40. But these words of the Lord are not new,
or attested now for the first time in the teaching of the Gospels, for
He testified to this very mystery of God the Father glorifying the Son
with Himself by the noble joy at the fulfilment of His hope, with which
He rejoiced at the very moment when Judas went forth to betray
Him. Filled with joy that His purpose was now to be fully
accomplished, He said, Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is
glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, He hath glorified
Him in Himself, and straightway hath He glorified Him St. John xiii. 31, 32.. How can we whose souls are burdened
with bodies of clay, whose minds are polluted and stained with foul
consciousness of sin, be so puffed up as to judge of His divine
claim? How can we set up ourselves to criticise His heavenly
nature, rebelling against God with our unhallowed and blasphemous
disputations? The Lord enunciated the faith of the Gospel in the
simplest words that could be found, and fitted His discourses to our
understanding, so far as the weakness of our nature allowed Him,
without saying anything unworthy of the majesty of His own
nature. The signification of His opening words cannot, I think,
be doubted, Now is the Son of Man glorified; that is, all the
glory which He obtains is not for the Word but for His flesh: not
for the birth of His Godhead, but for the dispensation of His manhood
born into the world. What then, may I ask, is the meaning of what
follows, And God is glorified in Him? I hear that God is
glorified in Him; but what that can be according to your
interpretation, heretic, I do not know. God is glorified in Him,
in the Son of Man, that is: tell me, then, is the Son of Man the
same as the Son of God? And since the Son of Man is not one and
the Son of God another, but He Who is Son of God is Himself also Son of
Man, Who, pray, is the God Who is glorified in this Son of Man, Who is
also Son of God?