John 14:28 - Homiletics

The propriety of the disciples' gladness at Christ's exaltation.

HIS DEPARTURE CALCULATED TO CAUSE JOY , NOT SORROW . "If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto my Father!"

1. True love rejoices in another ' s good rather than in one ' s own . Our Lord's words imply that the disciples were selfish in seeking his further continuance with them on earth.

2. The ground of a legitimate joy at his departure . "For my Father is greater than I."

(a) The words, "My Father is greater than I," are not inconsistent with the Son's Deity, as Arians affirm; for what mere man or mere creature would ever think of saying that God is greater than himself? Is it not a truism to say so? The very fact that Christ used these words implies his consciousness of possessing a Divine nature.

(b) The Lord refers here,

( α ) not to the inferiority of his human nature,

( β ) nor to his mere Mediator-ship, as implying a servant's position,

( γ ) but to his subordination as a Son to the Father, in his essential Godhead. He asserts, in fact, his Divine essence.