John 13:32Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This is what "He will glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him at once" means: not through angels and archangels, nor through any other power, but through Himself. But how did He glorify Him through Himself? He did everything for the glory of the Son, though the Son Himself accomplished all. Do you see that Christ refers His own works to the Father?

For the Father will again glorify Me, so that He too may be glorified. I do not appropriate glory to Myself. Does it not ascend to Him? Yes, the glory is common to Us. Therefore He will again glorify Me and will not delay, but will do so at once. When I endure dishonorable sufferings, and when I seem to be taken from among the living by death, then He will honor Me all the more. Then through the Resurrection He will glorify Me.

By this He indicates the saving Passion as already standing at the doors and about to take place. "The Son of Man is glorified," He says, naming no one other than Himself, not dividedly, as it seemed to some. For Christ is one Son, both before the flesh and with the flesh, both before He became man like us and when He became man.

But how He says that He has been glorified must be examined. Some perhaps will say: was He not glorified before by the working of miracles?

When by one word He stilled the raging sea and stopped the motion of the strongest winds, those in the boat bowed down before Him. He heard, "Truly You are the Son of God" (Mt 14:33).

So also, when He made Lazarus, the man of Bethany, return to life, He performed so glorious a miracle that, when He entered Jerusalem at the feast, all came out to meet Him, together with the children. They greeted Him wondrously with the words, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" (Mt 21:9).

And once, breaking five loaves and two small fish, He fed the multitude that had come to Him. Apart from children and women, it reached five thousand men. To some this miracle seemed so glorious that, struck by the strangeness of the event, they sought Him even to proclaim Him king (Jn 6:15).

The Evangelist himself bore witness to this for us. It would not be difficult to extend the discourse much further concerning events whose glory is no less than those listed.

How then, after having long been glorified, does He now call Himself glorified? Yes, He was glorified and was shown to possess divine glory also through other events.

Yet the culmination of glory and the fullness of majesty undoubtedly lay in this: that He suffered for the life of the world and gave the means for the resurrection of all.

If we examine as well as we can the meaning of the mystery accomplished by Him, we shall see that He died not for Himself, nor properly for His own sake. He suffered for all humanity and accomplished both the Passion itself and the Resurrection after it.

He died according to the flesh, showing His life to be equal in value to the life of all. Being equivalent to all, He fulfilled in Himself the power of that primordial curse.

He rose again from the dead to eternal and unceasing life, restoring in Himself the whole human nature. For, once subjected to death, according to what is written, "He dies no more; death no longer has dominion over Him. For what died, died to sin once; and what lives, lives to God" (Rom 6:9-10).

Through Christ, this must be true also of us. We too shall rise no longer for death, but for endless life. Yet after this there will be a great difference among those who rise, I mean in glory and in the recompense fitting each one's life.

Therefore, having been "obedient to God and the Father unto death, even death on a cross," according to Paul's word, He ascended again, receiving the name above every name (Phil 2:8-9).

He who was considered a mere man was exceedingly glorified, being manifested as true God and true Son of God. He was not called into a new dignity, to be God by nature.

Rather, what He was even before the flesh, into this He undoubtedly ascended also with the flesh itself. In this, we think, His glorification consisted, although He is always the Lord of Glory.

No new divine dignity is found in Christ, since He possesses all things naturally as God, even before the abasement just mentioned (Phil 2:7). Yet after assuming the form of a servant, because He again raised Himself to that state, He is conceived and called as having received glorification.

With the glorified Christ, of course, "God" and the Father is also glorified. He was "glorified" in the Son, not by receiving an addition of glory from His Son. The divine and ineffable nature has no need of any such thing.

Rather, He was glorified because He became known as the One whose Father He is. As it is glory and praise for the Son to have such a Father by nature, so, I think, it is glory and praise for the Father Himself to have from Himself such a proper Son.

Therefore He says, "And God is glorified in Him, and God will glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately." Through the Son, the Father was glorified together with Him. For His part, He immediately glorified the Son. Glory comes to both and through both.

Nevertheless, to bring the meaning of these words down to us human beings and give benefit from them to the hearers, let us add the following. If we glorify God in ourselves, we should expect to be glorified by Him.

For the Lord says, "As I live, those who glorify Me I will glorify, and they shall not be destroyed" (cf. 1 Sam 2:30; Ps 50:19). God is glorified through us and in us when, having cast off the filth of sin, we adorn our own life by every good work. In this way we live to His glory.

