John 12:28

So, again, in that asseveration, "I have both glorified, and will glorify again," how many Persons do you discover, obstinate Praxeas? Are there not as many as there are voices? You have the Son on earth, you have the Father in heaven.

"I am come," saith He, "in the Father's name; " and again, "Father, glorify Thy name; " and more openly, "I have manifested Thy name to men.

Nor let anything now be revolved in your hearts and minds besides the divine precepts and heavenly commands, with which the Holy Spirit has ever animated you to the endurance of suffering. Let no one think of death, but of immortality; nor of temporary punishment, but of eternal glory; since it is written, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints; " and again, "A broken spirit is a sacrifice to God: a contrite and humble heart God doth not despise." And again, where the sacred Scripture speaks of the tortures which consecrate God's martyrs, and sanctify them in the very trial of suffering: "And if they have suffered torments in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality; and having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace hath He tried them, and received them as a sacrifice of a burnt-offering, and in due time regard shall be had unto them. The righteous shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people; and their Lord shall reign for ever." When, therefore, you reflect that you shall judge and reign with Christ the Lord, you must needs exult and tread under foot present sufferings, in the joy of what is to come; knowing that from the beginning of the world it has been so appointed that righteousness should suffer there in the conflict of the world, since in the beginning, even at the first, the righteous Abel was slain, and thereafter all righteous men, and prophets, and apostles who were sent. To all of whom the Lord also in Himself has appointed an example, teaching that none shall attain to His kingdom but those who have followed Him in His own way, saying, "He that loveth his life in this world shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." And again: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Paul also exhorts us that we who desire to attain to the Lord's promises ought to imitate the Lord in all things. "We are," says he, "the sons of God: but if sons, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Moreover, he added the comparison of the present time and of the future glory, saying, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory which shall be revealed in us." Of which brightness, when we consider the glory, it behoves us to bear all afflictions and persecutions; because, although many are the afflictions of the righteous, yet those are delivered from them all who trust in God.

It was not the utterance in the voice of the Father to the Son, since divinity is beyond all voice, but it was sent from heaven from the face of the Father to the Son as a sound for human beings to hear, in order that those who heard it might contemplate Christ all the more and come to know his divinity beyond his humanity. Glory is not added to the Father, since he has always had it, but it is added in so far as it radiates and is made known so that human beings are aware of it. Likewise, one must not conclude that the Son would be glorified from a state of disgrace, but rather he is glorified in so far as he who had formerly been hidden was made manifest in the flesh to the eyes of people. Moreover, it was not so much the voice that captivated the ears of those present, but rather how it took place that another glorified him. There was an established teaching among them from the fathers that utterances that were heard could not be borne directly from the mouth of God, since also Moses and all the rest who had spoken of the words they had heard from God, wrote down for humanity, while also saying that the manner of the discourse was that of an angel. If then we also posit that it was an angel who emitted the voice, it would be good that the Father's voice, which was spoken from above to people, be heard through an angel. Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not take place for my sake." He who knew the Father and the Father's matters did not need anything. Thus he does not allow us to think little of him at all or to regard him as one would only be regarded as a prophet. Rather, this helps us to know who he was in relation to God. See whether or not "glorify your name" is the same as imposing on the Savior the name of God, since he is the Word of God. So also the "name" is that of the Father, but "name" does not refer to that which is composed of syllables or uttered with human voices, but rather whatever reveals the nature of the Father. One can understand the "name of God" also in the same way as well as the phrase in the psalms: "I will proclaim your name to my brothers." How else can one understand that the name of God can be told?

"Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour." "But surely this is not the expression of one urging them to go even to death." Nay, it is that of one greatly so urging them. For lest they should say, that "He being exempt from mortal pains easily philosophizes on death, and exhorts us being himself in no danger," He showeth, that although feeling its agony, on account of its profitableness He declineth it not. But these things belong to the Dispensation, not the Godhead. Wherefore He saith, "Now is My soul troubled"; since if this be not the case, What connection hath that which was spoken, and His saying, "Father, save Me from this hour"? And so troubled, that He even sought deliverance from death, if at least it were possible to escape. These were the infirmities of His human nature.

