Passing on to that which this article is specially concerned with, — 'What is meant by the ' glorj- ' and the ' glorifying ' of Jesus Christ ? It must
GLORY
GLUTTONOUS
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mean (a) tin- revelation of His essential Deity, that whi. h He ix in the mind of the Father, though veilr'l iniiH jiian by the limitation of the Incarnatici! See '-i l7^ He P, 1 Co 2", Ja 2'. (6) The revelation ot the ideal and perfect con- dition of Imman nature, as elevated by its union with God in the Incarnation to that which (iod means it to be by the law of its creation, that which already in the mind of God it essentially is. Then the glory of Christ is the explanation and justification of Gn 1" (cf. 2 Co 3'*).
But besides this fundamental conception of ' glory ' which springs out of the primaiy meaning of the Greek word, it is to be noticed that ' glory ' in Scripture usually carries with it ideas of ' light,' 'splendour,' and 'beauty.' Thus pre-eminently ' the glory of the Lord ' in the OT is the visible shining forth of light, by which the Divine Pre- sence is recognized by man, the r\yy,y of the later Jews. So the ' glory ' appeared to Israel at Sinai (Ex 241''- "), at the door of the Tent (Lv 9"-^, Nu 2410 igi9)^ at the dedication of Solomon's Temple (1 K 8'"- "), in the visions of Isaiah (6'"') and Ezekiel (1=« 3=^ 8^). Similarly the Messianic hopes of Israel are expressed under the figure of ' glory dwelling in the land' (Ps 85^). See artt. 'Glory (in OT) ' and ' Shekinah ' in Hastings' DB. Pass- ing to the NT, the same conception of 'glory' is seen in St. Luke's account of the Nativity (2='). And this is brought into direct connexion with the Person of Christ in the narratives of the Trans- figuration, especially in St. Luke's (Q^™-)- There the ' glory ' of Christ shines forth visibly in the dazzling brightness of His countenance. It en- compasses the forms of Moses and Elijah (v.'') ; it even transfigures material objects like Christ's clothing (v.-"). With this passage should be com- pared the visions of Stephen in Ac T''" ; of Saul of Tarsus (Ac 9^ 22i>-" 26i»), and of St. John in Patmos (Rev !»-«).
A more metaphysical conception of the ' glory ' of Christ is seen in St. John's Gospel. Tl
gelist may indeed be alluding to the Transflgura-
'n 1", and to the visible glory ( " ' vision in \2*^. But in 2" and 11* he is evidently
tion in 1", and to the visible glory of Isaiah's 11* he is evidently describing some revelation to the inward eye of what Christ essentially is, some intuition of His Divine power (only suggested by a visible 'sign') borne in upon the soul of the believer. In Christ's words and works His true nature, as the ' efful- gence' of the Father's glory, flashes upon and illuminates not the intellectu.al faculties merely, but the whole being of man, filling it with the sense of light and beauty and satisfaction.
Thus we seem to arrive at a conception of ' glory ' which combines both the ideas of dd^a, as ' splendour ' and as the manifestation of eternal truth as it is in the Divine mind.
In this sense Christ looks forward to and prays for the ' glorifying ' of Himself by the Father (Jn 1331. 32 171. 6. 24]^ -pjjjg glorifying is in a true sense accomplished in the Passion, as issuing in the Resurrection, whereby the true nature of Christ and His redemptive work were recognized and rejoiced in by the faithful. There is a ' glory ' which is yet to come, but the present revelation to the Church of Christ's glory is of the same order as the future one which will complete it (17-''). The Christian community, already ideally per- fected by the separation of Judas ( Jn 13"), is hence- forth to recognize permanently what individual intuition had already perceived and confessed at different points of the ministry. And this ' glori- fying' of Christ is to be the 'glorifying' of the father (Jn 17'), for the completion of Christ's work will reveal the Divine mind and iiurpose to the Church ; and it is also the ' glorifying ' of the believer and of the Church as a whole (v.--'), for
the Church will be the permanent witness of God to the world (v. =3), and man in union with Christ is on the way to attain the Divine ideal (v.-").
The same profound conceptions of ' glory ' ap- pear in the writings of St. Paul and St. Peter. The object of the Christian calling is ' the obtain- ing of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ ' (2 Th 2'''). The invisible ' glory ' of the Christian Church through its union with Christ by the Spirit is greater than the visible ' glory ' of the Old Cove- nant (2 Co 3'"). The 'glory' of God recognized in Christ by the believer is a new creation of light (4"). Present limitations and sufferings will be abundantly compensated in the full future revelation of 'glory' (v.", cf. Ro S"*'^-)- Indeed, the ' glorifying ' of the believer is already ideally complete (Ro 8™); it will be visibly completed in the Resurrection of the body (Ph 3-', cf. 1 P 5>-^).