Today’s Gospel, John 13:31-33, 34-35, are Jesus’ words to His disciples at His Last
Supper. After Judas has departed from the supper, Jesus declares: “Now is the Son of
Man glorified and God is glorified in Him” (Jn 13:31). Judas has left to set Jesus’
destruction, yet Jesus declares that He is to be glorified. St. Thomas Aquinas observes:
“Christ was glorified by being lifted up on the cross” (Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on
the Gospel of John, 1827).
St. Paul reflects Jesus’ attitude when he writes: “But far be it from me to glory except in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14).
Judas’ departure initiated the process of Jesus’ Passion, as Thomas notes, “When
something is beginning, it seems in a way to already exist. Now when Judas went out to
bring back the soldiers, this seems to be the beginning of Christ’s passion, the Passion
by which He was to be glorified” (Commentary on John, 1827).
Thomas explains how Jesus’ Passion brings glory: “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” (Heb 2:14).
Jesus brings about a glorious reconciliation: “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” (Col 1:20)” (Commentary on John,
1827).
God is glorified by Jesus’ death. John’s Gospel informs us that Peter’s eventual death will bring
glory to God: “This He said to show by what death Peter was to glorify God” (Jn 21:19). Thomas
notes: “He was much more glorified by the death of Christ” (Commentary on John, 1827).
Jesus speaks of His death as glory: “God will in turn glorify Him [the Son] in Himself, and will
glorify Him soon” (Jn 13:32). Paul declares: “For the Cross, although it is foolish to the Gentiles
and to those who are lost, yet to us who believe, it is the very great wisdom of God and the
power of God” (1 Cor 1:18).
We give glory to God as we do His will: “For God is glorified by those who seek to do His will,
and not their own. Christ was like this: ‘For I have come down from heaven not to do My own
will, but the will of Him who sent Me’ (Jn 6:38). And this is why in him God is glorified…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, that is, in His own glory” (Commentary on John,
1828).
Paul announces: “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which
is above every name” (Phil 2:9). The glorification by which God is glorified in Christ is the merit
in virtue of which Christ as man is glorified in Himself, that is, in the glory of God. This will

occur when His human nature, its weakness having been laid down by the death of the cross,
receives the glory of immortality at the resurrection. So the Resurrection itself was the source
from which this glory began. Accordingly he says, and will glorify Him at once, at the
resurrection, which will quickly come as Psalm 16:10 asserts: ‘You will not let your Holy One
see corruption’ [Ps 16:10] (Commentary on John, 1828).
Christ was raised from the dead by the “glory of the Father,” as Paul writes: “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” (Rom 6:4).
In the Resurrection, Jesus’ humanity was glorified: “In the Resurrection the humanity of Christ
was glorified because of its union with the divine nature; and there was one person, that of the
Word… Such glory is also due to this human being, Christ, in so far 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 Jesus
Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit which dwells in
you” (Rom 8:11) (Commentary on John, 1829).
Jesus’ human nature will be glorified in the Resurrection: “Christ, who reigns in the glory which
is from the glory of God, may Himself pass into the glory of God, that is, 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. That which sends the rays of brightness into
the human nature of Christ is God; and thus the human nature of Christ is glorified by the glory
of His divinity, and the human nature of Christ is brought into the glory of His divinity, not by
having its nature changed, but by a sharing of glory in so far as this human being, Christ, is
adored as God … the glory of His divinity overflows to the glory of His humanity” (Commentary
on John, 1829).
Paul proclaims: “Every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of the Father”
[Phil 2:11]. Thomas affirms that the glory of Jesus, in His divinity, is eternal, while the glory of
God in His humanity “had a beginning in time … on the day of the Resurrection” (Commentary
on John, 1829).
Jesus is also glorified with “the glory of being known by the faith of the people.” Among people,
this is usually associated with praise. However, in the book of Exodus, God’s glory is “a divine
sign or mark is upon one.” Exodus 40:34 states that “The glory of the Lord appeared over the
tabernacle.” Moses’ face was glorified.
Thomas comments: “Just as glory, in the physical sense, indicates that a divine sign rests upon
one, so, in the spiritual sense, that 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 Cor 3:18). Therefore, if
anyone who knows God is glorified and made a sharer of glory, it is clear that Christ, who knows
God most perfectly, since He is the brightness of the entire divine glory (Heb 1:30), and able to
receive the splendor of the entire divine glory, if, this is so, then Christ is most perfectly
glorified. And all who know God owe this to Christ” (Commentary on John, 1830).

