John Calvin Commentary Titus 2:13

"looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;" — Titus 2:13 (ASV)

Looking for that blessed hope. From the hope of future immortality, he draws an exhortation. Indeed, if that hope is deeply seated in our mind, it is impossible for it not to lead us to devote ourselves wholly to God. On the contrary, those who do not cease to live for the world and for the flesh have never actually tasted the worth of the promise of eternal life; for the Lord, by calling us to heaven, withdraws us from the earth.

Hope here stands for the thing hoped for; otherwise, it would be an incorrect expression. He gives this name to the blessed life which is laid up for us in heaven. At the same time, he declares when we will enjoy it, and what we should contemplate when we desire or think of our salvation.

And the appearing of the glory of the great God and Savior. I interpret the glory of God to mean not only that by which He will be glorious in Himself, but also that by which He will then radiate in all directions, so as to make all His elect share in it.

He calls God great because His greatness—which people, blinded by the empty splendor of the world, now diminish, and sometimes even annihilate, as much as they can—will be fully manifested on the last day. The splendor of the world, while it appears great to our eyes, dazzles them so much that the glory of God is, as it were, hidden in darkness.

But Christ, by His coming, will chase away all the empty display of the world—He will no longer obscure the brightness, He will no longer lessen the magnificence, of His glory. It is true, the Lord demonstrates His majesty every day by His works; but because people are prevented by their blindness from seeing it, it is said to be hidden in obscurity. Paul wishes that believers should now contemplate by faith that which will be manifested on the last day, and therefore that God may be magnified, whom the world either despises or, at least, does not esteem according to His excellence.

It is uncertain whether these words should be read together in this way, “the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the great God and our Savior,” or separately, as of the Father and the Son, “the glory of the great God, and of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Arians, adopting this latter interpretation, have attempted to prove from it that the Son is less than the Father, because here Paul calls the Father “the great God” by way of distinction from the Son.

The orthodox teachers of the Church, to counter this slander, eagerly contended that both titles apply to Christ. But the Arians can be refuted in a few words and by solid argument; for Paul, having spoken of the revelation of the glory of “the great God,” immediately added “Christ,” to inform us that this revelation of glory will be in His person; as if he had said that, when Christ appears, the greatness of the divine glory will then be revealed to us.

From this we learn:

1. That there is nothing that should make us more active or cheerful in doing good than the hope of the future resurrection;

2. That believers should always have their eyes fixed on it, so that they do not grow weary in the right course. For, if we do not wholly depend upon it, we will continually be carried away to the vanities of the world.

But, since the coming of the Lord to judgment might cause us terror, Christ is presented to us as our “Savior,” who will also be our judge.