You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come unto you. If you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I.

“(Tract. lxxviii. 1) Though He was only going for a time, their hearts would be troubled and afraid for what might happen before He returned; lest in the absence of the Shepherd the wolf might attack the flock: Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again to you. In that He was man, He went: in that He was God, He stayed. Why then be troubled and afraid, when He left the eye only, not the heart? To make them understand that it was as man that He said, I go away, and come again to you; He adds, If ye loved Me ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto My Father; for My Father is greater than I. In that the Son then is unequal with the Father, through that inequality He went to the Father, from Him to come again to judge the quick and dead: in that He is equal to the Father, He never goes from the Father, but is every where altogether with Him in that Godhead, which is not confined to place. Nay, the Son Himself, because that being equal to the Father in the form of God, He emptied Himself, not losing the form of God, but taking that of a servant, is greater even than Himself: the form of God which is not lost, is greater than the form of a servant which was put on. In this form of a servant, the Son of God is inferior not to the Father only, but to the Holy Ghost; in this the Child Christ was inferior even to His parents; to whom we read, He was subject. Let us acknowledge then the twofold substance of Christ, the divine, which is equal to the Father, and the human, which is inferior. But Christ is both together, not two, but one Christ: else the Godhead is a quaternity, not a Trinity. Wherefore He says, If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father; for human nature should exult at being thus taken up by the Only Begotten Word, and made immortal in heaven; at earth being raised to heaven, and dust sitting incorruptible at the right hand of the Father. Who, that loves Christ, will not rejoice at this, seeing, as he doth, his own nature immortal in Christ, and hoping that He Himself will be so by Christ.”

“Above, the Lord consoled his disciples with reasons drawn from the side of the disciples themselves, by promising them access to the Father, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and his own return; but here he consoles them with reasons drawn from his own side, from which a twofold cause of consolation could come to them. One, from the benefit of the fruit that would follow from Christ's departure; the other, from the cause of his death. And therefore he first sets down the first; second, the second, at the place "I will now speak much with you no more." Now the fruit that followed from Christ's departure was his own exaltation, etc., whence the disciples could be consoled. For it is the custom of friends that, when a friend goes off to his own exaltation, they are less desolated at his departure; and therefore the Lord sets down this cause for their consolation. And first he excludes the doubt of the heart; second, he calls to mind something that consoled them in part, and in part troubled them; third, he adds the cause that consoles totally; fourth, he answers a certain tacit question. He excludes indeed the trouble of the heart, saying, "Let not your heart be troubled," and so on. Trouble is referred to sadness; dread to fear. Now sadness and fear agree in something, namely in this, that each is about an evil; but they differ, because sadness is about a present evil, while dread is about a future evil. Now the Lord says, "Let not your heart be troubled," concerning present evil — Psalm 111:6: "The just man shall not be moved"; "nor let it be afraid," namely concerning the future — Isaiah 51:12: "Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal man?" This is to be understood of human fear, for he does not exclude divine fear. Consequently, when he says, "You have heard that I said to you: I go, and I come to you"; for they were troubled by Christ's departure, but they were in part consoled by what he adds, "and I come to you" — above: "I go, and I come to you." Yet they were not totally consoled by this, fearing lest perhaps the wolf might invade the flock in this interval, in the absence of the shepherd, according to that saying of Zechariah 13:7: "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." He says therefore, "let it not be troubled," because "I go"; but "let it not be afraid" either, because "I come to you." He goes indeed by his own power in dying, and he comes by rising again; Matthew 20:18: "The Son of man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death... and the third day he shall rise again." He went by ascending; Isaiah 63:1: "This beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength." He will come to judge; Luke 21:27: "They shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with great power and majesty." But he