---
title: John 6:38
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-6-38/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-6-38.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 6:38
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 6:38

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "for I have come down from heaven to do, not my own will, but the will of him who sent me."

## JW Usage

Witnesses use this verse to argue Jesus' subordination to the Father — "not my own will, but the will of him who sent me." The phrase is read as evidence that Jesus is a lesser being executing Jehovah's instructions. The "come down from heaven" clause is taken to refer to the descent of Michael the Archangel into the womb of Mary, not to a divine person becoming incarnate.

## Protestant Usage

Two phrases in this short verse cut against the JW reading. First, "I have come down from heaven" describes origin, not mission. Compare John 3:13 ("the one who descended from heaven — the Son of Man"). The same Greek verb (katabainō) describes a pre-existent person crossing the heaven-earth boundary. Second, "not my own will, but the will of him who sent me" assumes a distinct will of the Son alongside the will of the Father — and unity of action in the work of redemption, not absence of identity. The 1 Corinthians 15:47 contrast is the broader frame: the first man is from the earth; the second man is from heaven. Adam is earthy in origin; Jesus is heavenly in origin. That is a statement about who he is, not just about where he was sent.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Last Adam — More Than a Man](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/1corinthians15-45-last-adam.md) — 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 [Deity of Christ]
- [I Live Because of the Father](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john-6-57-i-live-because.md) — John 6:57 — incarnation context, not pre-existent origin [Deity of Christ]