"For for this cause came I unto this hour." As though He had said, "Though we be confounded, though we be troubled, let us not fly from death, since even now I though troubled do not speak of flying; for it behooveth to bear what is coming on. I say not, Deliver Me from this hour," but what? "Father, glorify Thy Name." "Although My trouble urges Me to say this, yet I say the opposite, 'Glorify Thy Name,' that is, Lead Me henceforth to the Cross"; which greatly shows His humanity, and a nature unwilling to die, but clinging to the present life, proving that He was not exempt from human feelings.

For as it is no blame to be hungry, or to sleep, so neither is it to desire the present life; and Christ indeed had a body pure from sin, yet not free from natural wants, for then it would not have been a body. By these words also He taught something else. Of what kind is that? That if ever we be in agony and dread, we even then start not back from that which is set before us; and by saying, "Glorify Thy Name" He showeth that He dieth for the truth calling the action, "glory to God." And this fell out after the Crucifixion. The world was about to be converted, to acknowledge the Name of God, and to serve Him, not the Name of the Father only, but also that of the Son; yet still as to this He is silent.

"There came therefore a Voice from Heaven, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." When had He "glorified it"? By what had been done before; and "I will glorify it again" after the Cross.

(Tr. lii. 2) I hear Him say, He that hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal; and I am ravished, I despise the world; the whole of this life, however long, is but a vapour in My sight; all temporal things are vile, in comparison with eternal. And again I hear Him say, Now is My soul troubled. Thou biddest my soul follow Thee; but I see Thy soul troubled. What foundation shall I seek, if the Rock gives way? Lord, I acknowledge Thy mercy. Thou of Thy love wast of Thine own will troubled, to console those who are troubled through the infirmity of nature; that the members of Thy body perish not in despair. The Head took upon Himself the affections of His members. He was not troubled by any thing, but, as was said above, He troubled Himself. (c. 11:33)

(Tr. lii) Lastly, let the man who would follow Him, hear at what hour he should follow. A fearful hour has perhaps come: a choice is offered, either to do wrong, or suffer: the weak soul is troubled. Hear our Lord. What shall I say?

(Tr. lii. 3) He teaches thee Whom thou shouldest call on, whose will prefer to thine own. Let Him not seem to fall from His greatness, because He wishes thee to rise from thy meanness. He took upon Him man's infirmity, that He might teach the afflicted to say, Not what I will, but what Thou wilt. Wherefore He adds, But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name: i. e. in My passion and resurrection.

"Now is my soul troubled." Whence, Lord, was Thy soul troubled? He had, indeed, said a little before, "He that hateth his life [soul] in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." Dost thou then love thy life in this world, and is thy soul troubled as the hour approacheth when thou shalt leave this world? Who would dare affirm this of the soul [life] of the Lord? We rather it was whom He transferred unto Himself; He took us into His own person as our Head, and assumed the feelings of His members; and so it was not by any others He was troubled, but, as was said of Him when He raised Lazarus, "He was troubled in Himself." For it behoved the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, just as He has lifted us up to the heights of heaven, to descend with us also into the lowest depths of suffering.

I hear Him saying a little before, "The hour cometh that the Son of man should be glorified: if a corn of wheat die, it bringeth forth much fruit." I hear this also, "He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." And now, again, it is my Lord Himself, who by such words has suddenly transported me from the weakness that was mine to the strength that was His, that I hear saying, "Now is my soul troubled." What does it mean? How biddest Thou my soul follow Thee if I behold Thine own troubled? How shall I endure what is felt to be heavy by strength so great? What is the kind of foundation I can seek if the Rock is giving way? But me-thinks I hear in my own thoughts the Lord giving me an answer, saying, Thou shall follow me the better, because it is to aid thy power of endurance that I thus interpose. Thou hast heard, as addressed to thyself, the voice of my fortitude hear in me the voice of thy infirmity: I supply strength for thy running, and I check not thy hastening, but I transfer to myself thy causes for trembling, and I pave the way for thy marching along. O Lord our Mediator, God above us, man for us, I own Thy mercy For because Thou, who art so great, art troubled through the good will of Thy love, Thou preservest, by the richness of Thy comfort, the many in Thy body who are troubled by the continual experience of their own weakness, from perishing utterly in their despair.