consoles them totally when he says, "If you loved me, you would indeed rejoice"; as if to say: if you love me, you ought not be saddened, but rather you ought to rejoice at my departure, because I go to my exaltation, namely because "I go to the Father, who is greater than I." But from this Arius exults, saying that the Father is greater than the Son. His error is excluded by these very words of the Lord. For from the understanding by which "I go to the Father" is understood, from that same understanding "the Father is greater than I" is understood. But the Son does not go to the Father, nor does he come to us, insofar as he is the Son of God, according to which he was with the Father from eternity — above, chapter 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God." But he is said to go to the Father according to his human nature. Thus, therefore, when he says "is greater than I," he does not say it insofar as he is the Son of God, but insofar as he is the Son of man, according to which he is not only less than the Father and the Holy Spirit, but even than the angels themselves; Hebrews 2:9: "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor." Likewise he was subject, in some respect, to certain men, namely his parents, as is read in Luke 2:51. So then he is less than the Father according to his humanity, equal according to his divinity; Philippians 2:6: "He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." It can also be said, according to Hilary, that the Father, even according to divinity, is greater than the Son, but nevertheless the Son is not lesser, but equal. For the Father is greater than the Son not in power, eternity, and greatness, but in the authority of one who gives, that is, of a principle. For the Father receives nothing from another, but the Son, so to speak, receives his nature from the Father through eternal generation. The Father, then, is greater because he gives; but the Son is not lesser, but equal, because he receives all that the Father has; Philippians 2:9: "He gave him a name which is above all names." For he to whom one and the same being is given is no longer lesser than the one giving. Chrysostom, however, expounds it thus, saying that the Lord speaks according to the suspicion of the apostles, who did not yet know what the resurrection was, nor did they consider him equal to the Father. And therefore he says to them: even if you do not believe me that I am not able to help myself, nor trust that after the cross I shall see you again; nevertheless believe me, that I go to the Father, who is greater than I. He responds, however, to a tacit question, saying, "And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it shall come to pass, you may believe." For they might ask why he was saying these things, and therefore, anticipating them, he says, "Now I have told you," and so on. But Augustine asks: since faith is of those things which are not seen, a man ought not to believe after it has come to pass, but before. But it must be said that they saw one thing, and believed another. They saw, before, the death of Christ and his resurrection; and having seen this, they believed that he was the Christ, the Son of God. Hence when it had come to pass, they believed not with a new faith, but with an increased one; or rather, indeed, when he had died, it was diminished; when he had risen, it was restored, as Augustine says. Consequently, when he says, "I will now speak much with you no more," he sets down another cause of consolation on the part of his departure, which is taken from the cause of his death. Now it must be known that the cause of death is of one kind inducing sorrow, when someone is killed for a fault; and of another kind inducing consolation, namely when someone dies for the good of virtue; 1 Peter 4:15: "Let none of you suffer as a thief or a murderer... but if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed." Concerning this, therefore, the Lord first shows that sin was not the cause of his death; second, that the cause of it was the power of obedience and charity, at the place, "but that the world may know that I love the Father." He says, therefore, "I will now speak much with you no more," on account of the brevity of the time; above, chapter 13:33: "Little children, yet a little while I am with you." Or because you are not yet capable of it; below, chapter 16:12: "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." Or he says, "I will not speak much with you," for this reason: because in one brief discourse I will explain to you that I shall not die on account of my own fault. And he does this consequently, when he says, "For the prince of this world comes, and in me he has nothing," namely the Devil, who is called prince, not by reason of creation, nor by natural power, as the Manichaeans blaspheme, but by reason of the fault of this world, that is, of its lovers; hence he is called the prince of the world and of sin. Ephesians, last chapter, verse 12: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and