The Son's humble sayings belong to his humanity; his equality with the Father is by nature
Marcellus continues his argument that Scripture's humble statements about the Son refer to his assumed humanity, not his eternal divinity, and now explains how the Son's suffering and lowliness are for the Church's benefit.
So whenever Scripture says that the Son received something, or that the Son was glorified, it says this because of his humanity, not because of his divinity. And when he says, "My Father who sent me is greater than I" (John 14:28), he calls the Father greater than himself because he has become human. But as the Word of the Father, he is equal to him. "I and the Father are one," he says (John 10:30), and "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). He does not possess equality with the Father as something seized, but he is equal by nature and consubstantial with the Father, because he has been begotten from the Father's substance. And when the apostle says that "in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9), we must understand that all the fullness of deity dwells in his flesh. And when he says, "He did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all" (Romans 8:32), he says elsewhere, "Just as Christ also loved the Church and handed himself over for her" (Ephesians 5:25). For the immortal God did not come to save himself, but those who had been put to death; and he did not suffer for himself, but for us. For this reason he took on our lowliness and our poverty, so that he might grant us his riches. His suffering is our freedom from suffering; his death is our immortality; his tears are our joy; his burial is our resurrection; his baptism is our sanctification. "For their sake I sanctify myself," he says, "so that they also may be sanctified in truth" (John 17:19). And his bruise is our healing: "By his bruise we have been healed" (Isaiah 53:5). And his discipline is our peace: "The discipline of our peace was upon him" (Isaiah 53:5)—that is, for the sake of our peace he is disciplined. And his dishonor is our glory. That is why he asks for glory on our behalf, saying, "Glorify me, Father, with yourself, with the glory I had before the world existed, with you" (John 17:5). For we are the ones glorified in him. And his descent is our ascent, as it is written: "He raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6), and "so that in the coming ages he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7). And when he says on the cross, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46), he commits all human beings to the Father through himself—all who are made alive in him. For they are his members, and the many members are one body, which is the Church. As the blessed Paul writes to the Galatians: "You are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). Therefore he commits all people in himself. In the same way, when he says, "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways" (Proverbs 8:22), he says this about the Church, which is being created in him. For the maker of all things is not a creature or a thing made; rather, the thing made is being renewed in the maker, as Paul says: "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:10). And as he says again: "So that now through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him" (Ephesians 3:10-12).
Greek
Ὅσα οὖν λέγει ἡ Γραφὴ, ὅτι ἔλαβεν ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ ἐδοξάσθη ὁ Υἱὸς, διὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα αὐτοῦ λέγει, οὐ διὰ τὴν θεότητα. Καὶ ὅτε λέγει, Ὁ Πατήρ μου, ὁ πέμψας με, μείζων μου ἐστὶν, ἐπεὶ ἄνθρωπος γέγονε, μείζω αὐτοῦ λέγει τὸν Πατέρα. Λόγος δὲ ὢν τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἴσος αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. Ἐγὼ γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν· καὶ Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα. Καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ ἁρπαγῆς ἔχει τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἴσον τῷ Πατρὶ, ἀλλὰ κατὰ φύσιν ἴσος ἐστὶ καὶ ὁμοούσιος τῷ Πατρί· διότι ἐκ τῆς πατρικῆς οὐσίας γεγέννηται. Καὶ ὅτε λέγει ὁ Ἀπόστολος, Ὅτι ἐν Χριστῷ κατοικεῖ πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς, ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ κατοικεῖν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος νοητέον. Καὶ ὅτε λέγει, Ὅς γε τοῦ ἰδίου Υἱοῦ οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάντων παρέδωκεν αὐτόν, ἀλλαχοῦ λέγει· Καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησε τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ ἑαυτὸν παρέδωκεν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς. 992 Οὐ γὰρ ἑαυτὸν ἦλθε σῶσαι ὁ ἀθάνατος Θεὸς, ἀλλὰ τοὺς θανατωθέντας· καὶ οὐχ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ ἔπαθεν, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν· ὥστε διὰ τοῦτο τὴν εὐτέλειαν ἡμῶν καὶ τὴν πτωχείαν ἀνεδέξατο, ἵνα ἡμῖν τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτοῦ χαρίσηται. Τὸ γὰρ πάθος αὐτοῦ, ἡμῶν ἀπάθειά ἐστι· καὶ ὁ θάνατος αὐτοῦ, ἡμῶν ἀθανασία ἐστί· καὶ τὸ δάκρυον αὐτοῦ, χαρὰ ἡμετέρα· καὶ ἡ ταφὴ αὐτοῦ, ἡμῶν ἀνάστασις· καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα αὐτοῦ, ἡμῶν ἁγιασμός· Ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἁγιάζω ἐμαυτὸν, ἵνα ὦσι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἡγιασμένοι ἐν ἀληθείᾳ. Καὶ ὁ μώλωψ αὐτοῦ, ἡμῶν ἴασις· Τῷ γὰρ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. Καὶ ἡ παιδεία αὐτοῦ, ἡμῶν εἰρήνη· Παιδεία γὰρ εἰρήνης ἡμῶν ἐπ' αὐτόν· τουτέστιν, ἕνεκεν τῆς ἡμῶν εἰρήνης αὐτὸς παιδεύεται· καὶ ἡ ἀδοξία αὐτοῦ, ἡμῶν δόξα· ὅθεν αἰτεῖ τὴν δόξαν δι' ἡμᾶς, λέγων· Δόξασόν με σὺ, Πάτερ, παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον, πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι, παρὰ σοί. Ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν οἱ ἐν αὐτῷ δοξαζόμενοι· καὶ ἡ κάθοδος αὐτοῦ, ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἄνοδος, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· Καὶ συνήγειρε καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· καὶ τὸ, Ἵνα ἐνδείξηται ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις τὸν ὑπερβάλλοντα πλοῦτον τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ ἐν χρηστότητι, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς. Καὶ τὸ λέγειν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ· Πάτερ, εἰς χεῖράς σου παρατίθημι τὸ πνεῦμά μου, πάντας ἀνθρώπους παρατίθεται τῷ Πατρὶ δι' ἑαυτοῦ, τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ ζωοποιουμένους. Μέλη γὰρ αὐτοῦ εἰσι, καὶ τὰ πολλὰ μέλη ἕν ἐστι σῶμα, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ Ἐκκλησία· καθὼς καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος γράφει Γαλάταις· Πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς ἕν ἐστε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· τοὺς πάντας οὖν παρατίθεται ἐν ἑαυτῷ, Οὕτως οὖν καὶ ὅτε λέγει, Κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ, περὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας λέγει, τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ κτιζομένης. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ ποιητὴς τῶν ἁπάντων κτίσμα καὶ ποίημά ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ποίημα ἐν τῷ ποιητῇ ἀνανεοῦται, κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Παύλου· Αὐτοῦ ἐσμεν ποίημα, κτισθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. Καὶ καθὼς πάλιν λέγει· Ἵνα γνωρισθῇ νῦν ἐν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις διὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ πρόθεσιν τῶν αἰώνων, ἣν ἐποίησεν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυ 993 ρίῳ ἡμῶν· ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παῤῥησίαν, καὶ τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ.