I recently chatted with a man who does not believe in the Trinity. In his efforts to prove that Jesus isn’t God, He quoted John 14:28, 1 Corinthians 11:3, and 1 Corinthians 15:24. His conclusion: if Jesus is less than the Father and is submissive to the Father, then He cannot be God or a part of God. But is this true? When you look at these verses without considering the context and without understanding other passages that indicate the deity of Jesus, you could come to the same conclusion as this man.
Of course, these verses are challenging and add to the complexity of Jesus’ relationship with the Father and the understanding of the Trinity. However, just because a doctrine is difficult to grasp doesn’t mean we should always opt for simpler perspectives. When it comes to passages related to God and the Trinity, you sometimes have to hold various passages and teachings in tension and be content that it might take till eternity to understand it better. For me, since God is infinitely bigger than us, it makes sense that there will continue to remain a mystery surrounding many aspects of the Godhead.
That said, let’s consider these verses in more detail and see if they really do prove that Jesus is not God. (Of course, if Jesus is not God, then He probably is a created being.)
In John 14:28, Jesus says, “You have heard me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” “There you go”, some might say. “Doesn’t that settle the matter? Jesus said, “the Father is greater than I.” Sometimes those who point this out will dismiss the idea that Jesus is speaking from the point of view of his lowly human state and jump to passages like 1 Corinthians 15:24 that indicate that Jesus’ submission to the Father will continue beyond the end times. However, we need to slow down a bit and consider each passage on its own merit. The context of John 14:28 begins in John 13:31 and continues through to John 17:26. In this context, Jesus is clearly speaking from the point of view of His earthly human existence. That is obvious through the many times Jesus speaks of returning to the Father. (Consider John 13:36, 14:1-4, 14:28, John 16:5-16, 16:17-24, 28, John 17:5-5). The whole section is about Jesus preparing, warning and encouraging His disciples regarding His impending departure to heaven. So, if you don’t consider the fact that Jesus is speaking of the Father from the perspective of his earthly human existence, you are going read into the passage ideas and concepts that are not there. With that said, the verse that stands out the most to me is found in chapter 17. In verse 5 of this chapter, Jesus praying to the Father, says, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” This verse is significant and crucial to understanding this entire section of scripture. Before the world began, Jesus was with the Father in a glorious form. According to Paul in Philippians 2, this form was in the form of God. Yet in John 17:5 and Philippians 2, it is clear that during Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, Jesus was in a lesser form. That is, a human form. Born as a human Jesus no longer looked like God and was even made lower in rank than angels (Hebrew 1:6-10). That does not mean that Jesus ceased to be divine. It is clear from passages such as Matthew 9:1-8 that, in some sense, Jesus was still God. That, of course, brings us to the mystery of the dual nature of Jesus.
On the one hand, Jesus maintained His divinity and equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit in status and nature. On the other hand, Jesus was also human, and particularly pre-resurrection, Jesus was less than the Father in form and rank.
But what about 1 Corinthians 11:3? Does this prove that Jesus is not God? Paul says in this verse, “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of the Christ is God.” “See”, some might say, “does not this passage say that God is the head of Christ?” Since the Father is the head of Christ and Christ is in submission to Him, doesn’t that indicate that Christ is not God but a separate and distinct identity? Firstly, I am not convinced that in this context, the word head is used by the Apostle Paul to mean authority and leadership. Unfortunately, the egalitarian and complementarian debate often forces us into one corner or the other when it comes to definitions. That is unfortunate and prevents us from looking at a passage without bias.
Regarding the word “head” in the Bible, the egalitarians will primarily define it as meaning source, while the complementarians will say that it indicates authority and leadership. But why can’t the Biblical writers use the word differently in various contexts? Throughout the New Testament, the word “works” doesn’t always mean the same thing. For instance, Paul often uses “works” differently than James. In Ephesians 1:22-23 it is hard to imagine the word “head” means anything other than authority and leadership. However, in 1 Corinthians 11:3, it makes much more sense that Paul uses the word head to mean origin or source because it fits the discussion. Paul reiterates in verse 2 what he initially taught the Corinthians, that is, man originally came forth from Jesus who created him. Women originally came forth from men in the sense that women are the result of a rib being taken out of Adam. Christ, in human form, came forth from God. However, the Corinthian men were using that sequence of events to promote themselves above women and telling the Corinthian woman that since they came from men, they should have their heads literally covered when praying and prophesying (11:7-10). However, Paul corrects this thinking in verse 11 and says, actually, guys, if you want to get technical, in Jesus, it is recognised that men also come from women and therefore are not independent of them. Furthermore, if they wanted to get even more technical about it, a woman’s hair is enough of a covering for them. From verses 11-16, Paul brings the self-promoting Corinthian men back down to earth by turning their whole argument about authority based on women coming from men on its head (pardon the pun). That’s not to say that there aren’t other passages indicating the role of men in leadership. However, I don’t believe Paul encourages male leadership in this passage but dismantles an arrogant form of it. So, with all that said, is 1 Corinthians 11:3 teaching us that Jesus isn’t God because the Father is His head. I don’t believe Paul is saying that. In verse 3, Paul is acknowledging that Jesus, as a human and as the Christ, came forth from God. A truth that is reiterated many times throughout the gospel of John.