princes of this darkness." He is not, therefore, the prince of creatures, but of sinners and of darkness; Job 41:25: "He is king over all the children of pride." This prince, therefore, comes to persecute: for he entered into the heart of Judas, that he might betray, and into the hearts of the Jews, that they might kill; but "in me he has nothing": for in us he has no power except on account of sin; above, chapter 8, verse 34: "He who commits sin is the servant of sin." But in Christ there was no sin, neither according to the soul — 1 Peter 2:22: "Who did no sin," etc. — nor according to the flesh, because he was conceived of the Holy Spirit from a virgin without original sin; Luke 1:35: "For that which shall be born of thee shall be called holy, the Son of God." Because, therefore, the Devil also invaded Christ, in whom he had no right, he deserved to lose what he justly possessed; Mark 5:7: "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Son of the most high God?" Thus, then, it is clear that the cause of his death was not fault; indeed there was no reason why he should die, if he had no sin. Consequently he adds the true cause, which is the good of virtue; and therefore he says, "but that the world may know that I love the Father": which, according to Augustine, is punctuated thus: "but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father has given me commandment, so do I" — with a suspended pause — "arise, let us go hence." Here it must be known that two things moved Christ to undergo death, namely love of God and love of neighbor; Ephesians 5:2: "Walk in love." And he proves this by a sign, in that he fulfills his own commandments; above: "If you love me, keep my commandments." And as to this he says, "but that the world may know that I love the Father," etc.; and this effectively, namely because I die; hence he adds, "and as the Father has given me commandment, so do I": which is according to that whereby the Father moved him to undertake death, namely obedience, which is caused by love. Now the Father gave this commandment not to the Son of God, who, since he is the Word, is himself also the commandment of the Father; but he gave it to the Son of man, insofar as he inspired in his soul that it was necessary for human salvation that Christ should die in his human nature. That the world, therefore, may know this: "arise" — from the place where they had supped — "and let us go" — to the place where I am to be handed over — that you may see that I die not out of necessity, but out of charity and obedience; Job 39:21: "He goes forth boldly to meet armed men." According to Chrysostom, however, it is read otherwise: namely, that at the point where he says "so do I" there is the end of the sentence; and at the point where he resumes, "arise, let us go hence," there is the beginning of another; so that the sense is: I do not die as though the prince of this world had anything in me, but because I love the Father, therefore I do this. But do you arise, and let us go hence. For he saw that they were afraid, both on account of the time, because it was deep night, and on account of the place, because they were plainly stationed in a house in a village, so that they kept turning their eyes toward the door, as if expecting enemies to invade them, and on this account not attending to the things that were being said. And therefore, that they might better understand the words he was about to say, he leads them into another, secluded place, so that, judging themselves to be safe, they might listen more attentively to what he was saying to them; Hosea 2:14: "I will lead her into solitude, and I will speak to her heart."”

“Christ here gives his disciples another reason why their hearts should not be troubled for his going away; and that is, because his heart was not. And here he tells them what it was that enabled him to endure the cross and despise the shame, that they might look unto him, and run with patience. He comforted himself, I. That, though he went away, he should come again: "You have heard how I have said, and now I say it again, I go away, and come again." Note, What we have heard of the doctrine of Christ, especially concerning his second coming, we have need to be told again and again. When we are under the power of any transport of passion, grief, or fear, or care, we forget that Christ will come again. See Phi 4:5. Christ encouraged himself with this, in his sufferings and death, that he should come again, and the same should comfort us in our departure at death; we go away to come again; the leave we take of our friends at that parting is only a good night, not a final farewell. See Th1 4:13, Th1 4:14. II. That he went to his Father: "If you loved me, as by your sorrow you say you do, you would rejoice instead of mourning, because, though I leave you, yet I said, I go unto the Father, not only mine, but yours, which will be my advancement and your advantage; for my Father is greater than I." Observe here, 1. It is matter of joy to Christ's disciples that he is gone to the Father, to take possession for orphans, and make intercession for transgressors. His departure had a bright side as well as a dark side. Therefore he sent this message after his resurrection (Joh 20:17), I ascend to my Father and your Father, as most comfortable. 