Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 13:31-32

"When therefore he was gone out, Jesus saith, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him; and God shall glorify him in himself, and straightway shall he glorify him." — John 13:31-32 (ASV)

1. After Judas left to bring about our Lord’s death, Jesus mentions that he himself will be leaving for glory.

   First, to console them, he mentions the glory to which he is going.

   Second, he foretells his leaving: Little children, yet a little while I am with you (John 13:33).

2. The glory to which he is going is the glorification and exaltation of Christ as the Son of Man. When Judas had therefore gone out, Jesus said to his disciples, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

   The word used was actually ‘clarified’ and not ‘glorified,’ but both words mean the same thing. To be clarified is the same as to be glorified, for glory is a kind of splendor. According to Ambrose, someone has glory when he is known with clarity and praised.This definition of glory, misattributed here to Ambrose, belongs in fact to Augustine, Answer to Maximus the Arian 2.13.2. This is why the commentators use ‘clarified’ in Greek when translating ‘glorified,’ and vice versa. The same is said here: now is the Son of Man clarified—that is, glorified.

   We can understand this statement in four ways, by referring it to the four kinds of glory which Christ had: the glory of the cross, the glory of his judicial power, the glory of his resurrection, and the glory of being known by the faith of the people.

   Scripture attributes this fourfold glory to Christ.

3. First, then, Christ was glorified by being lifted up on the cross. Even Paul said that his own glory was in the cross: but far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14). This is the glory Chrysostom has in mind in his explanation of the text.Commentary on Saint John 72.2. In this explanation, our Lord mentions four things about the glory of the cross: the glory itself, the fruit of this glory, the author of the glory, and the time of the glory.

   Regarding the first, he says, now is the Son of Man glorified. We should note that when something is beginning, it can be spoken of as if it already exists. Since Judas went out to bring back the soldiers, this was the beginning of Christ’s passion, by which he was to be glorified. This is why he says, now is the Son of Man glorified, meaning the passion by which he will be glorified is now beginning.

   Indeed, Christ was glorified by the passion of the cross because by it he conquered the enemies of death and the devil: that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). Again, he acquired glory because by his cross he joined heaven and earth: to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:20). Furthermore, he was glorified by his cross because by it he acquired all kingship: say to the nations that the Lord has reigned from his cross (Psalms 95:10). Christ was also glorified by the cross because he accomplished many miracles on it: the curtain of the temple was torn, an earthquake occurred, rocks were split, the sun was darkened, and many saints arose (Matthew 27:51). So with his passion drawing near, these are the reasons our Lord said, now is the Son of Man glorified. It is like saying, “Now my passion is beginning, the passion which is my glory.”

   The fruit of this glory is that God is glorified by it. So he says, and God is glorified in him—that is, in the glorified Son of Man. For the glory of the passion leads to the glory of God. If God was glorified by the death of Peter—this he said to show by what death he was to glorify God (John 21:19)—he was much more glorified by the death of Christ.

   The author of this glory is not an angel or a human being but God himself. He says, if God is glorified in him—that is, if his glory is so great that God is glorified by it—he does not need to be glorified by another. Instead, God will also glorify him in himself, that is, through himself: and now glorify me, O Father, with yourself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with you (John 17:5).

   The time for this glory is fast approaching, because God will immediately glorify him; that is, he will give him the glory of the cross. For the cross, although it is foolishness to the Gentiles and to those who are perishing, is to us who believe the very great wisdom and power of God (compare 1 Corinthians 1:18).

4. The second glory of Christ is the glory of his judicial power: and then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory (Mark 13:26). This is the glory about which Augustine speaks, as the Gloss says.Tractates on the Gospel of John 63.2. In reference to this, he does four things: first, he mentions the glory of Christ's judicial power; second, he shows the merit by which he acquired it; third, he explains this; and fourth, he shows the source of Christ’s glory.

   Regarding the first, he says, now is the Son of Man glorified. We should note that in Sacred Scripture, a symbol is often not explicitly said to signify something; rather, the word for the symbol is used for the thing it signifies. For example, we do not read that “the rock signified Christ”; instead, it says, and the Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4).

   In the departure of Judas from the apostles, we have a kind of image of the future judgment, when the wicked will be separated from the good, and Christ will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left (Matthew 25:33). Since the departure of Judas signified the future judgment, our Lord immediately began to speak of the glory of his judicial power, saying, now is the Son of Man glorified. This means that this departure or separation represents the glory the Son of Man will have in the judgment, where none of the good will perish and none of the evil will be with them. He does not say, “Now is the glorification of the Son of Man signified,” but rather, now is the Son of Man glorified, in keeping with the custom of Scripture mentioned above.

   The merit for this glorification is that God would be glorified in him. For God is glorified by those who seek to do his will and not their own. Christ was like this: because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me (John 6:38). And this is why God is glorified in him.

   He expands on this when he says, if God is glorified in him—that is, if by doing the will of God, he glorifies God—then rightly God will also glorify him in himself, so that the human nature assumed by the eternal Word will be given an eternal glory. Thus, in himself means in his own glory: therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9).

