Is the Father greater than the Son?

“The Father is greater than I” [Jn 14:28], has over the years occasioned an assortment of profound dogmatic discussions of the intratrinitarian ontological relationship between the Son and the Father and of the relationship between Jesus’ divine and human “natures.”  Specifically in the ancient Christological conflicts, but also in later popular and scholarly discussion of the divine sonship of Christ. This led both to a subordinationist Christology like that of Arius and–on the orthodox side–to the view that 14:28 referred to the irreversible order in trinitarian relationships (the Father begets the Son and not vice versa and so is “greater” in that sense). Others have sought a solution in the fact that Jesus speaks here from within his human nature as a “servant” and not from within his divine nature [footnote 101].

But in the process these words have all too often been abstracted from the line of thought pursued in the text, where Jesus is obviously not concerned to teach his disciples about the nature of his divine personhood or the distinction between his human and his divine nature–or to detract from the glory in which he participated as the Son of God (cf. 5:20f.). All that is at issue here is what is “more,” “greater,” or “more profitable” (cf. 16:7) for the disciples: Jesus’ remaining with them on earth or his going away to the Father? In the context everything is focused on his departure. That the Father is “more” than Jesus means only that his return to the Father is the beginning of a new dispensation of grace, one based in heaven and therefore coming down from the Father. This new dispensation will exceed the limitations of the dispensation represented by Jesus’ presence on earth (cf. v12), just as the glory that Jesus will receive as the Son who returns to the Father will be greater than his earthly glory (17:5,24), even though both issue from his oneness with the Father. Jesus is not excluded from that “greater” reality that the Father will confer on the disciples after Jesus’ departure (cf. 17:11-13). He will, in fact, have a hand in it, as is evident from everything that has been said so far, especially about his “coming” to them.

H. Ridderbos, The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary (Eerdmans 1997), 512.