Now, even if we understand the word head in 1 Corinthians 11:3 to mean leadership and authority and that Jesus is in submission to the Father, would that still be an argument proving that Jesus isn’t God? I don’t believe so. If the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are indeed in a relationship, it makes sense that there still would be leadership and even submission. So, when we talk about equality in the Godhead, we are not for a minute suggesting equality in role and function. But equality in essence, value and status. For instance, in a marriage, men are responsible for leading their wives (Ephesians 5:22-33). However, that leadership isn’t an autocratic leadership that diminishes a wife’s status as a child of God or as a human. No, it is a loving leadership that recognises a wife as a fellow human being and someone who deserves to be valued and looked after. In other words, the husband’s role as a leader in the family by no means suggests that a wife isn’t a human, nor does it mean she isn’t an equal contributor to the relationship. When it comes to Jesus, we are not saying He is equal to the Father in position and function but in standing, nature, character, power and divinity.
But what about 1 Corinthians 15:24-31? This passage says, ‘Then the end will come, when he (Jesus) hands the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet”. Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.’
If Jesus eventually submits the kingdom and Himself to the Father, does this mean He is not God and, therefore, not equal to him? The problem with such a conclusion based on 1 Corinthians 15 is that it again ignores the context. The deity of Jesus is not under consideration in this passage. Instead, Jesus’ humanity and his role as the Christ are being discussed. Resurrection for humans is only possible because Jesus, as a man and chosen as the Christ, died and was resurrected. Notice 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who had fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all died, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Notice that Paul says that resurrection also comes through a man. Paul is responding to those amongst the Corinthians who did not believe in a resurrection from the dead. Paul tells them that the gospel would be rendered invalid and useless if such a view were accurate. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul makes the case that resurrection is real and essential and is proven through the resurrection of Jesus. And since Jesus conquered death as a human and as the Christ, a massive victory was achieved for the human race. That is, it is now possible for all to enjoy resurrection in eternity.
Currently, Jesus reigns over all things as a resurrected human. And He will reign until every enemy opposed to God and His people are defeated. Without the death of Jesus as a human, each one of us would still be accountable for our sins. However, without the resurrection of Jesus and His current reign as a human, our resurrection would not be possible.
Once Jesus defeats the enemies of God and man and achieves ultimate victory for saved humans, He will hand the reign back to His Father. This handing over of the kingdom signifies that His role and function as a saviour and representative of humans is complete. At that moment, because Jesus has made it possible for humans to be resurrected and cleared the way, the Father will be able to be with His people fully. However, if Jesus does not submit to the Father as a human and as the representative of humans in heaven, then a rift remains between God and man. Therefore, only by Jesus giving His authority and reign back to the Father and submitting Himself as a human to the Father, will God’s relationship with His creation be fully restored (Ephesians 1:10). Interestingly, because there seems to be a continued human side to Jesus into eternity, Jesus may need to continue in submission to the Father indefinitely.
So, where does all this leave us? Firstly, the deity of Jesus is not under consideration in 1 Corinthians 15. It is the humanity of Jesus and His role as the Christ to bring about the resurrection of the dead that Paul is discussing. As Jesus, the conquering human, saves and brings people under His reign, He makes it possible for them to one-day experience resurrection. However, the resurrection will not be complete unless Jesus hands the kingdom over to the Father and submits to Him.
With all this said, this passage in no way denies the other aspect of Jesus, His deity and contribution to the Godhead. Many other passages speak of this part of His nature and being. Now how Jesus possesses a dual nature is beyond me. That said, if we can accept it, passages that seem to contradict others begin to make a little more sense. As others have concluded throughout the ages, Jesus’ human side will always remain unequal to the Father. However, His divine nature and value will always remain equal.
Conclusion:
So, do John 14:28, 1 Corinthians 11:3, and 1 Corinthians 15:24 lead us to conclude that Jesus is not God? I don’t believe they do. Much of the difficulty with these passages dissolves when we:
1. Accept the dual nature of Christ.
2. Accept that there can be equal essence, value and power in the Godhead but not equal function and position.
3. Pay attention to what exactly is being discussed in each passage.