   Therefore, the glorification by which God is glorified in Christ is the merit by which Christ as man is glorified in himself—that is, in the glory of God. This will occur when his human nature, having laid down its weakness through the death of the cross, receives the glory of immortality at the resurrection. The resurrection itself was the source from which this glory began. Accordingly, he says, he will immediately glorify him at the resurrection, which will come quickly: I will awake early (Psalms 108:2); and also, you will not let your Holy One see corruption (Psalms 16:10).

5. The third glory of Christ is the glory of his resurrection, about which we read, we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). It is in terms of this glory that Hilary explains this passage, and Augustine also in part.Hilary of Poitiers, The Trinity, 11.42. Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John 63.3.

   From this perspective, Christ first foretells this glory of his, saying, now is the Son of Man glorified. Here he is speaking of the future as if it has already happened, because what we think will quickly happen we regard as good as done. Since the glory of the resurrection was very near, he says, now is the Son of Man glorified, as if his body, by its union with the divine nature, had in a way acquired the glory of the divinity.

   Second, he mentions the cause of this glory quite subtly. As he said, in the resurrection the humanity of Christ was glorified because of its union with the divine nature, since there was one person, that of the Word. For we read: you will not leave my soul in Sheol; you will not let your Holy One—who is the holiest of all—see corruption (Psalms 16:10).

   Such glory is also due to this human being, Christ, insofar as he is God. We too will have the glory of the resurrection to the extent that we share in the divinity: he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11).

   So he says that the Son of Man—that is, Christ considered in his human nature—is glorified by his resurrection. And who will glorify him? He says, God will also glorify him in himself, so that this human being, Christ, who reigns in glory that comes from the glory of God, may himself pass into the glory of God. This means he might entirely abide in God, as though deified by the way his human nature is possessed. It is like saying, “A lamp is bright because a fire is burning brightly within it.”

   The one who sends the rays of brightness into the human nature of Christ is God. Thus, the human nature of Christ is glorified by the glory of his divinity, and it is brought into the glory of his divinity—not by having its nature changed, but by a sharing of glory. This happens insofar as this human being, Christ, is adored as God: therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow (Philippians 2:9).

   So he says, if God is glorified in him—that is, if it is true that the glory of his divinity overflows to the glory of his humanity—then God will also glorify him in himself, giving him a share of his own glory by assuming him into that glory: every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of the Father (Philippians 2:11).

   Thus, Christ has a twofold glory. One is in his human nature but is derived from his divinity. The other is the glory of his divinity, into which his human nature is, in a way, taken up. But each glory is different. The first glory had a beginning in time, which is why he speaks of it as past, saying, and God is—or has been—glorified in him on the day of the resurrection. The other glory is eternal, because the Word of God is God from eternity. The human nature of Christ, assumed into this glory, will be glorified forever. And so he speaks of this in the future: and he will immediately glorify him, meaning he will establish him in that glory forever.

6. The fourth glory of Christ is the glory of being known by the faith of the people. Origen has this kind of glory in mind in his exposition.Commentary on John 32.26–28. According to him, glory means one thing in ordinary speech and another in Scripture. In ordinary speech, glory is the praise given by many people, or the clear knowledge of someone accompanied by praise, as Ambrose says.This definition of glory, misattributed here to Ambrose, belongs in fact to Augustine, Answer to Maximinus the Arian 2.13.2. In Scripture, however, glory indicates that a divine sign or mark is upon someone; the glory of the Lord appeared over the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34), meaning a divine sign rested over it. The same happened to the face of Moses when it was glorified.

   Just as glory in the physical sense indicates that a divine sign rests upon someone, so in the spiritual sense, an intellect is said to be glorified when it is so deified and so transcends all material things that it is raised to a knowledge of God. It is by this that we are made sharers of glory: and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). Therefore, if anyone who knows God is glorified and made a sharer of glory, it is clear that Christ knows God most perfectly. Since he is the brightness of the entire divine glory and is able to receive the splendor of the entire divine glory—if this is so, I say, then Christ is most perfectly glorified. And all who know God owe this to Christ.

   But people did not yet realize that Christ was so glorified by this most perfect knowledge and participation in the divinity. Therefore, although he was glorified in himself, he was not yet glorified in the knowledge of others. He began to be glorified at his passion and resurrection, when people began to recognize his power and divinity. Our Lord, speaking of this glory, says, now is the Son of Man glorified—that is, now, in his human nature, he is receiving glory in the knowledge of people because of his approaching passion.

   And God, the Father, is glorified in him. For the Son not only reveals himself but the Father as well: I have manifested your name (John 17:6). Consequently, not only is the Son glorified, but the Father also: no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Matthew 11:27). He says, in him, because one who sees the Son also sees the Father (John 14:9).

   It is characteristic of one who is greater to return what is greater. And so he adds, if God is glorified in him—that is, if the glory of God the Father somehow increases because of the glory of the Son of Man, since the Father becomes better known—then God will also glorify him in himself, that is, make it known that Christ Jesus is in his glory. This will not be delayed, for he will immediately glorify him.