2. The reason of this is, because the Father is greater than he, which, if it be a proper proof of that for which it is alleged (as no doubt it is), must be understood thus, that his state with his Father would be much more excellent and glorious than his present state; his returning to his Father (so Dr. Hammond) would be the advancing of him to a much higher condition than that which he was now in. Or thus, His going to the Father himself, and bringing all his followers to him there, was the ultimate end of his undertaking, and therefore greater than the means. Thus Christ raises the thoughts and expectations of his disciples to something greater than that in which now they thought all their happiness bound up. The kingdom of the Father, wherein he shall be all in all, will be greater than the mediatorial kingdom. 3. The disciples of Christ should show that they love him by their rejoicing in the glories of his exaltation, rather than by lamenting the sorrows of his humiliation, and rejoicing that he is gone to his Father, where he would be, and where we shall be shortly with him. Many that love Christ, let their love run out in a wrong channel; they think if they love him they must be continually in pain because of him; whereas those that love him should dwell at ease in him, should rejoice in Christ Jesus. III. That his going away, compared with the prophecies which went before of it, would be a means of confirming the faith of his disciples (Joh 14:29): "I have told you before it come to pass that I must die and rise again, and ascend to the Father, and send the Comforter, that, when it is come to pass, you might believe." See this reason, Joh 13:19; Joh 16:4. Christ told his disciples of his death, though he knew it would both puzzle them and grieve them, because it would afterwards redound to the confirmation of their faith in two things: - 1. That he who foretold these things had a divine prescience, and knew beforehand what day would bring forth. When St. Paul was going to Jerusalem, he knew not the things that did abide him there, but Christ did. 2. That the things foretold were according to the divine purpose and designation, not sudden resolves, but the counterparts of an eternal counsel. Let them therefore not be troubled at that which would be for the confirmation of their faith, and so would redound to their real benefit; for the trial of our faith is very precious, though it cost us present heaviness, through manifold temptations, Pe1 1:6. IV. That he was sure of a victory over Satan, with whom he knew he was to have a struggle in his departure (Joh 14:30): "Henceforth I will not talk much with you, having not much to say, but what may be adjourned to the pouring out of the Spirit." He had a great deal of good talk with them after this (ch. 15 and 16), but, in comparison with what he had said, it was not much. His time was now short, and he therefore spoke largely to them now, because the opportunity would soon be over. Note, We should always endeavour to talk to the purpose, because perhaps we may not have time to talk much. We know not how soon our breath may be stopped, and therefore should be always breathing something that is good. When we come to be sick and die, perhaps we may not be capable of talking much to those about us; and therefore what good counsel we have to give them, let us give it while we are in health. One reason why he would not talk much with them was because he had now other work to apply himself to: The prince of this world comes. He called the devil the prince of this world, Joh 12:31. The disciples dreamed of their Master being the prince of this world, and they worldly princes under him. But Christ tells them that the prince of this world was his enemy, and so were the princes of this world, that were actuated and ruled by him, Co1 2:8. But he has nothing in me. Observe here, 1. The prospect Christ had of an approaching conflict, not only with men, but with the powers of darkness. The devil had set upon him with his temptations (Mt. 4), had offered him the kingdoms of this world, if he would hold them as tributary to him, with an eye to which Christ calls him, in disdain, the prince of this world. Then the devil departed from him for a season; "But now," says Christ, "I see him rallying again, preparing to make a furious onset, and so to gain by terrors that which he could not gain by allurements;" to frighten from his undertaking, when he could not entice from it. Note, The foresight of a temptation gives us great advantage in our resistance of it; for, being fore-warned, we should be fore-armed. While we are here, we may see Satan continually coming against us, and ought therefore to be always upon our guard. 