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JOHN 14:28 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 14:27John 14:29
“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.”
You heard me say to you, '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 — this is the hardest statement in the discourse: the Father is greater than Jesus. This appears to undermine Jesus' divinity, yet its meaning is precise: in his incarnate state, Jesus has freely chosen to limit his divine prerogatives and place himself in obedience to the Father's will. The disciples are called to rejoice in this subordination because it is the expression of Jesus' love—he goes to the Father to complete the work of redemption and to prepare the way for the disciples.

Church Fathers on John 14:28

After saying, Peace I leave with you, which was like taking farewell, He consoles them: Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid: the two feelings of love and fear were now the uppermost in them.

Chrysostom · 4th century

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: you have heard how I said to 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…

Augustine · 4th century

If the Father is greater by virtue of giving, is the Son less by confessing the gift? The giver is the greater, but He to whom unity with that giver is given, is not the less.

Hilary of Poitiers · 4th century · Or thus
Read all 10 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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John 14:28 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy