John 14:27-28

14:27 “Peace I leave with you; ¹  my peace I give to you; I do not give it ²  to you as the world does. ³  Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage. ⁴  14:28 You heard me say to you, ⁵  ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad ⁶  that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. ⁷ 

[14:27]  ¹ sn Peace I leave with you. In spite of appearances, this verse does not introduce a new subject (peace). Jesus will use the phrase as a greeting to his disciples after his resurrection (20:19, 21, 26). It is here a reflection of the Hebrew shalom as a farewell. But Jesus says he leaves peace with his disciples. This should probably be understood ultimately in terms of the indwelling of the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who has been the topic of the preceding verses. It is his presence, after Jesus has left the disciples and finally returned to the Father, which will remain with them and comfort them.

[14:27]  ² tn The pronoun “it” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[14:27]  ³ tn Grk “not as the world gives do I give to you.”

[14:27]  ⁴ tn Or “distressed or fearful and cowardly.”

[14:28]  ⁵ tn Or “You have heard that I said to you.”

[14:28]  ⁶ tn Or “you would rejoice.”

[14:28]  ⁷ sn Jesus’ statement the Father is greater than I am has caused much christological and trinitarian debate. Although the Arians appealed to this text to justify their subordinationist Christology, it seems evident that by the fact Jesus compares himself to the Father, his divine nature is taken for granted. There have been two orthodox interpretations: (1) The Son is eternally generated while the Father is not: Origen, Tertullian, Athanasius, Hilary, etc. (2) As man the incarnate Son was less than the Father: Cyril of Alexandria, Ambrose, Augustine. In the context of the Fourth Gospel the second explanation seems more plausible. But why should the disciples have rejoiced? Because Jesus was on the way to the Father who would glorify him (cf. 17:4-5); his departure now signifies that the work the Father has given him is completed (cf. 19:30). Now Jesus will be glorified with that glory that he had with the Father before the world was (cf. 17:5). This should be a cause of rejoicing to the disciples because when Jesus is glorified he will glorify his disciples as well (17:22).