2. The assurance he had of good success in the conflict: He hath nothing in me, ouk echei ouden - He hath nothing at all. (1.) There was no guilt in Christ to give authority to the prince of this world in his terrors. The devil is said to have the power of death (Heb 2:14); the Jews called him the angel of death, as an executioner. Now Christ having done no evil, Satan had no legal power against him, and therefore, though he prevailed to crucify him, he could not prevail to terrify him; though he hurried him to death, yet not to despair. When Satan comes to disquiet us, he has something in us to perplex us with, for we have all sinned; but, when he would disturb Christ, he found no occasion against him. (2.) There was no corruption in Christ, to give advantage to the prince of this world in his temptations. He could not crush his undertaking by drawing him to sin, because there was nothing sinful in him, nothing irregular for his temptations to fasten upon, no tinder for him to strike fire into; such was the spotless purity of his nature that he was above the possibility of sinning. The more Satan's interest in us is crushed and decays, the more comfortably may we expect sufferings and death. V. That his departure was in compliance with, and obedience to, his Father. Satan could not force his life from him, and yet he would die: that the world may know that I love the Father, Joh 14:31. We may take this, 1. As confirming what he had often said, that his undertaking, as Mediator, was a demonstration to the world, (1.) Of his compliance with the Father; hereby it appeared that he loved the Father. As it was an evidence of his love to man that he died for his salvation, so it was of his love to God that he died for his glory and the accomplishing of his purposes. Let the world know that between the Father and the Son there is not love lost. As the Father loved the Son, and gave all things into his hands; so the Son loved the Father, and gave his spirit into his hand. (2.) Of his obedience to his Father: "As the Father gave me commandment, even so I did - did the thing commanded me in the manner commanded." Note, The best evidence of our love to the Father is our doing as he hath given us commandment. As Christ loved the Father, and obeyed him, even to the death, so we must love Christ, and obey him. Christ's eye to the Father's commandment, obliging him to suffer and die, bore him up with cheerfulness, and overcame the reluctancies of nature; this took off the offence of the cross, that what he did was by order from the Father. The command of God is sufficient to bear us out in that which is most disputed by others, and therefore should be sufficient to bear us up in that which is most difficult to ourselves: This is the will of him that made me, that sent me. 2. As concluding what he had now said; having brought it to this, here he leaves it: that the world may know that I love the Father. You shall see how cheerfully I can meet the appointed cross: "Arise, let us go hence to the garden;" so some; or, to Jerusalem. When we talk of troubles at a distance, it is easy to say, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest; but when it comes to the pinch, when an unavoidable cross lies in the way of duty, then to say, "Arise, let us go to meet it," instead of going out of our way to miss it, this lets the world know that we love the Father. If this discourse was at the close of the passover-supper, it should seem that at these words he arose from the table, and retired into the drawing-room, where he might the more freely carry on the discourse with his disciples in the following chapters, and pray with them. Dr. Goodwin's remark upon this is, that Christ mentioning the great motive of his sufferings, his Father's commandment, was in all haste to go forth to suffer and die, was afraid of slipping the time of Judas's meeting him: Arise, says he, let us go hence but he looks upon the glass, as it were, sees it not quite out, and therefore sits down again, and preaches another sermon. Now, (1.) In these words he gives his disciples an encouragement to follow him. He does not say, I must go; but, Let us go. He calls them out to no hardships but what he himself goes before them in as their leader. They had promised they would not desert him: "Come," says he, "let us go then; let us see how you will make the words good." (2.) He gives them an example, teaching them at all times, especially in suffering times, to sit loose to all things here below, and often to think and speak of leaving them. Though we sit easy, and in the midst of the delights of an agreeable conversation, yet we must not think of being here always: Arise, let us go hence. If it was at the close of the paschal and eucharistical supper, it teaches us that the solemnities of our communion with God are not to be constant in this world. When we sit down under Christ's shadow with delight, and say, It is good to be here; yet we must think of rising and going hence; going down from the mount.”

