Understanding John 14:28 and Christ's Divinity in Ellen White's Writings

John 14:28

28 You have heard how I said to you, I go away, and come again to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

John 14:28 is a profound expression of Christ's relationship with the Father and His promise of return, appearing throughout the inspired writings to clarify His divinity, His mission of mediation, and the assurance of His second coming John 14:281SM 263.1+1.

In this verse, Jesus encourages His followers to rejoice in His departure to the Father, because the Father is greater than He—a statement reflecting His voluntary submission in His humanity while maintaining His oneness with the Father's throne John 14:28Hvn 10.3+1. This assurance was given not just for the immediate disciples, but as a positive promise for every believer until the very close of earth's history12MR 260.3+2. The promise that He would go away and come again is the foundational hope of the Adventist faith, providing comfort and courage to those facing trial or persecution John 14:1-3EA 104.2+1. Furthermore, Christ links this transition to the promise of the Holy Spirit, explaining that His presence with the Father would enable the Comforter to abide with the church forever John 14:15-16GC viii.2+1. Ultimately, John 14:28 serves as a pledge of success for all who labor with Him, ensuring that because He lives and has ascended to a position of power, His followers can perform even greater works through His name John 14:121SM 263.1+1.

“As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” John 20:21. We are to bear as definite a testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus, as did Christ and His apostles. Trusting in the efficiency of the Holy Spirit, we are to testify of the mercy, goodness, and love of a crucified and risen Saviour, and thus be agents through whom the darkness will be dispelled from many minds, and cause thanksgiving and praise to ascend from many hearts to God. There is a great work to be done by every son and daughter of God. Jesus says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” John 14:15, 16. In His prayer for His disciples, He says that He not only prayed for those in His immediate presence, but “for them also which shall believe on me through their word” John 17:20. Again He said, “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” John 14:28. Thus we see that Christ has prayed for His people, and made them abundant prom...— 1SM 263.1 (1958)

...ce, because I said, I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I.” John 14:26-28.] This positive assurance was given to the disciples, to be given to all who should believe on Him to the close of this earth’s history— 12LtMs, Ms 41, 1897, par. 35

We had about twenty-eight Sunday night. I spoke upon the first three verses of John 14 and Acts 1:8-12, telling them we were Adventists and not at all did we blush to acknowledge this. The disciples rejoiced after the message given to ...— 8LtMs, Lt 107, 1893, par. 5

...w 28:18. I AM the assurance of every promise. I AM; be not afraid. “God with us” is the surety of our deliverance from sin, the assurance of our power to obey the law of heaven.—The Desire of Ages, 24, 25— Hvn 10.3 (2003)

...ereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, as the Father hath given me commandment, even so I do.” John 14:28-31.— 12LtMs, Ms 44, 1897, par. 15

John 14:28

28 You have heard how I said to you, I go away, and come again to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

Jesus used the expression "the Father is greater than I" to describe His voluntary position while clothed in humanity, but this in no way denies His absolute pre-existence or His equality with God as the divine SonDD 10.1+2. This statement must be understood in the context of the incarnation, where Christ, though being in the form of God and equal with Him, humbled Himself to become a man and link finite man to the infinite God5BC 1126.7+2. It is a dangerous and subtle error to use this or any other scripture to claim that Christ had no existence before His advent or to lower our conception of His deity, as such theories contradict His plainest statements regarding His relationship with the FatherDD 10.1+1. While Christ was indeed God in the flesh, His divinity was veiled by humanity so that He could reach and redeem the fallen race through a life of perfect trust and submission to the Father's will7BC 904.10+1. Those who reject the inspired testimony concerning the deity of Christ cannot have a true conception of the plan of redemption or the mission of our Saviour7ABC 440.2+2. In His humiliation, He was the express image of the invisible God, and His claim of Sonship was a public declaration of His majesty and His future role as the supreme Judge of heaven and earth3SP 120.1. Therefore, while Jesus took the position of a servant in the nature of man, His divinity is to be steadfastly maintained and definitely proclaimed as the rock upon which the church standsRH March 2, 1905, par. 4+1.

Another dangerous error is the doctrine that denies the deity of Christ, claiming that He had no existence before His advent to this world. This theory is received with favor by a large class who profess to believe the Bible; yet it directly contradicts the plainest statements of our Saviour concerning His relationship with the Father, His divine character, and His pre-exist...— DD 10.1 (1997)

...n heaven would have shrunk from, God Himself must be revealed to humanity. In order to do this, our Saviour clothed His divinity with humanity. He employed the human faculties, for only by adopting these could He be comprehended by humanity. Only humanity could reach humanity. He lived out the character of God through the body which God had prepared for Him. He blessed the world by living out in human flesh the life of God, thus showing that He had the power to unite humanity to divinity.—Manuscript 44, 1895, pp. 1-2. (“A Great Work to Be Done.”— 9MR 126.1 (1990)

...n Saviour—The apostle would call our attention from ourselves to the Author of our salvation. He presents before us His two natures, divine and human. Here is the description of the divine: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” He was “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.&rdquo— 5BC 1126.7 (1956)

...xtent of that love which he had engaged to represent. Christ has demonstrated to the world that the divine and the human nature combined constitutes a sufficiency for all. Nothing that Christ might say or suffer could give an exaggerated conception of the infinite love of God to men. Having in His human nature absorbed the love of the Father, He has, as the source of grace, the fountain of all goodness and compassion, imparted His grace to men and increased their power o...— 9LtMs, Lt 26, 1894, par. 8

...ul. It is on the steadfast confession of Christ’s divinity that the promise is given that His church shall stand— 21LtMs, Ms 34, 1906, par. 22