In a word, let the man who would follow learn the road by which he must travel. Perhaps an hour of terrible trial has come, and the choice is set before thee either to do iniquity or endure suffering; the weak soul is troubled, on whose behalf the invincible soul [of Jesus] was voluntarily troubled; set then the will of God before thine own. For notice what is immediately subjoined by thy Creator and thy Master, by Him who made thee, and became Himself for thy teaching that which He made; for He who made man was made man, but He remained still the unchangeable God, and transplanted manhood into a better condition. Listen, then, to what He adds to the words, "Now is my soul troubled." "And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name." He has taught thee here what to think of, what to say, on whom to call, in whom to hope, and whose will, as sure and divine, to prefer to thine own, which is human and weak.

And when He here said, "Now is my soul troubled;" and also when He says, "My soul is sorrowful, even unto death;" and "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;" He assumed the infirmity of man, to teach him, when thereby saddened and troubled, to say what follows: "Nevertheless, Father, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." For thus it is that man is turned from the human to the divine, when the will of God is preferred to his own. But to what do the words "Glorify Thy name" refer, but to His own passion and resurrection? For what else can it mean, but that the Father should thus glorify the Son, who in like manner glorifieth His own name in the similar sufferings of His servants?

(Tr. lii. 4) I have glorified it, i. e. before I made the world; and will glorify it again, i. e. when Thou shalt rise from the dead. Or, I have glorified it, when Thou wast born of a Virgin, didst work miracles, wast made manifest by the Holy Ghost descending in the shape of a dove; and will glorify it again, when Thou shalt rise from the dead, and, as God, be exalted above the heavens, and Thy glory above all the earth.
The people therefore that stood by and heard it, said that it thundered.

"Then came there a voice from heaven, [saying], I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." "I have both glorified it," before I created the world, "and I will glorify it again," when He shall rise from the dead and ascend into heaven. It may also be otherwise understood. "I have both glorified it," when He was born of the Virgin, when He exercised miraculous powers; when the Magi, guided by a star in the heavens, bowed in adoration before Him; when He was recognized by saints filled with the Holy Spirit; when He was openly proclaimed by the descent of the Spirit in the form of a dove, and pointed out by the voice that sounded from heaven; when He was transfigured on the mount; when He wrought many miracles, cured and cleansed multitudes, fed so vast a number with a very few loaves, commanded the winds and the waves, and raised the dead; "and I will glorify it again;" when He shall rise from the dead; when death shall have no longer dominion over Him; and when He shall be exalted over the heavens as God, and His glory over all the earth.

"The people therefore that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to Him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes." He thereby showed that the voice made no intimation to Him of what He already knew, but to those who needed the information. And just as that voice was uttered by God, not on His account, but on that of others, so His soul was troubled, not on His own account, but voluntarily for the sake of others.

There came therefore a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

The Evangelist did not say that it was the Father Who uttered the voice from above, but that the voice came from heaven; in order that no heretics, because they heard that the Father spake, might attempt to say that also the Divine Nature, to wit, the Father, is encompassed with a gross body. Wherefore he speaks indeed of the harmonious voice, but how the voice was brought to pass it is not in our power to say. But what the interpretation of its words signifies is this: The Son was conspicuous by many signs, the Father withal working the miracles along with Him; and inasmuch as He was Fellow-worker with Him in all things which He did, He says now that He has glorified [His Name,] and freely promises that He will also glorify it again, through the sign at His Death. For inasmuch as the Son is both God of God, and Life born of That which is by nature Life, He raised Himself from the dead; but inasmuch as He is regarded as a Man like us, albeit without sin, He is not regarded as having raised Himself, but as risen by the power of the Father.

Father, glorify Thy name.

