by William J. Stewart<\/p>\n
In John 10:30, the apostle pens the words of Jesus, “I and My Father are one.” Again, Jesus’ words are recorded in John 14:28, “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.” Has Jesus contradicted Himself?<\/p>\n
What did Jesus mean when He said, “I and my Father are one<\/em>“? The questioner has read into the Scripture that Jesus said He was equal to the Father regarding their authority. Such is not the case. In the very text, Jesus declares that the Father “...is greater than all…<\/em>” (John 10:29). Throughout His ministry, Jesus affirmed that the Father was greater than He. In John 5:19, Jesus states, “…I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise<\/em>.” Later in the same text, He says, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just: because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me<\/em>” (John 5:30).<\/p>\n How, then, are the Christ and the Father “one”? In John 17:11, Jesus prays for His disciples, saying, “…that they may be one, as we are one<\/em>.” Again, in John 17:22-23, Jesus says, “…that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one…<\/em>” This same word, “one,<\/em>” is used in Galatians 2:28, where the apostle Paul says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.<\/em>” How are they one? In nature. Just as Jews, Greeks, slaves, free men, and women are all one in nature — Christian — so the Father and Son are one in nature — God. That does not mean they are equal in their exercise of authority. Some in the church were placed in positions of greater responsibility and authority (i.e., apostles, prophets, elders, teachers). However, they are still “…one in Christ Jesus<\/em>” with the rest. The Father is greater than the Son in authority, but they are equal in nature — both are deity. There is no contradiction.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by William J. Stewart Question: In John 10:30, the apostle pens the words of Jesus, “I and My Father are one.” Again, Jesus’ words are recorded in John 14:28, “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,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[787,90,346,73,456],"class_list":["post-80635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-equality","tag-god","tag-god-the-father","tag-jesus","tag-unity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41054,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-jesus-say-the-father-is-greater-than-him-if-they-are-equal-and-jesus-is-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":80635,"position":0},"title":"Why does Jesus say the Father is greater than him if they are equal and Jesus is God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why does Jesus say in John 14:28 the Father is greater than him if they are equal and Jesus is God? Answer: That Jesus is God is clearly declared by John: \"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20352,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ye-are-gods\/","url_meta":{"origin":80635,"position":1},"title":"Ye Are Gods","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joe R. Price via\u00a0Guardian of Truth\u00a0XL: 3 p. 6-7, February 1, 1996 In the last year of Jesus' life, during the Feast of Dedication (present-day Hanukkah), unbelieving individuals confronted him and demanded of him a plain declaration that he was the Christ (John 10:22-24). Like ravenous wolves, the Jewish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/top_28_bmp-242x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39063,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-deity-while-on-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":80635,"position":2},"title":"Jesus’ Deity While on Earth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Richard Thetford The nature of Jesus Christ in the flesh has been debated since early times in the church. Varying ideas have been suggested. One of which is that Jesus, while on earth was just a man, an ordinary man like you and me. Such a unique thing as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85542,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-was-manifest-in-the-flesh\/","url_meta":{"origin":80635,"position":3},"title":"God Was Manifest in the Flesh","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tim Coffey via Guardian of Truth XL: 5 p. 8-9, March 7, 1996 Paul proclaimed, \"Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh\" (I Timothy 3:16). For those who saw Jesus in the flesh, the difficulty was not in believing that he was man, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7646,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-respond-to-someone-claiming-jesus-was-not-divine\/","url_meta":{"origin":80635,"position":4},"title":"How do you respond to someone claiming Jesus was not divine?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello again.\u00a0 I've been researching the Bible, especially the New Testament quite extensively since I last talked to you, and I came across a Jewish web site claiming that Jesus was not divine.\u00a0 Here's what it says: Question: Is it true that there are New Testament passages that refute\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18683,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-cannot-be-tempted-but-jesus-was-tempted-so-is-jesus-not-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":80635,"position":5},"title":"God cannot be tempted, but Jesus was tempted; so, is Jesus not God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My friend, who is an Arian, gave me this puzzling logic:\u00a0 God can't be tempted, but Jesus was tempted; therefore, Jesus is not God.\u00a0 Is this true? Answer: For a Christian, it would be easy to spot this line of reasoning as a falsehood because it ends with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80635\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}