John Calvin Commentary John 13:31

"When therefore he was gone out, Jesus saith, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him;" — John 13:31 (ASV)

Now is the Son of man glorified. The last hour was at hand. Christ knew that the minds of His disciples were very weak, and therefore, He endeavored by every possible method to support them, so that they might not give way. Even today, the remembrance of the cross of Christ is sufficient to make us tremble, if we were not instantly met by the consolation that He triumphed in the cross, having obtained a victory over Satan, sin, and death.

What, then, might have happened to the Apostles when they saw the Lord soon dragged to the cross, loaded with every kind of reproach? Might not an exhibition so melancholy and revolting have overwhelmed them a hundred times? Christ, therefore, provides against this danger and withdraws them from the outward aspect of death to its spiritual fruit. Whatever ignominy, then, may be seen in the cross, fitted to confound believers, Christ nevertheless testifies that the same cross brings glory and honor to Him.

And God is glorified in Him. This clause, which immediately follows the other, is added for confirmation. For it was a paradoxical statement that the glory of the Son of man arose from a death which was considered ignominious among men and was even accursed before God. He shows, therefore, in what manner He would obtain glory for Himself from such a death: it is because by it He glorifies God the Father.

For in the cross of Christ, as in a magnificent theater, the inestimable goodness of God is displayed before the whole world. In all the creatures, indeed, both high and low, the glory of God shines; but nowhere has it shone more brightly than in the cross. In the cross, an astonishing change of things has occurred: the condemnation of all humanity has been manifested, sin has been blotted out, salvation has been restored to mankind, and, in short, the whole world has been renewed and everything restored to good order.

In Him. Though the preposition (ἐν) in is often used instead of the Hebrew ב, and, in such cases, is equivalent to by, I have preferred translating it simply, that God is glorified in the Son of man, because I considered that phrase to be more emphatic. When He says, and God is glorified, the meaning, I apprehend, is, for God is glorified.