He then makes a request of His Father and exhibits the outward appearance of prayer, not as being weak in respect of that Nature which is Almighty, but in respect of His Manhood, ascribing to the Divine Nature those attributes that are superhuman; not implying that the Divine Nature was something external to Himself, since He calls God His own Father, but in full consciousness that universal power and glory would be the lot of both Father and Son. And whether the text has: Glorify Thy Son, or: Glorify Thy Name, makes no difference in the exact significance of the ideas conveyed. Christ however, despising death and the shame of suffering, looking only to the objects to be achieved by the suffering, and almost beholding the death of all mankind already passing out of sight as an effect of the death of His Own Flesh; knowing that the power of corruption was on the point of being for ever destroyed, and that the nature of man would be thenceforth transformed to a newness of life: He all but says something of this sort to God the Father: "The body, O Father, shrinks from encountering the suffering, and dreads that death which is unnatural to it; nay more, it seems a thing not to be endured that One Who is enthroned with Thee and Who possesses Almighty power should be grossly outraged by the audacious insults of the Jews; but since this is the cause for which I have come, glorify Thy Son, that is, prevent Me not from encountering death, but grant this favour to Thy Son for the good of all mankind." And that the Evangelist in some other places also speaks of the Cross under the name of "glory," thou mayest learn from what he says: For the Holy Spirit was not yet [given]; because Jesus was not yet glorified. For in his wisdom he in these words speaks of being "crucified" as being "glorified:" and the Cross is a glory. For although at the season of His Passion, Christ willingly and patiently endured many contumelies, and moreover underwent voluntarily for our sake sufferings which He might have refused to suffer; surely the undergoing this for the benefit of others is a characteristic of excessive compassion and of supreme glory. And the Son became glorious also in another way. For from the fact that He overpowered death, we recognise Him to be Life and Son of the Living God. And the Father is glorified, when He is seen to have such a Son begotten of Himself, of the same Nature as Himself. And He is Good, Light, Life, and superior to death, and One Who does whatsoever He will. And when He says: Glorify Thy Son, He means this: "Give Thy consent to Me in My willingness to suffer." For the Father gave up the Son to death, not without taking counsel, but in willingness for the life of the world: therefore the Father's consent is spoken, of as a bestowal of blessings upon us; for instead of "suffering" He spake of "glory." And this also He says as a Pattern for us: for while on the one hand we ought to pray that we fall not into temptation, yet on the other hand if we should be so tried we ought to bear it nobly and not to rush away from it, but to pray that we may be saved unto God. But Glorify Thy Name. For if through our dangers it comes to pass that God is glorified, let all things be accounted secondary to that end.

Moreover, just as death was brought to naught in no other way than by the Death of the Saviour, so also with regard to each of the sufferings of the flesh: for unless He had felt dread, human nature could not have become free from dread; unless He had experienced grief, there could never have been any deliverance from grief; unless He had been troubled and alarmed, no escape from these feelings could have been found. And with regard to every one of the affections to which human nature is liable, thou wilt find exactly the corresponding thing in Christ. The affections of His Flesh were aroused, not that they might have the upper hand as they do indeed in us, but in order that when aroused they might be thoroughly subdued by the power of the Word dwelling in the flesh, the nature of man thus undergoing a change for the better.

Since therefore that which is the outcome of thoughts could not truly happen to inanimate flesh, but on the contrary is suitable to a human and rational soul; how can it be improper to imagine that we think rightly in assigning the suffering to it [i. e. the human soul,] rather than in casting it upon the Nature of the Godhead, [as we must do] by forcible and inevitable reasoning, if truly (in accordance with their doctrine) the Divine Nature dwelling in Christ's body occupied the place of the soul?

Whether the Gospel has "glorify your Son" or "glorify your name" makes no difference to the interpretation of its precise meaning. Christ, however, despising death and the shame that comes from suffering, focused only on the achievements resulting from the suffering. And immediately seeing the death of all of us departing from our midst as a result of the death of his own flesh, and the power of decay about to be completely destroyed and human nature already formed anew in anticipation of newness of life, he all but says to God the Father something along the following lines: "The body, O Father, shrinks from suffering and is afraid of a death that violates nature. Indeed, it seems scarcely endurable that he who is enthroned with you and has power over all things should be subjected to such outrageous treatment. But since I have come for this purpose, glorify your Son, that is, do not stop him from going to his death, but give your consent to your offspring for the good of all." The Evangelist even calls the cross glory elsewhere. … It is clear that in this passage, "glorified" means "crucified." "Glory" is equivalent to "the cross." In fact, his acceptance of suffering for the good of others is a sign of extraordinary compassion and the highest kind of glory. The glorification of the Son also took place in another way. Through his victory over death we recognize him to be life and the Son of the living God. The Father is glorified then when he is shown to have such a Son begotten from himself and with the same attributes as himself.

