ACC ~ John 13 v32

THE SON RECEIVES AGAIN THE GLORY HE HAD WITH THE FATHER

HILARY OF POITIERS: The meaning of his opening words can hardly be disputed when he says, “Now is the Son of man glorified.” He was saying that all the glory that [the Son of man] obtains is not for the Word but for his flesh. … What, then, is the meaning of what follows … when he says that “God is glorified in him,” that is, in the Son of man? Tell me, then, is the Son of man the same as the Son of God? [1] And since the Son of man is not one entity and the Son of God another—but he who is the Son of God is himself also the Son of man—who, pray tell, is the God who is glorified in this Son of man who is also the Son of God? … The third clause helps us with this when he adds, “If God is glorified in him, God has also glorified him in himself.” … Now, a man is not glorified in himself, nor, on the other hand, does God, who is glorified in the man, cease being God just because he receives glory. … “God is glorified in him” must certainly be referring either to Christ, who is glorified in the flesh, or to the Father, who is glorified in Christ. If it is Christ, Christ is clearly God who is glorified in the flesh. If it is the Father, we are face to face with the mystery of the unity, since the Father is glorified in the Son. … But when we consider that God glorifies in himself God who is glorified in the Son of man, by what loophole, pray tell, can your profane doctrine escape from the confession that Christ is very God according to the truth of his nature? … The Father glorifies him, not with a glory from without but in himself. By taking him back into that glory that belongs to himself and that [the Son] had with him before, the Father glorifies [the Son] with himself and in himself. ON THE TRINITY 9.40-42. [2]

[1] He expects an answer in the affirmative.

[2] NPNF 2 9:168-69*; CCL 62A:414-18.

THE PASSION IS THE HIGHEST GLORIFICATION

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The time is near when the Son of man who was assumed will be glorified in a laudable way and in which, above all, God will be revealed before everybody through the things that happen to him. The events that happened at the time of the crucifixion, when the earth shook, the light of the sun was obscured, the darkness covered the earth, the sepulchers opened and the rocks were broken, showed how great was already—and how great would have been—the magnificence of the one who had been crucified. And, at the same time, they were the reason why people admired God who made the Son of man worthy of such an honor. “If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.” Evidently, he says, God is glorified by those things that are happening in him as much as he also glorifies him. It cannot happen that he appears to be admirable because of him if the things that happened to him were not great. And they, he says, had already been given to him. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 6.13.31-32. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:261-62.

JESUS SPEAKS AS IF THE RESURRECTION HAD TAKEN PLACE

AUGUSTINE: He predicts his own resurrection, which was to follow immediately, not at the end of the world like ours. … And so he says, “Now is the Son of man glorified.” The now refers not to his approaching passion but to the resurrection that was immediately to follow it, as if that which was so very soon to be had already taken place. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 63.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:315-16**; CCL 36:488.