excellent man, of an inexpensive soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.
Immanent vs. financial Trinity
A serious theme of the episode is the classical theological distinction between the ontological Trinity and the financial Trinity:
- Immanent (or ontological) Trinity refers back to the the Trinity because it exists in itself, eternally, aside from creation. Particularly, every individual of the Trinity is co-equal and co-eternal, really and equally God.
- Financial Trinity refers back to the Trinity in its relation to creation. This contains the roles every individual of the Godhead assumes in God’s redemptive plan. The Father sends, the Son accomplishes redemption, and the Spirit applies it.
Mike stresses that Jesus’s assertion in John 14:28 ought to be understood inside this financial framework. The inferiority talked about right here refers back to the Son’s position in redemptive historical past: It’s not a declare of inferiority in divine essence or everlasting relationship to the Father. As Augustine warned,
Males have erred by a need of cautious examination or consideration of the entire tenor of the Scriptures, and have endeavored to switch these issues that are mentioned of Jesus Christ in keeping with the flesh, to that substance of His which was everlasting earlier than the incarnation, and is everlasting.
Everlasting practical subordination (EFS): a contemporary evangelical debate
Mike critiques a more moderen theological improvement inside evangelical circles generally known as everlasting practical subordination (EFS). Proponents of EFS affirm the equality of the Trinity in essence however argue for an eternally current hierarchy of roles, with the Father at all times having had practical authority over the Son and Spirit.
In response to Mike, this place:
- Echoes subordinationist logic, even when unintentionally
- Initiatives financial roles again into the immanent Trinity
Mike warns that importing human social or familial analogies (e.g., husband and spouse) into Trinitarian theology results in theological error and might distort each doctrine and discipleship.
Everlasting technology & the Son’s distinction
In response to the EFS view, Kirk and Mike flip to the historic doctrine of everlasting technology, which maintains that:
- The Son is eternally begotten of the Father (e.g., John 1:18)
- This begetting isn’t a matter of time however an everlasting relationship
By grounding distinctions among the many divine individuals in supposedly social relations (i.e., authority and submission) fairly than every individual’s distinctive private properties, as discovered of their everlasting relations of origin, EFS undermines the doctrine of everlasting technology. Importantly, everlasting technology doesn’t indicate inferiority. As an alternative, it secures each the excellence and the equality of the individuals. Particularly, the Son is every part the Father is, besides he’s the Son, not the Father.
Human limitations & Christ’s two natures (the hypostatic union)
The dialog shifts to how Scripture portrays Jesus’s human limitations. Mike affirms the hypostatic union—Jesus is really God and really man, two natures united in a single individual.
Scripture displays this union:
- As God, Jesus is omniscient, everlasting, and sovereign
- As man, He grows, learns, experiences starvation, thirst, fatigue, and even ignorance (e.g., “nobody is aware of the day or hour,” Mark 13:32)
These limitations don’t undermine Jesus’s divinity. Relatively, they affirm his full humanity, which was obligatory for him to redeem fallen humanity. So too right here (John 14:28), Jesus will be mentioned to be inferior to the Father.
Sensible theology: why it issues
Mike closes by drawing out the pastoral and devotional implications of this doctrine.
- How we pray: Christians ought to relate distinctly to every individual of the Trinity. We pray to the Father, by the Son, by the Spirit—however we will additionally deal with the Son and Spirit instantly.
- Trinitarian fellowship: A biblical understanding of the Trinity enriches our communion with God. We don’t relate to a obscure divine essence however to the Father who sends, the Son who saves, and the Spirit who sanctifies.
- Worship and precision: Mike urges Christians to develop in theological precision—to not be pedantic, however to rightly know and worship the God who has revealed himself as Trinity.
Studying Scripture with theological classes
All through the episode, Mike returns to a key exhortation: interpret Scripture with theological discernment. Heresies come up not from denying the Bible, however from mishandling it—isolating verses from their broader context and theological that means.
Kirk agrees, including that pastors and academics ought to give folks the instruments to learn the Bible effectively. This contains educating theological classes akin to:
- Ontological vs. financial Trinity
- Everlasting technology and procession
- Two natures of Christ
- Mission vs. procession
These distinctions are usually not summary—they assist believers perceive troublesome passages and keep away from severe doctrinal errors. As Mike and Kirk affirm, theological readability results in deeper worship, extra devoted discipleship, and richer communion with the triune God.
Conclusion: So what’s the purpose?
Jesus’s phrases in John 14:28 are usually not a denial of his divinity however a mirrored image of his humble, obedient mission. His departure, removed from being a loss, inaugurates a brand new and larger stage in God’s redemptive plan—the pouring out of the Spirit and the worldwide enlargement of the church.
Logos values considerate and fascinating discussions on necessary biblical matters. Nonetheless, the views and interpretations offered on this episode are these of the people talking and don’t essentially replicate the official place of Logos. We acknowledge that Christians might maintain totally different views on this passage, and we welcome numerous engagement and respectful dialogue.