"Now the Son of Man is glorified." It is as though He said, "Behold, so it will be at My glorification, where there will be no ungodly man, and no righteous man will perish." It is not said. "Now a sign has been given of the glorification of the Son of Man," but, "Now the Son of Man is glorified." Likewise it is not said, "The rock signified Christ," but, "The rock was Christ" (1 Cor 10:4). [...] Scripture often speaks of that which signifies as though it were the thing signified. Thus the Lord uses the words, "Now the Son of Man is glorified," to show that the final separation from the ungodly, and His dwelling among the saints, anticipates His glorification. Then the wicked will be separated, and He will abide eternally with His saints.

He foretells His Resurrection, which will follow at once, not at the end of the world as ours will. Therefore He says, "Now the Son of Man is glorified." This "now" refers not to the approaching Passion, but to the Resurrection that will follow it. It is spoken as though what is about to happen very soon had already taken place.

The glorification of the Son of Man is the glorification of God in Him, for He adds, "And God is glorified in Him." If God is glorified in Him, since He came not to do His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him (cf. Jn 6:38), then God also will glorify Him in Himself. Thus the human nature assumed by the eternal Word will be endowed with eternity.

Let us strain the eye of the mind, and with the Lord's help let us seek God. Thus the hymn to the Lord says, "Seek God, and your soul shall live" (cf. Ps 68:33). Let us seek God, for He must be found. Let us apprehend Him when He has already been found. He is hidden, so that He who must be found must be sought. He is immeasurable, so that He must always be apprehended, even when He has been found.

Therefore it is said elsewhere, "Seek His face always" (Ps 104:4). He satisfies the thirst of the seeker according to his capacity. He makes the one who apprehends Him more receptive, so that he may desire again and again to drink Him in, having become more receptive.

Yet the saying, "Seek His face always," is not spoken as of certain men who are "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim 3:7). Rather, it is as He Himself said, "When a man has finished, then he is only beginning" (Sir 18:6). This continues until we reach that life where we shall be so filled that we cannot become more receptive. We shall be so perfect that we cannot make further progress. Then everything needful for us will be revealed.

But here let us always seek Him, and let the fruits of the search not set a limit to the searching. We must not say that this search will be "not always" because it is carried on only "here." Rather, we say that He must be sought "here always," lest we decide that at some point here the search should be abandoned.

Those of whom it is said, "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth," are in some sense "learning" here. But when they leave this life, they will no longer be learners. They will receive recompense for their error. For the phrase, "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth," is spoken as though it meant, "always wandering and never able to find the road."

Let us then always walk upon the road, until by it we come to the place where the road leads. Let us never stop upon it, until it brings us to the place where we must stop. Thus we must persevere in seeking. Having found, we must turn to something further, and pass on to what remains unfound and unapprehended. This continues until the end of seeking comes, when no place remains for progress in one who has attained perfection.

Let these preliminary remarks, beloved, make you more attentive to the words which the Lord addressed to the disciples before His Passion. They contain a deep meaning. Where the interpreter intends to expend much effort, the listener must not be distracted.

What did the Lord say after Judas went out, so that he might more quickly accomplish what he intended, namely, to betray Christ? What did the Day say when the night departed? What did the Redeemer say when the seller departed? He said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified" (Jn 13:31).

Why "now"? Was it because the betrayer had gone out, and those who would seize and kill Him would soon come? Was He now glorified because still greater humiliation was near? Was it because bonds, judgment, condemnation, mockery, crucifixion, and death already hung over Him? Is this glorification, and not abasement?

On the other hand, when He worked miracles, did not John say of Him, "The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (cf. Jn 7:39)? What then? Was He not yet glorified when He raised the dead, but now glorified when He drew near to the dead? Was He not glorified when doing divine works, but glorified when about to suffer human passions?

It would be strange if God, the great Teacher, indicated this and taught this in those words. We must ascend higher, in order to uncover the words of the Most High. He reveals Himself a little, so that we may turn to apprehending Him. Again He hides Himself, so that we may seek Him anew. Thus we advance, as though stepping from what has been found toward what must be found.

I see here something that prefigures something great. Judas went out, and Jesus was glorified. The son of perdition went out, and the Son of Man was glorified. Certainly the one went out of whom it had been said to the apostles, "And you are clean, but not all" (Jn 13:10). When the impure man went out, only the pure remained, and they remained with their Purifier.

Something similar will happen when this world, conquered by Christ, passes away. No impure person will remain in this world, when the tares are separated from the wheat (cf. Mt 13:30). The righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father (Mt 13:43).

The Lord foresaw this future. To testify that a figure was contained in that event, Judas departed as though he were the tares, and the holy apostles remained as though they were the wheat. Therefore He said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified," as though saying, "See what will happen at that glorification of Mine, when none of the evil will remain, and none of the good will perish."