“Ye have heard how I said unto you,.... Christ had not only told his disciples that he should depart from them in a little time, but also that he should return again to them, and comfort them with his presence, and receive them to himself, to be with him in his Father's house for ever: and this he again suggests, I go away, and come again unto you; so that they had not so much reason to be troubled and afraid, as they were: had he only said to them that he should go away, without giving any hint of his coming again, they might well have been uneasy; what made the friends of the Apostle Paul so sorrowful at his departure, was most of all, because he had signified to them they should see his face no more; but Christ assured his disciples that in a little time they should see him again, to their unspeakable joy and comfort: if ye loved me, adds he, ye would rejoice; not but that the disciples did truly love Christ, and their concern for the loss of his bodily presence is a proof of it; nor was their love unknown to him, nor does he call it in question, only corrects it, or rather uses means to increase it, to draw it forth aright, that it might move and run in a proper channel; they loved him, and therefore were unwilling to part with him, but this was not a pure expression of love to him, it showed too much a regard to themselves, than to the object loved; whereas had they considered things aright, since it was to his greater advantage to remove, they should rather have discovered a willingness to it, and have rejoiced at it; this would have shown pure love and unbiased affection to him: two reasons our Lord gives why they should have rejoiced at his departure; one is, because, says he, I said, I go unto the Father; who was not only his, but their Father also; at whose right hand he was to sit, an honour which no mere creature ever had; where he was to be glorified and exalted above all created beings; and besides, his glorification would secure and bring on theirs; as sure as he lived in glory, so sure should they; yea, they should immediately sit down in heavenly places in him, as their head and representative, and therefore had good reason to rejoice at his going away: the other is, for my Father is greater than I: not with respect to the divine nature, which is common to them both, and in which they are both one; and the Son is equal to the Father, having the self-same essence, perfections, and glory: nor with respect to personality, the Son is equally a divine person, as the Father is, though the one is usually called the first, the other the second person; yet this priority is not of nature, which is the same in both; nor of time, for the one did not exist before the other; nor of causality, for the Father is not the cause of the Son's existence; nor of dignity, for the one has not any excellency which is wanting in the other; but of order and manner of operation: these words are to be understood, either with regard to the human nature, in which he was going to the Father, this was prepared for him by the Father, and strengthened and supported by him, and in which he was made a little lower than the angels, and consequently must be in it inferior to his Father; or with regard to his office as Mediator, in which he was the Father's servant, was set up and sent forth by him, acted under him, and in obedience to him, and was now returning to give an account of his work and service; or rather with regard to his present state, which was a state of humiliation: he was attended with many griefs and sorrows, and exposed to many enemies, and about to undergo an accursed death; whereas his Father was in the most perfect happiness and glory, and so in this sense "greater". That is, more blessed and glorious than he; for this is not a comparison of natures, or of persons, but of states and conditions: now he was going to the Father to partake of the same happiness and glory with him, to be glorified with himself, with the same glory he had with him before the foundation of the world; wherefore on this account, his disciples ought to have rejoiced, and not have mourned.”

“I go away - To the Father by my death: And come again unto you - By my resurrection. Ye would rejoice - Because, as the Messiah, I am going to receive a kingdom, and power, and glory, for ever. Therefore as my friends ye should rejoice in my elevation, though for a while it may put you to the pain of being separated from me: besides, I am going that I may send you the Holy Spirit, which shall fill you with the fullness of God: on your own account, therefore, ye should have rejoiced and not mourned. My Father is greater than I - In Joh 14:24, Christ tells his disciples that the Father had sent him: i.e. in his quality of Messiah, he was sent by the Father to instruct, and to save mankind. Now, as the sender is greater than the sent, Joh 13:16, so in this sense is the Father greater than the Son; and in this sense was the passage understood by Origen, Jerome, Novatian, and Vigilius, who read the text thus: The Father, ὁ πεμψας, who sent me, is greater than I. It certainly requires very little argument, and no sophistry, to reconcile this saying with the most orthodox notion of the Godhead of Christ; as he is repeatedly speaking of his Divine and of his human nature. Of the former he says, I and the Father are one, Joh 10:30; and of the latter he states, with the same truth, The Father is greater than I.”

