Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 16:14-15

"He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare [it] unto you. All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare [it] unto you." — John 16:14-15 (ASV)

1. Previously, we saw two results of the Holy Spirit’s coming: the conviction of the world and the instruction of the disciples. Now the third result is mentioned: the glorification of Christ.

   First, He mentions this result, the glorification. Second, He gives the reason for it: he will receive of mine. Third, He expands on this: all things whatever the Father has, are mine.

2. He says, He will teach all truth (John 16:13), because He will glorify me, in whom is all truth: I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6). It is in whom, that is, in Christ, that are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).

   He will glorify me means He will give a clear knowledge of me. He will do this, first, by enlightening the disciples. They were still fleshly and attached to Christ in a fleshly way—that is, to the weakness of His flesh—not realizing the grandeur of His divinity. Later, they were able to grasp this through the Holy Spirit: God has revealed to us through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10).

   Second, the Spirit will give them the confidence to preach clearly and openly. Before this, the disciples were so timid that they did not dare to profess Christ publicly. But when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, fear was cast out, and they proclaimed Christ to the people, being compelled by that same Spirit: He will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives (Isaiah 59:19). This is why the Apostle says, The love of Christ compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14).

   Third, the Spirit will glorify Christ by accomplishing marvelous works in and through the apostles: All things are inspired by one and the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11).

3. Now we see the reason the Holy Spirit will glorify Christ: it is because the Son is the source of the Holy Spirit. For everything that comes from another reveals the one from whom it comes. Thus, the Son reveals the Father because He is from the Father. And so, because the Holy Spirit is from the Son, it is fitting that the Spirit glorify the Son. He says, He will glorify me, because he will receive of mine. However, the Holy Spirit does not receive in the same way that creatures do.

   When creatures receive, three things are present, two of which are not found in the divinity. In creatures, that which receives is one thing, and what is received is something else. This is not so in the divinity, since the divine persons are simple and not composed of several elements. Indeed, the Holy Spirit receives His entire substance from whomever this Spirit receives, and so does the Son.

   Another difference is that among creatures, the one who receives at one time did not have what he now receives, as when matter receives a form or a subject receives an attribute. For at some point, the matter was without that form, and the subject was without that attribute. This is not so in the divinity, because what the Son receives from the Father, the Son has from eternity, and what the Holy Spirit receives from the Father and the Son, the Spirit has from eternity. Accordingly, the Holy Spirit receives from the Son just as the Son receives from the Father: That which my Father has given to me is greater than all (John 10:29). Thus, when the expression “to receive” is used of the divinity, it indicates an order of origin.

4. Note that when He says, He will receive of mine, the word of does not indicate participation but consubstantiality, because the Spirit receives all that the Son has. For just as the Son is from the substance of the Father because He receives the entire substance of the Father, so also the Holy Spirit is from the substance of the Son because the Spirit receives the whole substance of the Son. Thus, because He will receive of mine, and I am the Word of God, therefore He will show it to you. This is because a creature's soul can exist only by proceeding from an inwardly conceived word.

5. This reason is further explained when Christ shows that the Holy Spirit receives from Him because of the unity and consubstantiality of the Father and the Son.

   First, we see the consubstantiality of the Father and Son. Second, the conclusion is drawn: Therefore I said, that he will receive of mine.

6. He says He will receive from me because all that the Father has is mine. This is like saying: although the Spirit of truth proceeds from the Father, yet because all that the Father has is mine, and the Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit also receives from me.

   Note that one “has” something in two ways: as a possession, and as something existing within oneself, like a form or a part. The Father has the totality of created things as a possession and as something subject to Himself: The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof (Psalms 24:1). But the Father also has something that is in Him—indeed, that is Him—because the Father is His own essence, goodness, truth, and eternity. The word “has” is being used in this second sense here.

   Therefore, whatever the Father has is the Son’s, because the Son has the same wisdom and goodness that the Father has: For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself (John 5:26); All things have been delivered to me by my Father (Matthew 11:27).

7. As Didymus says, some might raise this objection: if all that the Father has, the Son also has, then since the Father has the characteristic of fatherhood, it follows that the Son must also have it.

   I answer that this argument would seem valid if our Lord had said, “All that God has is mine.” But He says, All that the Father has is mine, which maintains a distinction between the Father and the Son. This leads us to understand that all the Father has is the Son’s, except for that by which the Father is distinguished from the Son. By using the word “Father,” Christ declares that He is the Son and has not usurped the attribute of fatherhood.

8. We have granted that whatever the Father has, the Son also has, but not that the Son has it in the same way as the Father. The Son has it by receiving from another, while the Father has it by giving to another. Thus, the distinction is not in what is possessed, but in the order of possessing. Relations of this kind—namely, fatherhood and sonship—signify a distinction of order, for fatherhood signifies giving to another, and sonship signifies receiving from another.

9. One might ask whether a relation is something real in the divinity. It seems that it must be, for if not, then since the divine persons are distinguished by their relations, the distinction between the persons would not be real.

   The answer is that a relation in the divinity is considered in two ways. First, a relation can be considered in comparison to the essence or person of the Father. In this sense, the relation of “Father” is not different from the essence or person of the Father. Second, a relation can be considered in comparison to its opposite relation, such as sonship. In this sense, fatherhood is a real relation because it signifies an order of the nature that the Father gives to the Son by an eternal generation. This order truly exists in God.

   Therefore, if fatherhood is compared to the essence of the Father, then all that the Father has, the Son also has, because fatherhood is not different from the Father's essence. However, as was said, the Son does not have it in the same way.

10. Now he draws his conclusion: that the Holy Spirit receives from the Son. As Hilary and Didymus argue, if all things the Father has are the Son’s, and the Son is consubstantial with the Father, it is necessary that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son just as He proceeds from the Father.

    To understand this, we should note that in creation, during any procession or origination, that by which the agent acts is the same as what the recipient receives. For instance, a generated fire receives the form of fire, which the generating fire gives it by its own form. There is something similar in the origin of the divine persons, because that by which the Father gives His nature to the Son—not by will, but by nature—is the same as that which He gives.

    However, there is a difference. In creatures, that which is communicated and the means by which it is communicated are the same only in species, not as the same individual. But in the divinity, what the Father gives to the Son and that by which He gives or communicates it is the same individual nature.

11. Note that we say the Son receives from the substance of the Father—that is, He receives the Father’s substance. We also say that the Holy Spirit receives from the substance of the Father and the Son, and that the Father, by virtue of His nature, gives His substance to the Son, and the Father and the Son give it to the Holy Spirit. But we do not say that the Father is from the substance of the Son, or that the Father and the Son are from the substance of the Holy Spirit, because the word from signifies consubstantiality combined with an order of origin. Thus, what is communicated to the Holy Spirit is what is common to the Father and the Son.

    Now, in the divinity, the source of communication must be the same as what is communicated. Therefore, if what is communicated to the Holy Spirit is the divine essence, then that which communicates must also be this essence. This essence, however, is common to the Father and the Son. So, if the Father gives His essence to the Holy Spirit, the Son must also do so. For this reason, Christ says, All that the Father has is mine. And if the Holy Spirit receives from the Father, He will also receive from the Son. For this reason, Christ says, Therefore I said, that he will receive of mine and show it to you, for just as He receives from me, so He will show you.