Jesus rejects equality with God - How does this statement reconcile with traditional teachings? What does this mean Jesus rejects equality with God? I was always taught Jesus and the Father where separate but equal?  Did they mean to say separate but both God but not equal?
Well I know of at least two places in the scripture where Jesus rejects equality with God.

John 14:28 &quot;The Father is Greater then I&quot;
Philippians 2:6 (NAS) &quot;although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped&quot;

Granted the second verse is translated with much liberty in many version that if you where to compare them they all seem to be saying different things. So I chose to stick to a good word for word translation.
But those two verses are not the only proof about who is greater.

Hebrews 7:7 But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.

Did God not bless Jesus, Did he not give him answers to his prayers. Did not God put all things in subjection to Jesus?

Acts 3:13 &quot;The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus&quot;
John 3:34 &quot;For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God&quot; [ referring to Jesus ]

Jesus is clearly God's servant and was sent by God.

John 13:16 &quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave (or servant) is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.

The Question behind the question is:
How does Trinitarian Christianity reconcile Jesus &quot;lesser&quot; status with the claim that he is God?
Your question seems to be in some degree to be based on the hypostatic union. 


  Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one hypostasis, or individual existence. - Wikipedia.


Since Jesus is by nature both divine and human (both God and man) it should not be surprising that Our Lord spoke in ways that reflected one nature at one time and then in a way that reflected the another nature. When Jesus said that the "Father is greater than I", he was speaking through his human nature.


  Jesus is the most important person who has ever lived since he is the Savior, God in human flesh.  He is not half God and half man.  He is fully divine and fully man.  In other words, Jesus has two distinct natures: divine and human.  Jesus is the Word who was God and was with God and was made flesh (John 1:1, 14).  This means that in the single person of Jesus he has both a human and divine nature, God and man.  The divine nature was not changed when the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 14).  Instead, the Word was joined with humanity (Col. 2:9).  Jesus' divine nature was not altered.  Also, Jesus is not merely a man who "had God within Him," nor is he a man who "manifested the God principle."  He is God in flesh, second person of the Trinity.  "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." (Heb. 1:3).  Jesus' two natures are not "mixed together" (Eutychianism), nor are they combined into a new God-man nature (Monophysitism).  They are separate yet act as a unit in the one person of Jesus.  This is called the Hypostatic Union.
  
  The following chart should help you see the two natures of Jesus "in action":
  
  GOD
  He is worshiped (Matt. 2:2, 11; 14:33)   
  
  He was called God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8)
  
  He was called Son of God (Mark 1:1)
  
  He is prayed to (Acts 7:59)
  
  He is sinless (1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15)
  
  He knows all things (John 21:17)
  
  He gives eternal life (John 10:28)
  
  All the fullness of deity dwells in Him (Col. 2:9)
  
  MAN
  He worshiped the Father (John 17) 
  
  He was called man (Mark 15:39; John 19:5)
  
  He was called Son of Man (John 9:35-37) 
  
  He prayed to the Father (John 17)
  
  He was tempted (Matt. 4:1)
  
  He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52) 
  
  He died (Rom. 5:8) 
  
  He has a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39)
  
  The Communicatio Idiomatum
  
  A doctrine that is related to the Hypostatic Union is the communicatio idiomatum (Latin for "communication of properties").  This is the teaching that the attributes of both the divine and human natures are ascribed to the one person of Jesus.  This means that the man Jesus could lay claim to the glory He had with the Father before the world was made (John 17:5), claim that He descended from heaven (John 3:13), and also claim omnipresence (Matt. 28:20).  All of these are divine qualities that are laid claim to by Jesus; therefore, the attributes of the divine properties were claimed by the person of Jesus.
  
  For a proper understanding of Jesus and, therefore, all other doctrines that relate to Him, His two natures must be properly understood and defined.  Jesus is one person with two natures.  This is why He would grow in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52) and yet know all things (John 21:17).  He is the Divine Word that became flesh (John 1:1, 14). - Jesus' Two Natures: God and Man.