The intent of “the Father is greater than I” is clear in
the context, but the statement has caused immense discussion through the
history of the Church, and it played a prominent part in the Arian controversy.
The problem has been to reconcile the declaration with intimations in the
Gospel of Jesus’ oneness with the Father in the Godhead (e.g., 1:1–18; 10:30;
20:28) and with the Church’s creedal affirmations of the co-equality of the
Father and the Son. Without doubt the statement in v 28 is one with many representations
in the Fourth Gospel as to the obedience of the Son to the Father (e.g., 4:34;
8:29) and his dependence on the Father for every aspect of his ministry (e.g.,
5:19; 12:48–49), as well as of the origin and end of the Son’s mediation in
revelation and redemption as being in the Father (e.g., 1:14, 18; 5:21–27). It
is doubtful therefore if the reference of v 28 can be limited solely to the
conditions of the Incarnation (as maintained, e.g., by Cyril of Alexandria,
Augustine, etc), but respect must also be had to the relations within the
Godhead (so Tertullian, Athanasius, etc). Barrett endeavors to take into
account both aspects: “The Father is fons
divinitatis in which the being of the Son has its source; the Father is God
sending and commanding, the Son is God sent and obedient” (468; see further
Barrett’s article, “The Father Is Greater than I (Jo 14:28)”; for discussions
in the early centuries see T. E. Pollard, Johannine
Christology and the Early Church [Cambridge: CUP 1970] passim). (George
R. Beasley-Murray, John [Word Biblical Commentary 36; Dallas: Word, Incorporated,
1999], 262)
ὁ πατὴρ μείζων μού ἐστιν.
See
‘The Father is greater than I’. The Father is fons divinitatis in which the being of the Son has its source; the
Father is God sending and commanding, the Son is God sent and obedient. John’s
thought here is focused on the humiliation of the Son in his earthly life, a
humiliation which now, in his death, reached both its climax and its end. (C.
K. Barrett, Gospel According to St. John: An Introduction with Commentary and
Notes on the Greek Text [2d ed.; London: SPCK, 1978], 468)
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