Certainly it was not said, "Now the glorification of the Son of Man is prefigured." Rather, it was said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified." In the same way it was not said, "The rock symbolized Christ," but, "The rock was Christ" (1 Cor 10:4). Nor was it said, "The good seed symbolized the sons of the Kingdom," or, "The tares symbolized the sons of the evil one." Rather, it was said, "The good seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one" (Mt 13:38).

Such is the customary language of Scripture. It speaks of figures as though reporting the realities they signify. Therefore the Lord also said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified." By the ungodly man going out and the saints remaining with Him, His glorification was prefigured. Then, after the separation of the ungodly, He will abide eternally with the saints.

After He said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified," He added, "And God is glorified in Him" (Jn 13:31). The very glorification of the Son of Man exists so that God may be glorified in Him. If He Himself is not glorified in Himself, but God is glorified in Him, then He is the One whom God glorifies in Himself. Finally, as though making this plain, He added, "If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself" (Jn 13:32).

That is, if God is glorified in Him because He came not to do His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him, then God also will glorify Him in Himself. Thus the human nature according to which He is the Son of Man, and which was assumed by the eternal Word, will also be endowed with eternal immortality.

"And He will glorify Him immediately" (Jn 13:32). By this He was surely foretelling His Resurrection. It is not like ours, which will be at the end of the age, but one in the near future. This is the glorification of which the Evangelist had already spoken, as I mentioned a little earlier. The Spirit had not yet been given in a special way to those believers to whom He would be given in a special way after His Resurrection. For Jesus had not yet been glorified. That is, mortality had not yet been clothed with immortality, and temporal weakness had not yet been changed into eternal power.

It may also be understood that the words about glorification, "Now the Son of Man is glorified" (Jn 13:31), are spoken so that "now" seems to refer not to the approaching Passion, but to the Resurrection that follows it. It is as though that which is near in the immediate future had already taken place.

For today, beloved, this is enough. When the Lord permits, we shall discuss what follows next in the Gospel.

As the Lord, who knows the mysteries of the spiritual world, sees, Satan asked God for permission to act toward the disciples as he had toward Job. In the dangers soon to come upon their faith, he wished not only that they be left to themselves, but that they be handed over to his influence.

He assured Him that he would completely destroy their bond with Christ and with one another. He would trouble and scatter them like wheat blown across a field.

"But," says the Lord, "I have prayed that your faith may not fail." This means that Peter needed this intercession of Jesus Christ more than all the others. An especially great danger of temptation awaited him.

Having said this, Jesus Christ then foretells Peter's denial, but at the same time his conversion, as the fruit of Christ's intercession for him before God. At the same time, the Lord foretells temptation for all the disciples.

He says that they will need the encouraging example of Peter, which will strengthen their faith (Lk 22:31-32). Revealing this danger for all the disciples, Jesus Christ says directly that all of them will be scandalized because of Him that night.

Then the prophecy concerning the death of the Messiah and the disturbance of His followers by it will be fulfilled (Zech 13:7). Yet at once He also comforted the disciples, foretelling His Resurrection and His appearance to them in Galilee.

"I shall be struck; but before you return home to Galilee after the feast, from where you came with Me to Jerusalem for the Passover, I shall already go before you there" (Mt 26:31-32; Mk 14:27-28).

Then Peter begins to insist that, even if all are scandalized, he will not be scandalized and is ready to lay down his life for his Teacher. All the disciples said the same.

In answer to this, the Lord gives Peter a direct prediction of his threefold denial (Mt 26:33-35; Mk 14:29-31; Lk 22:33-34; Jn 13:37-38). To all of them He depicts the coming time in figurative speech as a time of dangers.

A sword will be so necessary for them that they must sell even necessary clothing to acquire it. For the time is already nearing its end, when the prophet's prediction concerning the crucifixion of the Messiah as a criminal will be fulfilled (Isa 53:12).

That is, they must now have especially intensified watchfulness over themselves, in view of the coming dangers to their faith. They must be armed with the spiritual sword (Eph 6:17).

The disciples did not understand this figurative speech of the Savior. They thought He was speaking of the need to provide themselves with material swords, and they informed Him that they had two swords there.

"It is enough," the Lord said to this, seeing that only the events would fully explain to them the meaning of what had been said (Lk 22:35-38).

After Judas had finally resolved in his soul to carry out his criminal thought, to betray Jesus into the hands of His enemies, and had left the Lord's little company for this purpose, the fate of Jesus Christ was decided. His hour had come.