(Moral. xxviii.) When God speaks audibly, as He does here, but no visible appearance is seen, He speaks through the medium of a rational creature: i. e. by the voice of an Angel.

"Father! glorify Your name," that is, grant Me to take up the cross and death for the salvation of all. See: He called death for truth the glory of God.
Therefore the Father also says: "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." "I have glorified it" by those miracles which You performed before the Cross in My name; "and will glorify it again," by working miracles through You upon the Cross itself; and after the burial I will make even more glorious both My name and You, by raising You and sending down the Spirit.

Father, glorify your name: and this is to ask that the name of God be made known to the nations through the passion. He prays for us, for whom he also offers himself: whence in Hebrews 5 it is said of Christ: "In the days of his flesh, offering prayers and supplications to God, who was able to save him from death, with a strong cry and tears, he was heard because of his reverence."

A voice therefore came from heaven. Here the last point is touched upon, namely the hearing, as a sign of which he says: A voice came from heaven, saying: I have both glorified, namely through miraculous works, and I will glorify again, through yet more wondrous works, such as our redemption and Christ's exaltation to the heavens. The glorification was accomplished by the Father: whence in Hebrews 5: "Christ did not glorify himself to be made high priest, but he who spoke to him: You are my Son, today I have begotten you." Whence this voice is attributed to the Father, as in Matthew 3 at the baptism, in Matthew 17 at the transfiguration, and now. Whence the voice bore testimony to Christ at his coming or incarnation, at his passion, and at his resurrection.

Now his reason proposes its own petition when he says, Father, glorify thy name. Thy name can be understood in two ways. First, it can mean the Son himself. For a name (nomen) - which comes from the word for knowledge or being known (notitia) - is like a sign (notamen). Thus a name is what manifests a thing. Now the Son manifests the Father: "Father, I have manifested thy name" (17:6). We read of this name: "Behold, the name of the Lord comes from far" (Is 30:27). So the meaning is this: Father, glorify thy name, that is, your Son: "And now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made" (17:5). Or, the name of the Lord indicates the knowledge which men have of the Father, then the meaning is, Father, glorify thy name, that is, do what is for the glory of your name. Yet it comes to the same thing, because when the Son is glorified the name of the Father is glorified. He says this because the Son was going to be glorified by his passion: "He became obedient," to the Father, "unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him" (Phil 2:8).

He is saying here in effect: By the desire of nature I ask to be saved, but my reason asks that your name be glorified, that is, that the Son suffer, because it was by the passion of Christ that men were to receive their knowledge of God and glorify him. For before the passion God was known only in Judea, and his name was great in Israel; but after the passion, God's name was glorified even among the Gentiles.

Then when the Evangelist says, Then a voice came from heaven, the promise of glory is given. First, the voice promising glory is heard; secondly, the crowd expresses its opinion (v 29); lastly, the meaning of the voice is explained (v 30).

With regard to the first, he says, Then a voice came from heaven. This is the voice of God the Father. It was the same voice that was heard when Christ was baptized, "This is my beloved Son" (Mt 3:17), and at his transfiguration (Mt 17:5). Although every voice of this kind was formed by the power of the entire Trinity, this was specifically formed to represent the person of the Father; thus it is referred to as the voice of the Father. In a similar manner the dove was formed by the entire Trinity to signify the person of the Holy Spirit. And again, the body of Christ was formed by the entire Trinity, but specifically assumed by the person of the Word because it had been formed to be united to him.

This voice, then, does two things. First, it reveals the past, when saying, I have glorified it, that is, I have begotten you as glorious from all eternity, because the Son is a certain glory and splendor of the Father: "For she (Wisdom) is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God" (Wis 7:26); "He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature" (Heb 1:3). Or, I have glorified it at your birth, when the angels sang: "Glory to God in the highest" (Lk 2:14) and in the miracles the Father performed through him.

Secondly, the voice foretells what is to come: and I will glorify it again, in the passion, in which Christ triumphed over the devil, and in the resurrection and the ascension, and in the conversion of all the world: "The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his Son Jesus" (Acts 3:13).