De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae
Christ's Humble Self-Designation
Christ's use of 'Son of Man' reveals how he spoke from his human nature in humility, distinguishing it from his divine self-naming.
So you can understand that Christ declared himself ignorant of that day only in the limited knowledge that comes through the flesh — notice how carefully he answered. He did not say, "Nor do I know," but rather, "Nor does the Son of Man know."✦ What is the Son of Man, if not the name of the flesh that was assumed? By this title, it's clear that when Christ says he doesn't know something, he's speaking not as God but as man. At other times, when Christ speaks of himself according to his divinity, he tends to use "I" or "me" rather than "Son" or "Son of Man" — as in that passage: "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."✦ "I am," he says — not "The Son of Man is."✦ And there's no doubt that he was speaking of that divine nature by which he existed before Abraham and without beginning — not of the nature by which he came after Abraham and was born of Abraham.✦
The Disciples' Question and Peter's Confession
Christ's careful phrasing in questioning the disciples leads Peter to confess his divine identity, modeling humble discernment.
Elsewhere too, asking the disciples what people's opinion of him was, he says, "Whom do they say men are?" — not "me," but "the Son of Man."✦ Again questioning the same disciples about what they themselves thought: "But you — not 'whom the Son of Man is,' but whom do you say me to be?"✦ In other words, when he was asking about the fleshly opinion of the people, he used the name of flesh — "Son of Man" — which properly belongs to those he asked about. But when questioning his spiritual disciples about his own deity, he didn't say "the Son of Man" but pointedly said "me." And so when Peter grasped what he had meant by this — that those who had been asked, "Whom do you say me to be?" would have answered — he revealed it in his own response: "You are," he said, "not 'Jesus, son of the Virgin,' but Christ, the Son of God."✦ And indeed, even if he had answered differently, he would still have spoken the truth. But prudently attending to the meaning of the questioner within the very words of the question, he answered fittingly and appropriately to what had been asked, saying: "You are Christ, the Son of God."✦
Read the original Latin
Denique, ut intelligas quod illa tantum cognitione, quae per carnem fit, se illum diem nescire perhibuerit, vigilanter respondens, non ait: "Nec ego scio", sed: Nec ipse, inquit, filius hominis scit. Quid est filius hominis, nisi nomen assumptae carnis? Quo siquidem nomine intelligi datur, quia dicens se aliquid nescire, non iuxta quod Deus est, sed secundum hominem loquitur. Alias quippe loquens de se secundum suam deitatem, non filius vel filium hominis, sed: "Ego" vel "me", saepius ponere consuevit, ut ibi: Amen, amen dico vobis, antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum. Ego sum, ait, non: "Filius hominis est". Nec dubium, quin de illa essentia diceret, qua ante Abraham et sine initio est, non qua post Abraham et ex Abraham factus est.
Alibi quoque hominum de se opinionem a discipulis inquirens: Quem dicunt, inquit, homines esse, non "me", sed filium hominibus? Rursus eosdem interrogans, quid de se ipsi quoque sentirent: Vos autem, non "quem filium hominis", sed quem me, ait, esse dicitis? Carnalis videlicet populi sententiam de carne inquirens, nomen carnis, quos proprie est filius hominis, posuit; spirituales vero discipulos de sua deitate interrogans, non filium hominis, sed signanter me dixit. Quod denique Petrus intelligens, quid per hoc quos dixerat: me, requisiti fuissent, sua responsione aperuit: Tu es, inquiens, non "Iesus filius Virginis", sed Christus filius Dei. Quod utique si respondisset, nihilominus veritatem dixisset; sed in verbis interrogationis sensum interrogantis prudenter advertens, competenter proprieque ad interrogata respondit, dicens: Tu es Christus filius Dei.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Mark.13.32;Matt.24.36 — But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matt.24.36 — But concerning that day and hour, no one knows — not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son — except the Father alone.
- ↩John.8.58 — Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.'
- ↩John.8.58 — Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.'
- ↩John.8.58 — Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.'
- ↩Matt.16.13 — Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
- ↩Matt.16.15 — He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
- ↩Matt.16.16 — Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
- ↩Matt.16.16-Matt.16.17 — Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matt.16.17 — But Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae (On the Steps of Humility and Pride) companion
Humility is climbed one day at a time
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