“The Father is greater than I. [3] According to the common exposition, Christ here speaks of himself, as made man, which interpretation is drawn from the circumstances of the text, Christ being at that time, going to suffer, and die, and shortly after to rise again, and ascend into heaven, all which agree with him, as man, and according to his human nature. But the Arians can take no advantage from these words, (though with divers of the ancient Fathers, we should allow them to be spoken of Christ, as the Son of God:) the Father may be said in some manner to be greater than the Son, if we consider the order of the divine processions, that is, that the Father is the first person, and proceeds from no other; whereas the Son proceeds from the Father. If any one, says St. Chrysostom, will contend, that the Father is greater, inasmuch as he is the cause, from which the Son proceedeth, we will bear with him, and this way of speaking: provided he grant that the Son is not of a different substance, or nature. St. Athanasius allows the same, and takes notice, that though the Father is said to be greater, yet he is not said to be better, nor more excellent, than the Son; because they are one and the same in substance, nature, and other perfections. (Witham) — The enemies of the divinity of Christ here triumph, and think they have the confession of Christ himself, that he is less than the Father. But if they would distinguish the two natures of Christ, their arguments would all fall to the ground. Jesus Christ, as man, and a creature, is inferior to his Father, the Creator; but, as God, he is, in every respect, equal to him. (St. Basil, St. Augustine, &c.) — Others, likewise, answer it thus: Following the confused opinion of the world, and even of the apostles themselves, who as yet only considered Christ as a prophet, and as a man, eminent in virtue and sanctity, he was less than the Father. (St. Chrysostom; Leont.; Theophylactus; Euthymius) — And likewise the title of Father, (as we generally use the word) is greater, and much more honourable, than that of Son; and in this respect, Christ is inferior to his Father. (St. Athanasius; St. Hilary; St. Epiphanius; St. Gregory of Nazianzus; and St. Cyril) —But this appellation, though really true, does not destroy the equality of the persons, because Christ has declared, in numerous other places, that he is equal to the Father; that he is in the Father; and that he and the Father are one. The apostles ought to have rejoiced that Christ was going to the Father, who was superior to him, considering him in his human nature; because, then, would the Son shew forth his honour and glory to be equal to the Father’s, in heaven. This would have been a mark of a pure, solid, and disinterested love, which ought to have inspired the apostles, if they truly loved their divine Master. (Calmet) — Protestants assume to themselves the liberty of making the Bible only, the exclusive rule of faith, yet refuse this privilege to others. Thus Luther insisted, that his catechism should be taught, and followed. Calvin burnt Servetus for explaining his faith, by his own interpretation of the Bible, particularly of these words, the Father is greater than I. The Church of England compels every clergyman to swear to the Thirty-nine Articles, and has inflicted the severest penalties on such as interpreted the Bible according to the principles of Socinus; and on Catholics, who understand the words of Jesus Christ, This is my body: this is my blood, in the literal and obvious sense of the words. As long as each individual is at liberty to expound Scripture by the private spirit, it is a great injustice to compel any one, by penal laws, to yield his judgment to any authority, that is not less fallible than his own.”

“If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father, for my Father is greater than I--These words, which Arians and Socinians perpetually quote as triumphant evidence against the proper Divinity of Christ, really yield no intelligible sense on their principles. Were a holy man on his deathbed, beholding his friends in tears at the prospect of losing him, to say, "Ye ought rather to joy than weep for me, and would if ye really loved me, "the speech would be quite natural. But if they should ask him, why joy at his departure was more suitable than sorrow, would they not start back with astonishment, if not horror, were he to reply, "Because my Father is greater than I?" Does not this strange speech from Christ's lips, then, presuppose such teaching on His part as would make it extremely difficult for them to think He could gain anything by departing to the Father, and make it necessary for Him to say expressly that there was a sense in which He could do so? Thus, this startling explanation seems plainly intended to correct such misapprehensions as might arise from the emphatic and reiterated teaching of His proper equality with the Father--as if so Exalted a Person were incapable of any accession by transition from this dismal scene to a cloudless heaven and the very bosom of the Father--and by assuring them that this was not the case, to make them forget their own sorrow in His approaching joy.”