Thousand Oaks Baptist Church
Jesus Is Jehovah
JESUS IS JEHOVAH - CHAPTER TWO
THE SUBORDINATION OF THE SON
Some have suggested that the Bible portrays Jesus Christ as being inferior to God the Father. I cannot find this to be true. The Bible does, however, portray the Son as subordinate to the Father in the modes of operation in the functions assigned to the Persons of the Trinity. To put that in a bit simpler language, whatever the Father does, He does through the Son, by means of the Holy Spirit.
As the result of this chain of command within the Trinity, we have the common Trinitarian formula repeated over and over again in the Scripture in the same order: "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
This is the order given in the baptismal formula: "...baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Notice that the inspired Gospel writer said, "... baptizing ... in the name ..." He did not say names! We have here three Persons constituting one God. We have one God with a three-fold name, each individual name depicted as representing a separate and distinct Person, yet one in essence.
And the divine order, or chain of command, is clearly seen in the baptismal formula: The Father first, then the Son (Who declares the Father), and then the Spirit (Who bears witness of both the Father and the Son).
By the way, have you ever wondered what name the three Persons of the Trinity all have together? In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, they are all called "the LORD" - or simply, "Jehovah"!
Having seen the chain of command and the subordination of the Son to the Father in the common Trinitarian formula, we now move to the statement of Christ Himself, in John 14:28. Here Jesus said, "... My Father is greater than I."
First of all, the context clearly shows that Jesus was not comparing the divinity or deity of the Father with His own deity. Second, Jesus was not comparing His human nature with the divine essence of the Father.
What the context does clearly show is that Jesus was comparing His earthly condition with the celestial glory that He had before the Incarnation and to which He would presently be restored.
And beyond this, in the greater context of the entire Gospel of John, this phrase, "greater than," always has the meaning, "of greater power and authority than." And that was exactly the situation at the moment when Jesus spoke those words! Jesus had laid aside the independent exercise of His divine attributes when He came to earth as a baby in that manger some thirty-plus years before. And He remained divorced from independently exercising His divine attributes until after He had been crucified and buried.
Now this coming to earth, this humiliation, involved a separation of the Son from the Father in some real sense. But His return to the Father restored to Him a position from which He can communicate to His disciples greater power and greater works. John 14:12 clarifies this point.
Paul the Apostle, in 1 Corinthians 3:23, 11:3, 15:24, and 15:28, clearly shows the subordination of the Son to the Father:
"And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's."
"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God."
"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power."
"And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."
Interestingly, Paul nowhere defines or explains the term "subjection." But it is obvious that this subjection is entirely voluntary on the part of Christ. And this in turn indicates a fellowship of equality between the Father and the Son, where an understanding is in effect as to the priorities and chain of command within the Trinity.
The last thought that relates to this subject is that this concept of the subordination of the Son to the Father is only one aspect of the doctrine of Christ. This concept of subordination in no way contradicts the identity of essence of Father and Son as being deity. In fact, if anything, it adds to the case for the Trinity, because it supports an eternal, infinite, orderly, loving, personal God, who not only must be at least two coequal Persons, but who has also - in infinite wisdom - determined how to eternally coexist.
Men can't seem to do that. Neither can nations. But we would be foolish to deny to God what He has revealed as blessed truth concerning Himself!