It was only with Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection that Jesus’ power and divinity became
recognized: “But men did not yet realize that Christ was so glorified by this most perfect
knowledge and participation in the divinity. And so, although He was glorified in Himself, He
was not yet glorified in the knowledge of men: “Now is the Son of man glorified, that is, now,
in His human nature, He is receiving glory in the knowledge of men because of His approaching
passion. And in Him God, the Father, is glorified. For the Son not only reveals himself, but the
Father as well: “[Father] I have manifested Your name” (Jn 17:6). Consequently, not only is the
Son glorified, but the Father also” (Commentary on John, 1831).
Jesus announces: “My children, I am not to be with you much longer” (Jn 13:33). Especially at
this time, Jesus expressed His love: “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved
them to the end” (Jn 13:1).
Thomas thinks that He calls them “children” because, “They did not yet perfectly love. They
were not yet perfect in charity” Paul spoke similarly when he wrote the Galatians: “My little
children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you” (Gal 4:19). Thomas
notes that, after the Resurrection, Jesus tells Mary Magdalene, “Go to My brethren and say to
them” (Jn 20:17).
Jesus announces: “I give you a new commandment” (Jn 13:34). Thomas raises the question how
the commandment can be new when the Book of Leviticus already commanded: “You shall love
your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18).
Thomas affirms that this commandment is new because of “… the newness, the renewal, it
produces: ‘You have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature,
which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator’ (Col 3:9). This newness is
from charity, the charity to which Christ urges us” (Commentary on John, 1836).
Thomas adds: “This commandment is said to be new because of the cause which produces this
renewal; and this is a new spirit. There are two spirits: the old and the new. The old spirit is the
spirit of slavery; the new is the spirit of love. The first produces slaves; the second, children by
adoption: ‘For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have
received the spirit of sonship’ (Rom 8:15) (Commentary on John, 1836).
The prophet Ezekiel had been told: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put
within you” (Ez 36:26).
Thomas instructs: “The spirit sets us on fire with love because ‘God’s love has been poured into
our hearts through the Holy Spirit’ (Rom 5:5) (Commentary on John, 1836).
This commandment is new because it is an effect of the New Covenant: “The difference between
the New and the Old Covenant is that between love and fear: as we read in Jeremiah (31:31): ‘I
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.’ Under the Old Covenant, this commandment
was observed through fear; under the New Covenant it is observed through love. So this
commandment was in the Old Law, not as characteristic of it, but as a preparation for the New
Law” (Commentary on John, 1836).

Jesus’ command is one of mutual love: “The import of the commandment is mutual love; thus
He says: that you love one another. It is of the very nature of friendship that is not
imperceptible; otherwise, it would not be friendship, but merely good-will. For a true and firm
friendship the friends need a mutual love for each other; for this duplication makes it true and
firm. Our Lord, wanting there to be perfect friendship among His faithful and disciples, gave
them this command of mutual love: ‘Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship aright’ (Sir
6:17)” (Commentary on John, 1837).
Thomas explains: “The standard for this mutual love is given when he says, as I have loved you.
Now Christ loved us three ways: gratuitously, effectively and rightly” (Commentary on John,
1838).
Thomas points out that Jesus loved us “gratuitously”: “He loved us gratuitously because He
began to love us and did not wait for us to begin to love Him: ‘Not that we loved God, but
because He first loved us’ [1 Jn 4:10]. In the same way we should first love our neighbors and
not wait to be loved by them or for them to do us a favor’ (Commentary on John, 1838).
Jesus loves us “effectively”: “Christ loved us effectively … for love is proven to exist from what
one does. The greatest thing a person can do for a friend is to give himself for that friend. This is
what Christ did: ‘Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us’ (Eph 5:2). So, we read: ‘Greater
love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’ (Jn 15:13)” (Commentary
on John, 1838).
Thomas asserts that we should have the same type of love: “We also should be led by this
example and love one another effectively and fruitfully: ‘Let us not love in word or in speech but
in deed and in truth’ (1 Jn 3:18) (Commentary on John, 1838).
Thomas explains that Christ loved us “rightly”: “Christ also loved us rightly. Since all friendship
is based on some kind of sharing (for similarity is a cause of love), that friendship is right which
is based on a similarity or a sharing in some good. Now Christ loved us as similar to Himself by
the grace of adoption, loving us in the light of this similarity in order to draw us to God. “I have
loved you with an everlasting love; and so taking pity on you, I have drawn you” [Jer 31:3]”
(Commentary on John, 1838).
Thomas counsels that we should imitate this love: “We also, in the one we love, should love
what pertains to God and not so much the pleasure or benefits the loved one gives to us. In this
kind of love for our neighbor, even the love of God is included” (Commentary on John, 1838).
Jesus declares “This is how all will know you for My disciples: your love for one another” (Jn
13:35)
Thomas affirms: “One who is in the army of a king should wear his emblem. The emblem of
Christ is the emblem of charity. So anyone who wants to be in the army of Christ should be
stamped with the emblem of charity. This is what he is saying here: By this all men will know
that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. I mean a holy love: ‘I am the

mother of beautiful love and of fear and of knowledge and of holy hope’ [Sir 24:24]”
(Commentary on John, 1839).
The gift of love is Jesus’ greatest gift: “Although the apostles received many gifts from Christ,
such as life, intelligence and good health, as well as spiritual goods, such as the ability to
perform miracles – ‘I will give you a mouth and wisdom’ (Lk 21:15) – none of these are the
emblem of a disciple of Christ, since they can be possessed both by the good and the bad. Rather,
the special sign of a disciple of Christ is charity and mutual love; ‘He has put His seal upon us
and given us His Spirit’ (2 Cor 1:22)” (Commentary on John, 1839).
Denis Vincent Wiseman, O.P.

References to Thomas Commentary on the Gospel of John may be found in the
translation by Fr. James A. Weisheipl, O.P. and Fabian R. Larcher, O.P., published by
St. Bede’s Publications.