ACC ~ John 1 v14c

THE GLORY OF THE TRANSFIGURATION

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: In his mercy he [our Lord] used our body, so that we might endure the sight of him and hear the sound of his voice, and so that we not suffer what the foremost disciples suffered on the mountain, when through his body his glory shone upon them. Sleep fell upon them, and they were rendered speechless and were astounded by his glory. [1] … And this was so that we might learn why he was seen without glory, and why he came in a body. If indeed the apostles and foremost of the disciples saw his deity when it was not completely revealed, what would surely have happened to us if he had appeared to us openly, in the incorporeal glory of his deity? COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 14.5. [2]

[1] See Lk 9:32.

[2] CB709:118-20.

THE DIVINE SIGNS THAT SHOWED HIS GLORY

AMMONIUS: How did we behold his glory? We beheld it through the star of the magi, the angels, the shepherds, Anna, Simeon, Gabriel, the miraculous birth of the Virgin, the voice of the Father who witnessed to him, the Spirit descending upon him and many other divine signs and healings. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 25. [1]

[1] JKGK 203.

THE GLORY OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN FOUND IN HIS SUFFERINGS

CHRYSOSTOM: For we admire him not only because of the miracles but also because of the sufferings. We admire the fact that he was nailed upon the cross, that he was scourged, that he was beaten, that he was spit on, that he received blows on the cheek from those to whom he had done good. For even of those very things that seem to be shameful, it is proper to repeat the same expression, since he himself called that action [1] “glory.” For what then took place was [proof] not only of kindness and love but also of unspeakable power. At that time death was abolished, the curse was loosed, devils were shamed and led in triumph and made a show of, and the handwriting of our sins was nailed to the cross. And then, since these wonders were happening invisibly, others took place visibly, showing that he was truly the only begotten Son of God, the Lord of all creation. For while that blessed body hung on the tree, the sun turned away its rays, the whole earth was troubled and became dark, the graves were opened, the ground quaked, and an innumerable multitude of the dead leaped forth and went into the city. And while the stones of his tomb were fastened on the vault and the seals still on them, the dead arose, the crucified, the nail-pierced one, and having filled his eleven disciples with his mighty power, he sent them to people throughout all the world, to be the common healers of all their kind, [2] to correct their way of living, to spread through every part of the earth the knowledge of their heavenly doctrines, to break down the tyranny of devils, to teach those great and ineffable blessings, to bring to us the glad tidings of the soul’s immortality and the eternal life of the body, and rewards that are beyond conception and shall never have an end. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12.3. [3]

[1] His crucifixion.

[2] Or “of their whole nature.”

[3] NPNF 1 14:42*.

BLINDED BY FLESH, HEALED BY FLESH

AUGUSTINE: His glory no one could see unless he was healed by the lowliness of his flesh. Why could we not see? Concentrate, my beloved people, and see what I am saying. Dust, so to speak, had forcibly entered humanity’s eye; earth had entered it, had injured the eye, and it could not see the light. That injured eye is anointed; it was injured by earth, and earth is put there that it may be healed. [1] For all salves and medicines are nothing but [compounds] of the earth. You have been blinded by dust, you are healed by dust; thus the flesh has blinded you, flesh heals you. For the soul had become carnal by assenting to carnal passions; from that the eye of the heart had been blinded. “The Word was made flesh.” That physician made a salve for you. And because he came in such a way that by his flesh he might extinguish the faults of the flesh and by his death he might kill death, it was therefore effected in you that, because “the Word was made flesh,” you could say, “And we saw his glory.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.16.2. [2]

[1] See Jn 9:6.

[2] FC 78:73-74.

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