From this begins a new period in the Savior's redemptive activity: the time of His sufferings, Resurrection, and Ascension. This view of the future fills the spirit of the Savior of the world with joy.

He is conscious that the redemptive work for which He came down to earth has thus been accomplished and has come to its end. He begins the exalted discourse: "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him."

The glory of the Only-begotten Son of God (Jn 1:14), however clearly it was revealed to the faith of believers, was nevertheless hidden from people in the humble form of a servant (Phil 2:6-7).

But through the completion of the redemptive work, and through the final, decisive victory over the kingdom of darkness, His glory as the Only-begotten Son of God was fully revealed.

At the same time, in Him, the Son of Man, God the Father was glorified, who saves men through His Only-begotten Son. Contemplating His work as already finished, Jesus Christ describes both His own glorification and the Father's glorification in Him as already accomplished: "is glorified."

But of His Ascension, His return into the bosom of the Father, en heauto, with His divine flesh, He speaks as future: "He will glorify." Yet it is to come soon.

Speaking to the apostles about His approaching death, having pointed out His betrayer to them, and finally offering them His Body and Blood, Jesus wished to draw His disciples out of the oppressed state of spirit into which what had just occurred had to bring them. Therefore He immediately fixes their attention on the thought of His glory. "To be delivered to death," says John Chrysostom, "and to conquer death, and after death to appear more powerful than before, this is indeed great glory." If God was glorified in this way in the person of the Son of Man, then He would soon glorify Him also by receiving Him, in the Ascension, into union with Himself.

"And He will glorify Him at once." "In the Cross itself glorious works will be revealed," and after death will follow His glorious Resurrection from the dead, His Ascension into heaven, and the sending down of the Holy Spirit. All this will bring the universe to reverence, make the tribes of the earth honor His teaching, and worship Him as the Son of God. Such is the glorification of the Son of Man that will soon follow. Yet His glory will be revealed even more majestically at the end of the world and after the judgment of the universe.

We cannot here enter into a detailed consideration of how the calamities of Jerusalem typologically depict, in the distance, the end of the world. The destruction of Jerusalem did not shake the Church of Christ, but exalted it. At the end of the world, the terror of unbelievers is set against the joyful expectation of believers.

This word links the Lord's discourse on the Mount of Olives about the end of the world with the final discourse. In it the Lord discloses to the disciples the mysteries of spiritual life and the regeneration of the human soul by the Holy Spirit.

In that regeneration, all a person's aims and strivings are changed. Earthly goods become nothing. Earthly sorrow and earthly fear disappear. Before the person there appears a new ideal of happiness, independent of the fleeting phenomena of earthly life.

Therefore, when the age of calamities begins to arrive, believers lift up their heads, for the earthly passes away and the Kingdom of God draws near. Thus these two discourses complement one another.

First the Lord says, "But take heed; behold, I have told you all things beforehand" (Mk 13:23). Now, in His discourse, He points them to love (Jn 13:34), to the Comforter (Jn 14:26 and following; Jn 16:7 and following), to their joy, and to the glorification of the Son so that the Father may be glorified (Jn 17:1).

This glory of God, manifested in the Son, is the one true and eternal joy of humanity when it has been counted worthy of the Holy Spirit. The Lord begins His discourse precisely with this great mystery of eternal joy, as soon as Judas the betrayer has gone out from among the disciples.

Judas is the representative of pride and self-will. He represents those who set their own will and thought in place of the will and wisdom of God.

"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately." So spoke the Lord amid His faithful community, signifying that the great glory of God was coming, manifested in the humble form of man.

By this promise the Lord softens the sorrow of His temporal separation from the disciples, of which He speaks in the following verse, verse 33. The time of sacrifice is approaching.

God had already been glorified in the Son of Man, in His love, miracles, and gracious teaching. Yet the highest glorification of God in Jesus Christ was in His dread suffering and death and in His glorious Resurrection.

"I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again," declared the voice from heaven (Jn 12:28). "The Spirit of Christ," said the Apostle Peter, "foretelling the sufferings of Christ, also foretold the glory that would follow them" (1 Pet 1:11).

"Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55), said Stephen the Protomartyr, filled with the Holy Spirit. With spiritual eyes he beheld the bright eternal world, where the Lord was already calling him.

The corruptible human flesh and humble form of man, assumed by God, are taken up together, glorified, to the throne of the Father. Therefore the incarnate and most glorified Lord is the Door of the sheep.

Let us also note with Chrysostom that the glory of Christ was manifested not only after His Resurrection, but also on the Cross itself. For the sun was darkened, the rocks were split, the veil of the temple was torn, many bodies of the departed saints were raised, and the tomb could not hold the Master of life.